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.