Carnegie Mellon Tartans football


The Carnegie Mellon Tartans football team represents Carnegie Mellon University in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III competition.

History

On November 28, 1926, the 6–2 Carnegie Tech football team shut out Knute Rockne's undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish 19–0 at Forbes Field. It was the only loss for the Irish that season and only the second time they allowed a touchdown. The game was ranked the fourth-greatest upset in college football history by ESPN.

Bowl game and AP rankings

In the 1930s, Carnegie Tech was among the top college football programs in the country. In 1938 and 1939, the team achieved national rankings in the AP Poll. Ranked sixth at the end of the 1938 regular season, the Tartans earned a January bowl game invitation, but lost to top-ranked TCU in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
Carnegie Tech's AP ranking history:
The team lost 26 straight games from 1942 through 1948. In the last game of the 1948 season, the team beat Grove City, 7–0, on a 51-yard touchdown run by freshman halfback John Luchok. The team improved over the next six years, culminating in the first undefeated season in school history in 1954. That team was led by quarterback Guy Carricato, halfback Eddy Miller and end Chuck Luchok, John Luchok's younger brother.

Modern achievements

In 2006, the varsity football team was offered a bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, and became one of the first teams in school history and University Athletic Association conference history to win an NCAA playoff game with a 21–0 shutout of Millsaps College of the SCAC conference. In addition to winning a playoff game, several team members were elected to the All American and All Region Squads. The 2006 team won more games in a single season than any other team in school history. The current coach is Rich Lackner, who is also a graduate of Carnegie Mellon and who has been the head coach since 1986.