Football | Sports
Football dominates on both sides in 27-7 win over Elmhurst
Running back Emmanuel Ebirim looks toward the defense in the Bears’ win over North Park earlier this month. (Photo by Curran Neenan | Student Life)
After a bumpy start to the season with a loss to the University of Chicago, the Washington University football team seems to have settled into an early rhythm. The Bears traveled to Illinois this weekend to face CCIW opponent Elmhurst University and came home with a commanding 27-7 win, improving their record to 2-1 on the season.
True to head coach Aaron Keen’s aggressive offensive style, the Bears let it fly on offense to great success on Saturday. Elmhurst defenders struggled to cover consistently, leaving receivers open for junior quarterback Matt Rush to hit. Short passes on the outside opened the run game early and later allowed for deeper plays, such as a 47-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Jared Harrison in the third quarter.
Rush continues to impress under center, demonstrating poise in the pocket and leading a strong Bears passing attack. He finished 23-35 with 241 passing yards, a quarterback rating of 151.8 and three touchdowns, his third straight game with three passing touchdowns. “When he’s in command, everything flows on the offense,” junior wide receiver Cole Okmin said.
Okmin found the end zone twice on the day, and he appears to be developing into an early favorite target for Rush, leading the team in receptions, yards and touchdowns; the receiver caught seven passes for 79 yards on Saturday. “They came out with a few different looks than we were expecting, and took us a little bit to adjust, but it really wasn’t anything special this week,” Okmin said. “We thought if we stuck to our basic plays and basic assignments that we were the better team, and [we] would beat them.”
Senior linebacker Anthony Brown logged the only turnover on the day with an interception in the third quarter, and the Bears defense held strong all game, limiting Elmhurst to less than 200 yards of offense.
Perhaps most important to their future success is the trend of their turnover rate. While two key interceptions sunk the Bears in their season opener, they have since been more careful with the ball. Last Saturday’s win featured only one fumble that led to no points, and this weekend, the Bears finished the game spotless.
The Bears face their toughest challenge yet next Saturday with a home matchup against No. 5 Wheaton College at 6 p.m. on Francis Field. If they want to pull off an upset, they will have to keep their game as sharp as it was this weekend. Okmin echoed that sentiment. “We have to eliminate our mistakes — it doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” he said. “We know we’re capable of beating them.”
Catch up on how the football team got to this point:
‘Building from the ground up’: Football prepares to start the Keen era
Football dominates North Park for Keen’s first win as a WashU head coach