A bevy of mistakes sunk Carnegie Mellon in a 16-14 loss on Saturday to the visiting Grove City Wolverines.

The Tartans (1-1), in their home opener, surrendered six turnovers and a safety and missed two late field goals to help Grove City (2-0) to its second win of the season. The Wolverines scored both of their touchdowns in the second quarter on a one yard run by fullback Brandon McGlothlin and a nine yard reception by receiver Dave DiDonato.

Grove City's running game, very successful in their opening week victory, couldn't overpower the Tartans' rigid defense. The Wolverines shot themselves in the foot a few times as well, but Carnegie Mellon seemed to have more bullets to finish the job.

Still, only the early safety and missed field goals made the difference in a close game the Tartans might have otherwise controlled.

The Tartans pulled out to an early 7-0 lead after a quick first drive, capped by running back Joe Hurley's four yard touchdown run.

After Carnegie Mellon's defense held early on, a deep punt – and the first of several illegal procedure calls against the Tartans – backed senior quarterback Jarrod Highberger to the one yard line. He was sacked for a safety on the last play of the first quarter, giving Grove City their first points of the game.

The Wolverines got the ball back and scored on a shortened field, chewing up 43 yards on 12 straight running plays. Grove City fullback Brandon McGlothlin did most of the work, fighting for short yardage against a stingy Tartans defensive core. McGlothlin scored on a short third-and-goal. A complete swing pass from quarterback Scott Fichter gave Grove City the two-point conversion and a 10-7 lead with 7:47 left in the half.

Later in the quarter, Tartans cornerback Adam Lovrovich fumbled a fair catch at the16, giving Grove City another easy opportunity to score. The Wolverines' other co-starting quarterback, Bradford Clark, completed a high fade pass to a leaping Dave DiDonato for nine yards and a touchdown. Grove City missed the extra point and led 16-7 going into halftime.

The Tartans completely shut down the Wolverines' offense, forcing them to five punts, two turnovers and a blocked field goal by the end of the game. The second half in particular produced great defensive play from both sides and a string of turnovers that kept either team from taking charge.

On the Tartans' opening possession of the third quarter, Grove City defensive end Dan Bukowski stripped the ball from Highberger, giving their offense another chance to score from the Carnegie Mellon 17. But the Tartans' defense, led by cornerback Lovrovich and linebacker Roman Feola, stifled the Wolverines. Senior Matt Dalka blocked Grove City's field goal try.

The teams traded interceptions later in the third. A frantic Highberger tried to fling the ball away as he was being dragged down for a sack, and was intercepted by Grove City safety Ross Trimmer. The Tartans did greater damage, however, when Lovrovich picked off Clark's pass at the Grove City 26.

Carnegie Mellon capitalized on the ensuing possession. Tartans' running back Michael Ginestra scored on a 13-yard run to open the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 16-14.

The Tartans' momentum stopped, though, when Grove City's next punt hit off a Carnegie Mellon player and bounced back into a swarm of Wolverines. On the next Tartans drive, Highberger faced a third-and-20, and his long pass was intercepted by Grove City cornerback Gene Iannuzzi.

Carnegie Mellon regained possession when cornerback Steve Killmeyer stripped the ball away from a scrambling Fichter and Tartans Senior Judson Kroh recovered. The ensuing Tartans drive stalled, but a roughing-the-kicker penalty against Grove City's Adam Gaab moved the Tartans into scoring position.

With less than five minutes left, kicker Neil Stegall had a chance to give the Tartans the lead, but his 38-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

Carnegie Mellon got another chance after their defense held again. Highberger's crisp passes and a critical 10-yard run by Ginestra moved the offense into field goal range, but no further, following a questionable non-call on pass interference.

Stegall's attempt at a game-winning 49-yard field goal floated left with only seconds remaining. 

Carnegie Mellon fell to 1-1 with the loss. Grove City, who beat Manchester 54-14 last week, improves to 2-0.  

The teams combined for eight turnovers, six sacks, four missed kicks, and seven illegal procedure flags – six of which were against the Tartans' backfield motion. Both teams played a three-back offense and sent wingbacks in motion frequently, but neither could consistently draw off the defenses.

The Tartans' defense held Grove City fullback Brandon McGlothlin, who ran for 121 yards and three touchdowns last week, to just over 50 yards on 20 carries Saturday.

Carnegie Mellon's offense, which stomped Hiram 44-0 last week on the strength of nearly 300 yards rushing, broke a couple of big plays against Grove City early, but later frequently lost yards on the ground.