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 running back Jim O’Brien eclipsed 1,000 career rushing yards in a Wash. U. 23-0 pounding of Rhodes College. O’Brien ran for a career-high 146 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. (Josh Goldman | Student Life)

Junior runningback Jim O’Brien answered those questions on Saturday, earning a career-high 146 rushing yards in the team’s 23-0 win over Rhodes College (2-3).

“[The win] added another level of confidence for the team,” O’Brien said. “Just knowing that we’re going to [stumble] no matter what…and just knowing that we can rebound like that shows a lot about the team and how we carry ourselves.”

The Bears (2-2) ran for a net 222 yards, a season high, and had a 378-273 offensive advantage over Rhodes.

“One of the stresses that we had early…this week was to come out fast and come out strong,” O’Brien said.

On the opening possession of the game, Rhodes threatened to score. With the ball at Wash. U.’s 9-yard line and positive yardage gained on all 13 plays of the drive, a touchdown seemed inevitable.

Senior defensive back Tim Machan intercepted an end-zone pass and returned it to the 33-yard line. The Bears had four interceptions in the game, while Machan led the defense with eight total tackles.

“We knew that we were backed up against the wall…in any situation, you’re hoping for a turnover, but we were just hoping to force a field goal,” Machan said. “Then the quarterback kind of overthrew the ball and I was in the right position for it.”

O’Brien took over the first quarter. With 4:25 left in the quarter, he punched in a 2-yard touchdown to give the Bears the lead. O’Brien’s 37-yard rush previously on the drive set up the score.

In the first half alone, O’Brien picked up 78 yards on nine carries. His performance broke the career 1,000-yard rushing mark.

“I think yesterday I just was able to get out into open space a little bit more,” O’Brien said.”The [offensive] line was just creating the holes…so I definitely give 100 percent credit to the line.”

An unsuccessful Lynx fake-punt led to Wash. U.’s next touchdown. Junior quarterback Stephen Sherman found sophomore receiver Easton Knott wide open in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown reception.

Senior halfback Greg Lachaud tacked on another six points with a 1-yard touchdown rush with 4:59 left in the third quarter. The seven-play, 76-yard drive came entirely on the ground.

Up 20-0 with 3:20 left in the game, sophomore Brandon Rogalski sealed the victory with a 29-yard field goal. The field goal was the Bears’ first successful kick in seven games.

“It feels very good to get the shutout, having the offense put points on the board, and the defense plays well,” Machan said.

Sophomore punter Austin Morman was key in the win, averaging 43.2 yards per kick, while Sherman went 11 for 17 for 113 yards and a touchdown.

“We went into the game knowing that field position and special teams were going…to be a big part of winning the game,” Morman said. “I just tried to put [the ball] as far back, inside the [20-yard line], as I could and hopefully giving the defense good position, so they could play as well as they did.”

The Bears will travel to Crawfordsville, Ind., on Saturday to take on No. 12 Wabash College (4-0).

“Yeah, they’re ranked…but we’ve got a feel for them,” O’Brien said. “We know that they’re not superhuman…that they’re just like us; that they’re just going out there to play.”

“We needed to get that score in because we needed to win that football game, and I think everyone knew that and knew that we had the capacity to do it,” Kentor said. “We just executed, gave it 100 percent, and we got in.”

The Bears’ 35-14 lead at the start of the fourth quarter was cut down in a span of 3 minutes and 47 seconds.

Westminster started the final quarter of the game quickly with a 2-yard touchdown run by sophomore Isaiah Mosley. After intercepting junior quarterback Mitchel Bartel, the Blue Jays connected on a 52-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Daniel Edison to junior receiver Carl Givens.

Westminster’s defense held Wash. U. to a three-and-out immediately after, while Givens scored the tying touchdown on only the second play of the drive.

“The big thing that the coaches had stressed to us at halftime is that we needed to finish. That’s what great teams do; they finish. They finish the game, they finish all the plays, and they don’t let these [games] slip away,” said junior quarterback Stephen Sherman, who made his first career start at that position. “At no point did we feel like we were ever going to lose that game…There wasn’t a doubt in mind.”

On the Bears’ first offensive play of the game, Sherman connected with senior halfback Greg Lachaud, who took the ball 43 yards for a touchdown with 11:46 left in the first quarter. The 7-0 lead was extended in the second quarter when senior receiver Matt Mangini caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Sherman.

On the ensuing drive by the Bears, Kentor ran the ball 22 yards for a touchdown, earning his team a 21-point lead.

“[Taking an early lead] was huge to give our offense the confidence we needed, just to show that we really are a good team, and that we can make some great things happen,” Kentor said.

Westminster showed some life in the first half, however, and after an interception off  Bartel, the Blue Jays managed to score on a 15-yard touchdown pass with only seven seconds left before the break.

A successful two-point conversion attempt made the score 21-8 at halftime.

With 5:03 remaining in the third quarter, O’Brien capped a 91-yard drive with a 22-yard touchdown run to push the lead to 28-8. Starting in place of injured senior co-captain Matt Glenn, O’Brien recorded 143 rushing yards, a career-high, on 28 carries.

“The [offensive line] did a great job at opening things up. They were just getting a great initial push and doing good work,” O’Brien said. “It was a lot of them just clearing things up and letting the backs get up to the secondary levels.”

Westminster scored after a punt return gave them the ball at the Bears’ 2-yard line, but senior Nick Vom Brack intercepted a pass from Eidson and returned it 28 yards for a touchdown to restore a 21-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Blue Jays threatened to score again with under two minutes to play after two costly personal fouls gave Westminster great field position, but Wash. U.’s defense strengthened on fourth and 4 yards to close out the victory.

Following a game against Greenville College in which the Bears managed to gain only 167 total offensive yards, the team rebounded in a big way with 430 total yards, 243 of which came on the ground.

“We were fired up,” Kentor said.”We had a good week in practice, and everyone knew their responsibilities and knew what we had to do to be a good football team.”
Washington University (1-1) takes on Wittenberg University (1-0) at home on Saturday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.