Jeff Kahntroff/Student LifeIn a game characterized by turnovers, field position, and single-season records, the Washington University football team won every battle at the University of Rochester Saturday. The Bears defense forced six Yellowjacket turnovers, including five interceptions, en route to a 28-14 victory. The victory, which was the third straight for the Bears, secures the team at least a tie for the UAA title.
Forced turnovers led to great field position for the Bears offense, and it responded by executing and converting the turnovers into points. In the first quarter, following an interception by sophomore defensive back John Woock, sophomore place kicker Ben Lambert converted a 35-yard field goal as the Bears struck first, going on top 3-0.
After sophomore linebacker Joe Rizzo intercepted the Yellowjackets’ freshman quarterback Pat Manuel for the second time in as many possessions, Bears freshman quarterback Nathan Szep hit sophomore tailback Toby Neighbors on a 42-yard screen pass for the first touchdown of the game. However, an excessive celebration penalty pushed the extra point back 15 yards, and Lambert’s kick was blocked, so the Bears lead remained 9-0.
“You can’t plan on six turnovers. We felt our defense could shut down the run and the air with success, but our ability to give the offense opportunities was the difference,” said head coach Larry Kindbom.
After the Yellowjackets cut the margin to 9-6, Lambert extended the Bears lead to 12-6 on a 25-yard field goal. The scoring drive was set up by sophomore linebacker Ryan Jakusz’s interception, the Bears’ third of the game.
On their opening drive of the second half, Szep wasted no time hitting freshman wideout Brad Duesing on a 62-yard touchdown pass to increase the Bears lead to 19-6. Duesing finished the game with five receptions for 146 yards and a touchdown.
On the Yellowjackets’ next possession, Rizzo picked off Manuel, for the second time in the game, which led to 20-yard Lambert field goal to extend the lead to 22-6. With the chip shot, Lambert set the record for field goals in a season with 14. The Yellowjackets then drove deep into Bear territory, but junior defensive back Tory Meyr had the Bears fourth interception of the day to end the Yellowjackets comeback hopes.
The Bears put the game away for good when Szep hit junior wideout Blake Westra with a 10-yard TD pass just six minutes into the fourth quarter. After the extra point was blocked, the Bears led 28-6.
The weather, which was anticipated to be an unfavorable mix of snow and wind, was not a factor in deterring the passing game. Instead, the Bears’ main difficulty on offense was consistency.
“We were a little inconsistent,” said Kindbom. “We would have one guy miss a block here, then a back would make a wrong cut here. It wasn’t anything strategically or anything they did to take it away.”
With 244 yards passing on the day, Szep accumulated 2,112 yards for the season, breaking the WU single-season passing yardage record of 2,101. He finished the game 14-24 with three touchdowns.
“We didn’t even know that. In fact, somebody actually told me this [Sunday] morning. He’s done a very good job, but our receivers and the offensive lineman did a great job creating for him,” said Kindbom.
As for the Yellowjackets, Manuel had almost as many completions to the Bears defense as he did to his own offense. He completed only six passes in 14 attempts to go along with his four interceptions. The only bright spot for the Rochester offense was on the ground. As a team, they ran for 214 yards on 48 carries. Senior tailback John Breedy led the Rochester running attack with 95 yards on 19 carries.
The Rochester run defense was successful, holding the Bears leading rusher, Neighbors, to just 45 yards on 15 rushes.
“We felt that they were better defensively than the last few teams we played,” said Kindbom. “Against the run they had more players. They were a little quicker than Chicago and Case Western. They made some good plays, and we just didn’t make some of the blocks we needed to make.”
After a start of the season which featured three overtime losses in a four game span, the Bears will need to be in top form when playing for sole possession of the UAA championship this Saturday at noon on Francis Field against the Carnegie Mellon Tartans.