A Legacy Forged in Steel: The History of Carnegie Mellon University Football

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), an institution renowned for its academic prowess, boasts a football program with a history marked by periods of dominance, significant upsets, and a unique identity. While the Tartans may not always command national headlines like their academic counterparts, their gridiron journey is filled with memorable moments and a consistent tradition of excellence.

Early Years and Rise to Prominence (1906-1930s)

The Carnegie Tech Tartan football team was founded ahead of the 1906 football season, where they competed as independents. In their first year of football, the Tartans claimed a modest record of 2-3-2. The Carnegie Tech football program continued to have an unconvincing start, as they accumulated a 4-15 record across the 1907 and 1908 seasons. This negative trend reversed, however, in 1909 as the Tartans posted their first ever winning record by finishing 5-3-1 under first year head coach Edwin N.

The 1910s were a decade of mediocrity, with the Tartans regularly finishing close to the .500 mark; however, by the 1920s, Carnegie Tech had become a national contender and regional powerhouse, posting a record of 34-20-4 in the decade. In the 1930s, Carnegie Tech (as it was known then) was among the top college football programs in the country. In 1938 and 1939, the team achieved national rankings in the AP poll.

The Upset Heard 'Round the Nation

One of the most significant moments in Carnegie Mellon football history occurred in 1926 when Carnegie Tech upset the previously undefeated Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 19-0. Legendary Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne thought so little of his team’s 1926 football game against Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh that he opted to watch the Army-Navy game in Chicago instead of making the trip with the team. That decision turned out to be a rare miscalculation by Rockne. The upset was so shocking that ESPN included the game in its television special called “Greatest College Football Upsets,” and Bleacher Report ranked the game third among the 50 Greatest Upsets in College Football History.

Pittsburgh City Title Series

Starting in the 1920s, Carnegie Tech participated in the Pittsburgh City Title Series, a three-way rivalry with their Pittsburgh neighbors the Pitt Panthers and Duquesne Dukes. The most memorable game between Carnegie and Pitt came in 1938, when the number 19 ranked Tartans upset the number 1 ranked Panthers in front of 60,000 fans, breaking Pitt's 22-game win streak and spoiling their hopes for an unbeaten 1938 campaign. Carnegie Tech Head Coach Bill Kern was remarkably pessimistic before the game, saying, "They're too strong for us. However, if our boys are up and Pitt is down we'll give them a battle, not enough of a battle to win but enough to hold the score down. I feel that our backs are almost as good as theirs but their big advantage lies in the line." Pitt Head coach Jock Sutherland did not share Kern's confidence in a Pitt victory, commenting, "Tech has us in a good spot for them. They'll be tremendously tough. The Tech team will be up for this game, while our boys will suffer a natural letdown from the hard Fordham game [the previous week]. I figure this game to be every bit as tough as Fordham. Our team is not at its best. The Panthers earned their revenge the following season however, as they defeated the Carnegie Tech Tartans 6-0 in front of a ruckus crowd of 55,000 at Pitt Stadium. Carnegie Tech's loss to the Panthers came as a part of a 5 game win streak that closed out their 1939 campaign. Despite starting with a perfect record that year, the Tartans lost out the back end of their season, including losses to rivals Notre Dame and Duquesne.

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While matchups between Pitt and Carnegie Tech were typically (but not always) showcased by more offense, the games between Duquesne and the Tartans were almost always defensive battles. Ultimately, the Dukes were forced to play a more supporting role in the Pittsburgh City Title Series, in large part due to their location in the city. Duquesne University is located in the Bluff, on the western side of Pittsburgh, whereas the University of Pittsburgh is located in Oakland, and Carnegie Tech/Carnegie Mellon is located in the adjacent Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

The Mid-Century Struggles and a Glimmer of Hope (1940s-1970s)

The team lost 26 straight games from 1942 through 1948 (the 1944 and 1945 seasons were cancelled due to World War II). 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.

In 1963, Carnegie Tech hired former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Joe Gasparella as their head coach. Despite Gasparella's professional pedigree, the Tartans struggled under his leadership, only posting three winning seasons in the twelve years he was head coach. Despite the unremarkable nature of Gasparella's record on the gridiron, his tenure as head coach was anything but. The Gasparella era was one that was marked by tremendous change and upheaval for the Tartans. In 1973, when the NCAA split up sports into three divisions, Carnegie Mellon moved with the rest of the PAC into Division III of college football.

The Klausing Era: A Division III Powerhouse (1977-1985)

Following Gasparella's departure, Carnegie Mellon hired Indiana University head coach Chuck Klausing. Klausing coached the Tartans for nine seasons and never posted a losing record. Under Klausing, the Tartans were a dominant powerhouse in the northeast. In just his second season as Carnegie Mellon's head coach, Klausing lead the Tartans to their first ever PAC football championship in 1977. Klausing followed that up with a three-peat, winning PAC championships in 1978 and 1979. The 1978 and 1979 seasons also featured division III playoff berths, where the Tartans reached the semifinal rounds in both years. After the Carnegie Mellon's three-peat, the Klausing-lead Tartans won three more conference championships in 1981, 1983, and 1985 and made two more Division III playoff appearances.

The Rich Lackner Years: Continued Success and Conference Transitions (1986-2021)

Following the departure of Klausing, the Tartans promoted assistant coach Rich Lackner to head coach. A Pittsburgh native, Lackner played linebacker for the Tartans from 1975-78. While at Carnegie Mellon, Lackner earned all-PAC honors three times, academic all-American honors twice, and was named the 1976 Presidents' Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. In 1986, Lackner was officially named head coach. Under Lackner's leadership, the Tartans claimed nine conference championships and three Division III playoff berths. In 1990, the Tartans moved to the University Athletic Association, where Carnegie Mellon rose to newfound prominence. The Tartans won conference championships seven out of their first eight seasons in the UAA, including five straight from 1993-97. In 2006, the Lackner-lead Tartans posted an 11-1 season, the most wins in school history and their sixth appearance in the NCAA playoffs. In 2015, runningback Sam Benger lead all of college football with 2,092 yards on the season. Second place was 504 yards behind him. He was just the twenty-first player in Division 3 football history to exceed 2,000 yards. In 2019, Carnegie Mellon linebacker and long snapper Brian Khoury was signed to the DC Defenders of the XFL. In 2014, the Tartans moved back to the PAC, but failed to replicate the same successful start that they had in the UAA, not winning a conference championship until 2021.

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The Ryan Larsen Era: Building on a Legacy (2022-Present)

In 2022, Carnegie Mellon announced that they would be hiring Columbia quarterbacks coach Ryan Larsen as their next head coach. CMU entered the 2022 season with Ryan Larsen taking over for 36-year head coach Richard Lackner. "I don't think there was any more pressure than probably what I put on myself," Larsen said. "It's humbling to know that there is an expectation and something that's kind of expected out of this position. With the success that we had at the end of last year, I think you start to say, 'What can we do to build on that?' The beauty of it is that there was a great foundation. "Coach Larsen has done a great job of coming in and finding that perfect medium. Larsen's motto - C.O.D.E. - stands for commitment, ownership, discipline and effort. His focus is for the team to go 1-0 every week, a humble mindset for a program with the longest win streak in the NCAA. It wasn't until after CMU won its ninth game of 2022 against Saint Vincent that Larsen said the word "undefeated" to his team. "Seven games of that streak were last year. I have zero ownership of that. I wasn't involved with half of it, but that half of it set a great foundation for this year," Larsen said. "It goes back to that 1-0 mentality. "Coach Larsen always talks about going 1-0 and I think our players have really bought into that," said defensive coordinator Ben Gibboney. "None of [the accolades or streaks] matter if you don't take care of the business that you need to take care of that week. Some of those "other goals" include the PAC championship, which the Tartans have clinched with a game to play, and postseason success.

Dominance on Defense

CMU's defensive success has surpassed external expectations, just like the win streak. The Tartans had key losses in the secondary entering this year and saw their top returning cornerback Kevin Arcia face injuries during the year. "It starts at the top. Coach Gibboney is one of the best. How he gets us prepared each week is how we're able to play the way we are," Hegde said. "We've had a lot of young guys step up, gaining confidence throughout the year. CMU's defense has built a brotherhood that has led it to success, regardless of injuries or inexperience. There's no better example of that brotherhood than the Coury twins in the linebacker corps. Robert and Thomas lead the team in tackles, respectively. "Robert takes a big lead over our defense and leads the guys. It's a blessing to be able to play with my brother along with the other guys. I think we all feel the love for each other and trust for each other," Thomas said. "It's pretty incredible that we've got a bunch of playmakers on our team. It's more than talent that makes this Tartan defense special. "The last slide that we show in our team meetings says culture over scheme," Gibboney said. "Coach Gibboney has instilled that mindset in us that we're wild dogs; he says it all the time. We've got to play as a pack, play as wild dogs," Coury said. The Tartans lead the nation with 20 interceptions, have the 15th-best scoring defense and only allow 70 rushing yards per game. "We're fortunate to have some really good players at all three levels of our defense.

The Longest Win Streak

That 2022 Tartans team boasted the longest win streak in college football with eighteen consecutive wins. Having been disqualified from the playoffs in 2021 due to a Covid-19 outbreak, Carnegie Mellon followed up their seven game win streak at the conclusion of the 2021 season with a perfect 2022 season. The 2023 team posted a similarly impressive record of 10-1. Despite a regular season record of 9-1, the Tartans were not given a bid to the division III playoff. They were, however, selected to compete in a bowl game against the SUNY Brockport Golden Eagles in a game which was touted as being one between two of the best teams not selected for the playoffs that year. In 2024, like in 2023, the Tartans suffered only one regular season loss, again to Grove City. However, unlike 2023, the Tartans earned an at-large bid to the Division 3 playoffs.

The Academic Bowl and Rivalries

Currently, the Tartans' fiercest rivalry is with the Case Western Reserve University Spartans. The winner of the game is awarded the Academic Bowl Trophy. Predating the Academic Bowl trophy name, Carnegie Tech first played Case Tech in 1907 and Western Reserve in 1909, meeting up multiple times over the next few decades. Upon the merger of Case Tech and Western Reserve, the match-up resumed in 1970. It was not until 1986 when the Academic Bowl was officially created.

The nation's longest win streak will be put to the test on Nov. 12 when Carnegie Mellon faces Case Western in the Academic Bowl. In recent years, CMU or Case Western have had the chance to play spoiler in the rivalry with conference championship or playoff positioning at stake. "I'm going to enjoy some of this," Larsen said. "I think that rivalries are what makes sports so unique and so different. Larsen has put the Academic Bowl trophy - the hardware is passed between the winning team year after year - at the 50-yard line every day during practice this week to motivate the team. "We know what's at stake, but we're going to treat it like any other game," Coury said.

Despite owning the nation's longest win streak and winning back-to-back PAC titles, there's a sense at CMU that there's unfinished business. First, the Tartans must beat Case Western to push the win streak to 17 games. However, even with the win streak, the Tartans aren't ranked in the top 10 nationally. "One thing we say all the time as a team is we haven't accomplished anything yet," Hegde said. "This undefeated record doesn't matter if we don't do our job. If we don't take each opponent seriously, we could drop one of these games. It's a tactic each week, week by week, to not look too far in advance or look in the past. CMU isn't overlooking Case Western with one game to play, despite knowing its name is in the DIII football playoff selection show. CMU would love to enter the playoffs undefeated, continuing the nation's longest win streak. Once in the playoffs, the Tartans will go for their fourth-ever playoff win (1978, 1979 and 2006). "We don't have to do anything special. We don't have to do anything different. We don't have to change our mentality.

Traditions and Identity

The Carnegie Mellon band is named the Kiltie Band, due to the fact that the entire band wears kilts while performing. The band draws inspiration from the critically acclaimed 1975 film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Fight! Fight! The Kilties are coming, hurray!

During every home game, the families of the Tartan football players set up a tailgate on the rooftop of the East Campus Garage, which overlooks the football field. The Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, which many Carnegie Mellon football players are members of, also sets up a tailgate on the rooftop of the East Campus garage.

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