The team’s sixth loss, a 28-8 defeat, came Saturday at the hands of the undefeated No. 7 Case Western Reserve University Spartans of Cleveland, Ohio.

“I know that everybody left everything out on the field, so that’s all you can ever ask for,” senior running back and co-captain Matt Glenn said. “It would’ve been nice to walk away with a victory, but unfortunately we didn’t.”

The win for Case Western (10-0, 3-0) not only gives them the University Athletic Association championship, but also their third straight undefeated season and a 31-game winning streak in the regular season.

“When it’s all said and done, I think we’re a little disappointed, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort. They’re a good team, too,” head coach Larry Kindbom said. “It would’ve taken not just a good effort, but a good performance to beat them, but I think we had the opportunities.”

Case running back Greg Meyer led a nine-play, 77-yard touchdown drive to start the game. His 7-yard run into the end zone gave the team a 7-0 advantage with 10:45 left in the first quarter.

The Bears’ defense responded and gave the offense a chance to tie the contest. Senior defensive back Nick Vom Brack intercepted quarterback Dan Whalen on Case’s second drive, returning the ball 38 yards to the Spartans’ 25-yard line. Junior Tim Johnson’s 41-yard field goal missed wide left.

“On defense, we didn’t play anything close to a perfect game,” senior linebacker and co-captain Andrew Berryman said. “The whole time, we had to go out and worry about ourselves and keep putting the offense in positions [to score].”

Junior defensive back Brandon Brown intercepted Whalen one drive later. The Bears would be limited to a three-and-out.

Despite a 42-yard run by Glenn and a 20-yard catch by junior Tom Gulyas on their next series, the Bears failed to score on a first-and-goal, turning the ball over on downs at the 2-yard line.

“We were able to put together a couple of drives and had some big plays, but in the end, it came down to finishing,” Glenn said.

The defense forced a safety on Case’s following drive, but the Spartan offense quickly responded. Meyer added another rushing touchdown with 3:11 left in the first half, giving the Spartans a 14-2 lead heading into halftime.

Case extended its lead with a 13-play, 67-yard touchdown drive with 7:55 left in the third quarter, but Wash. U.’s 17-play, 65-yard drive could not replicate the same success. The Bears turned the ball over on downs for the third time.

“We just had to play…a little better on every play,” Kindbom said. “It would’ve put us in position to win that game in the fourth quarter.”

The Bears did connect for a 3-yard touchdown rush by Glenn with 5:46 left in the quarter, but the Spartans took advantage of a failed onside-kick attempt, sealing their victory with a 22-yard rush only 1:25 later.

Wash. U. used three different quarterbacks in the loss, but completed only 22 of 47 attempts for 172 yards and averaged 3.7 yards per attempt. The team gained 309 yards of total offense, while Case had 385.

“I’m obviously not extremely happy with our record and how we [finished], but I think we grew as a team and got a lot better as the season went on,” Glenn said. “You can’t have any regrets. I love the team, love playing with all the guys out there.”

Junior Tom Gulyas rushes forward in an Oct. 17 game against the College of Wooster. Gulyas had a game-high four catches for 40 yards in a 21-13 loss to Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday. (Daniel Eicholtz | Student Life)

“Special teams…is really no different than offense or defense. We’ve been playing well but not well enough long enough,” head coach Larry Kindbom said. “I think if you play well enough long enough, you score more points, you get more shutdowns and then you don’t have the quirky kind of things that we had on special teams.”

On a 55-yard CMU punt with 1:14 left in the third quarter, senior defensive back Tim Machan fumbled the catch at the Wash. U. 10-yard line. The Tartans recovered, scoring on a 4-yard touchdown rush a minute later.

The Bears’ ensuing possession ended with the same result. Sophomore punter Austin Morman fumbled a bad snap from junior offensive lineman J.J. Gotlieb, which was also recovered by Carnegie Mellon.

Starting at the Bears’ 15-yard line, it only took two plays to take the lead. A 2-yard rush put the Tartans on top for good, 14-13.

“Our defense puts a big emphasis on when we’re put in a bad situation…where the opposing offense gets the ball inside the [20-yard line]. We really stress holding them to a field goal or getting turnovers,” junior defensive back Brandon Brown said. “We just couldn’t come up with those stops yesterday.”

CMU put together a 75-yard, 8:32 touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. The 15-play series consisted of 14 carries, ending on a 1-yard touchdown run.

“After the second touchdown, it was 14-13. We were losing. It wasn’t a question of anything, at that point, other than the offense has to score more points,” junior runningback Jim O’Brien said. “We just knew that no matter what, we had to get on the [scoreboard] again. For whatever reason, we couldn’t do that.”

Given possession with only 1:36 left in the game, junior quarterback Stephen Sherman’s desperation pass was picked off, securing victory for the Tartans.

“It was just hard to come back,” Morman said. “Once they had momentum, we kept fighting, but it just didn’t work out.”

Despite holding the Tartan passing offense to only 30 yards, the Bears defense allowed 234 rushing yards.

“The defense played lights out the first [three quarters],” Brown said. “The rest of the game, I don’t know what happened, but, the momentum shifted from us being up 13-0 to them getting that quick touchdown and getting right back in the game. They took it from there.”

Senior co-captain Andrew Berryman led the team with 13 tackles, while Machan had nine. Brown and sophomore linebacker Kyle Larkin each added eight tackles.

The Bears took the lead early in the first quarter. O’Brien broke loose on Wash. U.’s second play of the game for a 42-yard rush. Junior Tim Johnson ended the drive with a 36-yard field goal.

“We had to settle for some field goals and didn’t sustain [many] drives,” O’Brien said. “A huge difference in that game was that we just couldn’t finish once we got down in the red zone…with touchdowns.”

Senior halfback Greg LaChaud caught a 10-yard touchdown pass with 12:30 left in the second quarter, pushing the score to 10-0.

Johnson hit another field goal, this time from 27 yards out, 8:33 through the third quarter. The Tartans took the lead minutes later.

“When you’re in control of a football game, at some point you have to put it away,” Kindbom said. “If you don’t, you’re just leaving the door of opportunity open for that other team.”

Washington University (3-5, 0-1) takes on the University of Chicago (4-3, 0-1) on Saturday, Nov. 7, in the final home game of the season. The team’s 14 seniors will be honored shortly before kickoff at 1 p.m.

The Bears ultimately lost to the Little Giants, who entered the game leading the country in offensive production (50.8 ppg), 31-12 on Saturday, Oct. 10.

“The whole game, the whole mindset…was not that ‘we’re in this game.’ It was, ‘We’re going to win this game,’” senior co-captain Andrew Berryman said. “That was felt throughout the team.”

Little Giants senior quarterback Matt Hudson went 32 of 45, throwing for 335 yards with three touchdowns.

“We knew it was going to take an almost error-free game to go in and beat them, because we knew they were good, but we knew they were beatable,” Berryman said. We kind of showed that yesterday.”

Junior Stephen Sherman had his own career day for Wash. U. at the quarterback position, throwing for 218 yards, but the Bears offense was outmatched in total offensive yards, 272-478.

Both teams were held scoreless in the first quarter, while a 42-yard pass from Sherman to senior Matt Mangini put the team at the Wabash 29-yard line.

In great position to take the lead with less than five minutes left in the quarter, senior halfback Greg LaChaud fumbled the ball on the very next play, giving Wabash possession.

“We have put in some new plays during the course of the year, and one of time’s tests of things in football is that when you put a new play in, you’ve got to run it a thousand times before you put it in on the field. We didn’t necessarily do that,” head coach Larry Kindbom said. “That fumble was more of a result of not working on that play enough times over the course of the year.”

On the following series, Wabash turned to freshman running back Nathan Walters who capped a 70-yard, 5:04 drive with a 1-yard touchdown.

Wash. U. finally broke into the score column late into the second quarter. Senior defensive back Tim Olivos capitalized on a Little Giants fumble, returning it 59 yards to the Wabash 5-yard line. Berryman forced the fumble. Sophomore kicker Brandon Rogalski scored two minutes later on a fake field goal, but his extra-point kick was blocked.

The Little Giants responded with a nine-play, 55-yard drive resulting in a field goal, taking a 10-6 lead into the half.

Hudson’s 29-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Brady Young extended the score to 17-6 with 5:51 left in the third quarter, but the Bears answered on the ensuing series.

“There’s no doubt Wabash is an incredible team,” junior receiver Tom Gulyas said. “We definitely knew we needed to sustain a drive and get a touchdown…Obviously to even up on the scoreboard and also to give our defense a rest, because [Wabash] has so many offensive weapons.”

Sherman’s 73-yard pass to Gulyas ended the three-play touchdown drive, but a two-point conversion attempt failed.

The Little Giants came right back with another touchdown at the hands of Hudson, extending their lead to 24-12. Junior safety Jake Martin ended Wash. U.’s chance for a response, intercepting Sherman’s pass on the following series.

A 14-yard touchdown pass from Hudson to junior receiver Wes Chemblee pushed the score to 31-12 with 11 minutes left in the game.

With the loss, Wash. U. drops to 2-3 for the season. The season continues at Francis Field on Saturday, Oct. 17, against Wooster College (3-2). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

“[Our defensive performance] gives us a lot of confidence from here on out, to know that we can hang with one of the top 10 teams in the nation,” Berryman said, “So that gives us confidence going into the next few games against Wooster and then heading into conference play that we can go out and dominate all these offenses, because we’re not going to face another offense this good.”

Junior wide receiver Tim Johnson goes for a reception in an Oct. 11, 2008, game versus Wabash College. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

The Washington University football team looks to a strong start and an even better finish after last season’s disappointing end.

Despite falling one game short of winning a share of the University Athletic Association championship, the Bears managed a 5-5 record, failing to record a winning season for the first time in 15 years. Returning 17 starters, the team hopes to ride a core of veteran experience to victory in 2009.

“I hope people like what they see from us. I think they will,” head coach Larry Kindbom said. “I’m confident that we’re doing the right things.”

The “right things” include a vastly improved defense from last season. In 2008, many of the Bears’ defensive starters were inexperienced, leading to national rankings of 122nd in rushing defense and 66th in pass defense. All 11 starters, three of them new, have been working on cutting down on rushing yards allowed, with much success.

“You can definitely tell in practice that experience is showing,” senior linebacker and co-captain Andrew Berryman said. “We’re all pretty excited about this upcoming season, especially all the seniors on defense because it’s probably one of the better defenses we’ve had in the past.”

These veterans will have to guide the team through a tough schedule, highlighted by matchups against preseason No. 18 Wabash College and No. 16 Case Western Reserve University. The Bears will play Wabash on Oct. 10 and conference rival Case Western Reserve during the last game of the year.

“Our conference doesn’t get an automatic bid, so we need to have some quality wins,” Berryman said.

Junior Mitchel Bartel will take over at quarterback for 2009 graduate Buck Smith. Bartel had limited playing time last season as a backup, throwing for 278 yards in seven games. According to Kindbom, the offense will rely on a run-heavy attack, headed by Glenn and junior Jim O’Brien. The two running backs combined for 864 rushing yards in 2008 but have reason to expect much more this year.

“Everything starts…with our offensive line. We’ve got a really experienced offensive line…and that is really going to help us out this year, not to mention the experience in the backfield too,” senior running back and co-captain Matt Glenn said. “That experience is just really going to take us far.”

O’Brien, one of the leaders of the special teams unit, is looking to make a big impact in games this season. Last year, he returned 526 yards on kickoffs, including a return for a touchdown on the opening kickoff of the very first game.

“Returning [kickoffs] is a good opportunity to make or break the game,” O’Brien said. “There’s no way of knowing…but you just got to go out there, thinking like you can make a big play, no matter what.”

Along with O’Brien, sophomore punter Austin Morman is a big part of the unit. In his freshman year, Morman ranked 13th in Division III in punting, averaging 40.41 yards per punt.

“We have some really good specialists; an outstanding punter, an outstanding place kicker,” Kindbom said. “All those guys, we think, are going to be as good as [anyone] you’re going to find at any program in the country.”

“We’ve definitely got one of the best teams we’ve had here at Wash. U. in a while, and I think definitely one of our goals has been ‘Be a top-10 team,’” Glenn said. “That starts with winning the UAA championship, making the playoffs and then just being a top-ranked team.”

Despite these long-term goals, no member of the team is looking too far ahead.

“For us…we really are trying to take everything one step at a time,” Kindbom said. “We play so many good football teams on our schedule…I’ve got to look at this and say, ‘Let’s take care of business today.’”

The Red and Green start the difficult journey toward a championship at home this Saturday against Greenville College. Last season, the Bears beat the Panthers 22-0. Kickoff at Francis Field is scheduled for 7 p.m.