Head coach Larry Kindbom and his Washington University football team stepped onto the green for the 311th and final time in his career on Saturday, looking to bounce back after a devastating overtime loss last weekend to Millikin University.

The Bears made the game one for Kindbom to remember, sending their head coach into retirement with a blowout victory over Carroll University, 62-14. Wash. U. finishes the season 7-3, their 24th winning season in Kindbom’s 31 years coaching the team.

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Senior Mitchell Groen finds an opening in the Augustana College defense. Groen added 36 yards to his career total against Carroll University Saturday, surpassing 1000 yards for his WU career.

“It was great for our seniors to be part of what was really a complete football game,” Kindbom said. “It was a great way to finish: offense, defense, special teams, playing well, playing sharp and feeling good when they left.”

Wash. U. had 550 yards of total offense, including a season-high 192 rushing yards, and the Bears’ defense—a strong suit throughout this season—kept clamps on the Pioneers, sacking the Carroll quarterback four times and grabbing three turnovers on the day.

An early defensive stop granted senior quarterback Johnny Davidson and company an excellent field position to start off their own first drive of the game, quickly leading to a one-yard rushing touchdown from senior running back John Fisher to open the scoring. The Bears soon added more, leading 17-0 by the end of the first quarter after a field goal and a 30-yard connection from Davidson to sophomore tight end Luke Wilkin.

The second quarter had more of the same from the offense. Freshman kicker Chris Vartanian kept the scoring going with a career-long 47-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20 points before Davidson found sophomore wide receiver Jared Harrison for two passing touchdowns in a row. Harrison ended his afternoon with 54 total receiving yards. Carroll answered with a short-yardage rushing touchdown of its own in the second quarter, but the Bears went into halftime with a commanding lead, 34-7.

Although the Wash. U. offense kept scoring, defense highlighted the second half. Senior linebacker Jeff Gurley sacked the Carroll quarterback midway through the third quarter, forcing a fumble that sophomore linebacker John Christensen recovered in the endzone for a touchdown. Then, with just over two minutes to play, senior linebacker Matt Giles intercepted a Pioneer pass and returned it 12 yards for a touchdown, putting an exclamation point on the win for the Bears.

“We came off of a tough loss and that was really hard and then we went into the cold weather—we were out there Tuesday morning at 6:30 after a tough loss. There were a lot of circumstances that could have made the week miserable, but it was totally the opposite,” Kindbom said. “Our players were sharp and focused and energized and it was really a good week of practice. All they did was take that to the ball game.”

Davidson finished off his career with a 296-yard passing performance, passing for three touchdowns. He ends his time at Wash. U. with 7400 career passing yards, placing him second all-time in school history.

Senior wide receiver Mitchel Groen also passed a milestone on Saturday, collecting 36 yards in to push him over 1000 career receiving yards. He finishes his career with 1013 yards.

“Knowing my last ever football game was over, I was thinking about how much my family has supported me and all the friends I’ve made through football. It has also made me think about the impact Coach K has had on me and countless other football players that he’s come in contact with,” Groen said. “Football has had such a large impact on my life the last 14 years, and it’s taught me lessons that I’ll carry with me throughout my life.”

Junior running back Emmanuel Ebirim led the charge with a game-high of 61 rushing yards, closely followed by Fisher with 52 yards.

Junior defensive back JT Streepy led the Wash. U. defense with 11 total tackles, followed by Gurley, who had eight tackles, which included two two sacks, four tackles for loss and the forced fumble.

Kindbom finishes his 31-year career at Wash. U. with a record of 192-119, a .617 winning percentage. He is the winningest coach in Wash. U. football history.

Additional reporting by Matthew Friedman.