The Washington University football team set a Southern Athletic Association (SAA) record in points scored in a 70-32 blowout of Millsaps College on Saturday at Francis Field.

The Bears scored on their first seven possessions, scoring 49 points before both teams broke for halftime.

The Washington University defense tackles a Millsaps College ballcarrier in the first quarter Saturday. The Bears won 70-32 as junior quarterback J.J. Tomlin reached 4,000 career passing yards.

Despite the lopsided score Majors actually drew first blood, capping off a 90-yard opening drive with a 26-yard run. A failed two-point conversion staked Millsaps to a 6-0 lead. Wash. U. answered quickly, scoring in under three minutes on a six-yard run by junior quarterback J.J. Tomlin. 

The Bears’ next two scores were aided by big defensive plays. After Millsaps decided to go for it on 4 and 7 on the ensuing drive, senior defensive lineman Ross Chukerman pounced on a bad-snap fumble in the end zone. In a case of deja vu, Millsaps again botched a punt-snap on their next series, setting the Bears up on the 9-yard line. Wash. U. took full advantage, with Tomlin hitting junior wide receiver Hank Childs for a 21-6 lead.

Millsaps managed to cut the deficit to seven early in the second quarter after a touchdown and two-point conversion, but the Bears would end the half with 28 unanswered points to put the game out of reach. After a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back Austin Smestad and a 23-yard touchdown reception by senior tight end Max Elliott, Tomlin and junior wide receiver Kevin Hammarlund connected on two consecutive touchdown passes to extend the lead to 49-14.

In the second half, the Bears continued to add points, stretching the lead to 70-20 after additional touchdowns by Smestad and Hammarlund and a final touchdown by senior wide receiver Matt McCareins. The third touchdown reception of the afternoon for Hammarlund, who finished the day with seven catches for 106 yards, tied the SAA single-game record.

The Majors added two fourth quarter scores of their own, but by that point, playing out the clock was merely a formality.

By making all nine extra points he tried, senior kicker Alex Hallwachs set a school record and notched his milestone 200th career point. Head coach Larry Kindbom praised Hallwachs for his dependability.

“We can rely on him, and he has been Mr. Steady, on the field and off the field,” Kindbom said. “He’s an outstanding student here, going to go to medical school. He’s just the epitome of a student-athlete here at Washington University.”

Wash. U. improved to 5-2 on the season and 4-2 in the SAA. After dropping two of their first three SAA games, the Bears find themselves in fourth place and two games behind first place Berry College (6-1, 5-0 SAA). The last time the Bears started 4-2, 2013, they won their conference and earned an NCAA playoff berth, leaving room for cautious optimism. Kindbom, however, would prefer to focus only on the immediate future.

“The only thing I’m optimistic about is that our kids are going to come tomorrow to watch the film to see how we did and hopefully we can get better through the film,” Kindbom said. “But I know that our guys are going to compete, and I think that’s, as a coach, the absolute best thing that you can have with a football team, knowing that we’re going to compete every week, and we did.”

During the Bears’ current three-game win streak, they scored for 48.3 points per game. In that time, Tomlin has completed 74 percent of his passes for 896 yards and 11 touchdowns. This level of offensive success continues to be near routine against weaker opponents.

However, Wash. U. has now reached the end of the soft part of its schedule. Its final three games come against Case Western Reserve University (6-1), Hendrix College (5-2, 4-1 SAA) and the University of Chicago (5-2, 4-2 SAA).

The Bears can no longer rely on outscoring their opponents given that Case Western, Hendrix and Chicago average 39.9, 35.8 and 28.3 points per game respectively.

What bodes well moving forward has been the fairly steady improvement from defense. After surrendering 519 and 590 yards of total offense against Carnegie Mellon University and Centre College in the first two games of the season, only Berry College and Millsaps have eclipsed 400 yards against the Red and Green. The main caveat, however is that all four of the five Wash. U.’s opponents during that time, Birmingham Southern College (320.3), Berry (322.4), Rhodes College (296.5) and Sewanee (290.5) rank in the bottom four in the SAA in yards per game.

Wash. U. goes on the road again for a Halloween date and a chance to test themselves against a tough Case Western squad next Saturday in Cleveland.