Senior tailback Jim O’Brien took the handoff from the 10-yard line on third and 1, stepped to his right and cut easily through the big hole, picking up the first down. Not yet finished, O’Brien bounced outside, stiff-armed a Knox College defender and dove for the pylon, earning Washington University’s first touchdown of the year in Saturday night’s 34-3 victory.

The Bears never trailed in the contest, scoring on their first six possessions to start the game and creating a 34-0 hole for Knox early in the third quarter.

Crucial to the offense were O’Brien, who totaled 104 yards and a touchdown in the first half and finished with 119 yards; senior quarterback Stephen Sherman, who finished 16 for 21 with 159 yards and a touchdown; and sophomore Chris Castelluccio, who scored his first two collegiate touchdowns on 10 carries for 65 yards.

“The line really came out firing,” said O’Brien, who moved into sixth place on the Bears’ all-time rushing list. “They were getting such a big push and opened so many holes that sometimes I had difficulty choosing which one to go in. They really set the tone for the rest of the game.”

While the offense was racking up the yardage, the defense was pushing Knox back. Senior defensive lineman Greg Larson and junior linebacker Nick Hillard led the defensive onslaught that held the Prairie Fire offense to negative yardage into the second quarter. Larson had six total tackles, including four for losses, one sack and one forced fumble, while Hillard delivered hit after hit en route to a team-leading nine total tackles.

“I emphasized getting off the ball fast and executing my assignment for each play call and, fortunately, it paid off for me,” Larson said. “It’s always great to play well individually, but, more importantly, it helped our defense play well as a whole.”

Through the entire first half, the defense played outstanding football, holding the Prairie Fire to only 23 rushing yards on 18 attempts. Knox quarterback Bill Meyer was sacked three times, and the team punted five times and lost a fumble.

“Our number one priority every game is to stop the run,” senior cornerback Brandon Brown said. “If we can do that, it forces the other team to be one-dimensional and throw the ball, which gives us turnover opportunities. We shut down their offense, especially the first few drives, and that gave our offense good opportunities to score.”

Right out of the gate, the defense came up big. On Knox’s first series, junior Kyle Larkin and sophomore William Small teamed up for a big third-down sack, forcing the first punt. O’Brien promptly followed with 53 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

Two series later, on Knox’s first play of the drive, sophomore David Sufranski burst up the middle and sacked Meyer, contributing to yet another Knox punt. O’Brien returned to the game, leading the Bears 76 yards in 15 plays. Sophomore kicker Eric Chalifour kicked a 20-yard field goal to make the score 17-0.

Right before halftime, Chalifour also connected on a 44-yard field goal, seven yards shy of the Wash. U. school record.

“I’m glad we won convincingly because now we know where we stand and can move on to the next game with confidence,” Larson said. “As a team, we have the mindset that the most important game we have is the next one, so currently we are focusing on a good opponent coming up this Saturday.”

The Bears travel to Memphis, Tenn., this weekend to take on Rhodes College. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 11.