With Homecoming and Reunion Weekend this past weekend came the 38th-Annual Academic Bowl for the Case Western Reserve University football team. In this final game of the season, which took place on Saturday, Nov. 16, at DiSanto Field, CWRU unfortunately came short against Carnegie Mellon University: The Spartans lost 37-30 to the Tartans, wrapping up CWRU’s season with a 6-4 record while CMU improved their record for the season to 9-1.

The first quarter saw both teams come in swinging. CMU scored the first touchdown of the game during the sixth minute, the culmination of a drive that CWRU had difficulty responding to at first. After this score, however, the Spartans reclaimed possession and went on to score a touchdown of their own during the 10th minute, courtesy of first-year running back Andy Kavcic and a kick by second-year kicker Gabriel Petrozzi. This touchdown left the game at a 7-7 tie that remained as such for the rest of the quarter.

The Tartans amped up the intensity during the second quarter, scoring a field goal less than one minute into the second quarter, breaking out of the tie and achieving a 10-7 advantage. For most of the quarter, the two teams went back and forth for possession of the ball, unable to completely break through either side’s defense. This was until the 13th minute, when CMU scored their second touchdown of the game, furthering their advantage to 17-7. The second quarter concluded with a last-minute field goal by Petrozzi, setting the score at 17-10 going into halftime.

With the start of the third quarter came a strong offensive surge by CMU that culminated in a touchdown during the first minute followed by a safety two minutes later, giving the Tartans a 26-10 edge over the Spartans. Not before long, CWRU was able to get back on its footing with a three-and-out just after the safety. The Spartan offense followed this up with a touchdown from third-year quarterback Aaron Filips with less than five minutes left in the period. This touchdown brought the score to 26-16, leading to a subsequent offensive drive by CWRU that ran through the rest of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter.

Within the first minute of the fourth quarter, fourth-year running back Sean-Michael James scored a touchdown with a 10-yard pass from Filips, reducing the Tartans’s advantage to 26-23. CMU answered this with an offensive drive of their own, though the drive stalled and left them forced to score a field goal, putting the score at 29-23. In the aftermath of this, Filips led an offensive drive that gave the Spartans another touchdown—and their first lead of the game, with the score at 30-29 and 4:07 left on the clock.

This lead was short-lived, however, as the Tartan offense led a drive that gave CMU another touchdown, placing the score at 37-30 with 1:12 left to play. The Spartans’ subsequent drive proved unsuccessful, and the last possession of the game went to the Tartans, who chose to run out the clock and thus secure their win.

Fourth-year cornerback Dominic Sais—who had the most tackles out of any Spartan playing in the game, with 10 to his name—commented on the unfortunate result and where CWRU may have fallen behind.

“I think we started a little slow on both sides of the ball. In games like [this] it’s impossible to point to any particular moment or drive and say it lost you the game, but I think if we would have been a little more successful before half time, it would have been easier to put it away in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Graduate student linebacker Gabe Troch, who himself finished with 9 tackles, had his own comments to say about the team’s performance.

“The game came down to a few key plays, and Carnegie Mellon made more of them than we did,” he said. “Being in the right position is important, but making the big play when it counts is what wins games. They did that better than us at more crucial moments and that helped them win the game.”

While the Spartans may have had their shortcomings, players also drew attention to what had gone well during the game.

“I think defensively keeping [CMU] out of the end zone when they had [three] or [four] chances in a row from the one-yard line really helped set the tone. We wanted them to respect our physicality and tenacity and I think we succeeded in that,” Sais commented.

“I’d love to highlight the excellent play from the Offense,” noted graduate student linebacker Sean Torres, who himself added 9 tackles during the contest. “The offensive line played great, Filips in his first start played exceptionally well at quarterback, and [third-year wide receiver] Dylan Cave was making key plays all game. I’m proud of how our offense played, they allowed us to stay in the game.”

This final result of the game is one that many Spartans on the football team and in the crowd in DiSanto Field may not have wanted. However, it does still highlight the strong efforts made by the team over the past season, something that has helped the team in achieving its ninth-consecutive winning season—even if they came short in this specific contest.

“The team is in a great position for next year. Towards the end of this season, many older players battled injuries, and younger players stepped up. Overcoming this type of adversity will help the team continue to improve,” Troch said.