Anthony Jacuzzi
Successful season, complete defensive domination, and an 8-2 record…all things we would associate with a playoff team. But these attributes were too little for the Washington University Bears football team to receive recognition.
The Division III selection committee, which annually gives playoff bids to team they feel are worthy of competing for the Division III crown, decided against rewarding a WU team which has achieved a better record than each of the last two seasons.
Near midseason, the team was 4-2 and coming off a horrible loss to Trinity University in San Antonio Texas where kicker Jonathon Feig shanked four field goals and Bears went on to lose 28-3. The Bears decided that the only way to get to the playoffs would be to smoke their opponents on the final four games.
WU outscored Carnegie Mellon, University of Rochester, University of Chicago and Colorado College 124-31 in these four games, including obliterating Rochester 46-0 and Colorado College 41-7. These scores would impress any onlooker, which left the Bears mystified by the decision to leave them out of the playoffs.
Either way, this was a Bears team that continued the well-laid traditions of past Bears teams, believing in hard work and practice until the final disheartening decision was made.
Evan Noetzel, one of the many ballcarriers for the Bears commented, “We were obviously disappointed in the decision, but overall we are more than happy with how the season went.”
“The selection committee was obviously looking for certain criteria and it is hard knowing how close we came. But this does not take away from our season at all,” said Noetzel.
Noetzel’s disappointment most definitely reflects that of the entire squad, as the team worked extremely hard for three months only to be let down after a stellar 8-2 record. This decision leaves a bad taste in the mouths of all Bears fans, but will not take away from the triumphs the Bears did experience this fall.
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