Sep 19, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – There weren’t many smiles after last week’s gritty win over Westminster, brawl and all.

And there were even more questions after a 38-14 victory against Carnegie Mellon University Saturday afternoon.

Washington & Jefferson’s football team seems to have some high expectations, maybe a bit unrealistic.

A 24-point victory would be embraced by most. But Mike Sirianni is concerned, a common trait among head coaches who have their team ranked in the top 20 of most publications.

“There’s something missing from our team from last year to this year,” said Sirianni. “There is something not the same. It shows that wins don’t carry over from one year to the next. As head coach, it’s my job to find out what it is and fix it real quick. We’re not playing like a top-10 football team right now.”

To make that case, Sirianni could point to Carnegie Mellon holding a 7-0 lead through the first 10 minutes. But W&J scored six of the next seven touchdowns.

Or maybe he could point to the defense allowing tailback Sam Benger, a 5-10 sophomore, to rip through the Presidents’ defense for 303 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. But that was balanced by W&J senior tailback Ryan Ruffing, coming off a four-touchdown game against Westminster, rumbling for 231 yards and a score on 38 carries – both individual highs – or junior quarterback Pete Coughlin passing for 309 yards and four touchdowns.

“I think we set an NCAA record today (in Division III),” said Sirianni. “I think we are the only team in the country to give up (289) yards rushing to a running back and still win the game. We did that in 2007 (to Waynesburg’s Robert Heller).”

Coughlin hit wide receiver Eric Scott on nearly identical throws for touchdowns, the first from 15 yards in the second quarter and the second from 12 yards in the fourth. He also found Jesse Zubik for a 75-yard score as time expired in the first quarter to make it 14-7. Daniel Lis caught a 5-yard TD to open W&J’s scoring and tie the game, 7-7.

“We had some big plays be some of our wide receivers,” Coughlin said. “That’s basically what it was.”

Ruffing broke at least three tackles on the way to a 37-yard touchdown in the third quarter that stretched W&J’s lead to 31-14.

“In the second half, we started to get it going,” Ruffing said. “We need to come together and make plays, and we’ll be fine.”

W&J had 594 total yards split fairly evenly, 268 rushing and 326 passing. CMU had 399, all but 90 from Benger,

“W&J played a better game than we did,” said CMU head coach Rich Lackner. “They deserved to win. We had some opportunities in the first half and the second half. You have too take advantage of the opportunities.”

Benger snapped the record held by Mike Monsilovich, who had 207 yards against Alfred University Sept. 29 1998. Benger had broken the record by halftime, when he rushed for 220 yards on 13 carries. He had TD runs of 51 and 85 yards and a 66-yard run in a third quarter drive.

“It was a blast,” he said. “I was unaware of (the record). Our concerns were winning the football game.”

“He has great vision, great determination,” Lackner said. “All he needs is a seam and he can be off to the races. He’s that good.”

For as much as Benger hurt the W&J defense, quarterback Andrew Hearon had no such luck. He completed only 11 of 34 attempts for 54 yards and was sacked four times. Defensive back Lucas Parrish had a team-high 10 tackles, linebacker Ryan Torrance an interception and defensive back Anthony Tutino a forced fumble for W&J.

“I don’t want to look like a coach who is complaining and we won by 24. There were some positives. But there is a spark that’s not there,” said Sirianni. “Maybe they want to be underdogs again (like last year) Well, guess what? Thay are going to be huge underdogs in four weeks (against No. 15 Thomas More).”

W&J lost defensive end Jon Turner with a knee injury, which Sirianni thought might be serious. … Scott had nine receptions for 97 yards and Zubik six for 122. … Tyler Kochman averaged 39.4 yards on nine punts.