Conservative Carnegie Mellon opened up its playbook and scored three times in the first quarter on big plays en route to a 34-14 victory against Franklin & Marshall yesterday at Gesling Stadium.

The Tartans (4-0) rushed for 72 fewer net yards (220) than they were averaging coming into the contest. However, CMU made up for it by passing for 253 yards, more than twice its average of 114.

"You have to have the ability to keep the defense off guard," Tartans coach Rich Lackner said. "Early on, [Franklin & Marshall] was keying on [the run] pretty well. I think if I'm defending Carnegie Mellon, you have to look at their run. But this year we have the ability to do some play-action passing and make people defend the pass as well. We've got good balance."

Quarterback Kevin Mulkern got the offense rolling early with touchdown passes of 77 yards to Derek Wisnieski and 54 yards to Jeremy Doo. He hit both receivers in stride with long passes to help give CMU a 14-0 lead nine minutes into the game. The visiting Diplomats (1-3) responded with a touchdown pass of 62 yards from Kyle Turner to Bobby Frieler midway in the quarter.

But, the Tartans came back with a 58-yard touchdown run by Robert Gimson for a 21-7 lead just a short time later.

While the first quarter was a track meet, the second quarter turned into a crawl which was to Franklin & Marshall's advantage.

By converting on two fourth-down plays and aided by a roughing the punter penalty, the Diplomats drove 99 yards on 20 plays to draw to within 21-14 late in the first half. The drive chewed up 8:40 on the clock, culminated by Turner's 20-yard pass to Robert Donofrio on fourth down. Franklin & Marshall ran 41 plays in the first half to 22 for Carnegie Mellon. The Tartans went back to basics in the second half and ran 31 plays, 26 coming on the ground.

But Lackner couldn't resist using a little more razzle-dazzle when the Tartans successfully executed a fake field-goal-attempt from their 24 midway in the third quarter.

Holder Jonathan Kline took the snap and flipped the ball to halfback Jon Cakert, who was running from the right flank toward the left. Cakert, a left-hander, easily threw a pass on the run to a wide open Wisnieski for a touchdown.

"I [ran that play] two years ago against Wesley [in a 24-10 CMU win]," Cakert said. "I was a little nervous [during the play] when Wisnieski got out a little late, but he came open so I lofted it up and he ran under it which made it easy for me."

On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Diplomats took a big gamble. They tried a fake punt from their 20-yard line which failed. This set up a two-play drive for CMU that was capped by Travis Sivek's 9-yard run. Franklin & Marshall never mounted another scoring threat the rest of the game.

"I think the fake field goal that we executed and the fake punt [that Franklin & Marshall failed on] were the key plays of the second half," Lackner said. "I was proud of the way our defense played in the second half to shut down a very good offensive team."

Carnegie Mellon is 4-0 for the first time in five years. It would probably take a 10-0 or 9-1 season for the Tartans to receive an NCAA Division III playoff berth. CMU has not received a bid since 1990.

"When the clock hit zero today the first thing I thought about was Colorado College," said Lackner, whose team plays at home next Saturday against the school from out west. "That's the only thing our coaches have on their mind. And, that's the only thing our players have on their mind."