Football | Sports
Football struggles on both sides in 40-10 loss to Wheaton
Sophomore wide receiver Collin Hoyhtya extends his arm for a catch against North Park in September. Hoyhtya scored the Bears’ only touchdown Saturday against Wheaton. (Photo by Curran Neenan/Student Life)
The Washington University football team entered Saturday’s matchup against No. 5 Wheaton College seeking to extend a two-game winning streak. The Bears left the game, however, needing to start a new one, as a combination of offensive and defensive struggles led to a 40-10 blowout loss that brought the team to 2-2 on the season.
Wheaton’s rushing attack gashed the Bears’ defense throughout the game. The thrashing began with an 11-yard rushing touchdown just over three minutes into the game and was topped off with a 73-yard touchdown run that put the game out of hand near the end of the third quarter. Wheaton deployed a run-heavy game plan all night, finishing with 207 yards on the ground in total, exhausting the WashU defense.
Head coach Aaron Keen attributed part of this subpar defensive performance to fatigue, noting how “playing too many plays” likely left defensive players tired. “Offensively, we’ve gotta keep their offense off the field by maintaining possession, getting first downs and being able to get some drives going,” Keen said. “I think the biggest thing is getting back to team football and being able to play where we can balance each other out and help each other.”
Keen was impressed by how the team did not stop fighting even after falling behind quickly. He said that going into halftime, he felt “really good about how [the] defense responded after a little bit of a rough start, giving up two touchdowns and [being] put in some bad situations.” Despite struggling to stop the run, the defensive unit showcased some dynamism by blocking a punt and forcing two sacks during the game.
Offensive struggles also haunted a Bears unit that managed just seven rushing yards and 153 yards total. Shoring up a porous offensive line that allowed six sacks against Wheaton and has allowed 13 sacks through four games must be a priority, as doing so will provide junior quarterback Matt Rush more time to progress through his reads and find open receivers. The duress Rush faced against the Thunder likely contributed to his low completion percentage and the Bears’ modest 146 passing yards — although ill-advised throws, dropped passes and ball security issues also hampered the offense. Besides a field goal in the third quarter, a Rush passing touchdown to sophomore Collin Hoyhtya with 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter was the Bears’ only scoring.
The team’s next matchup is Oct. 9 against Illinois Wesleyan (1-3) at 6 p.m. on Francis Field. Keen knows the team is looking to rebound in a major way. “I can tell you right now, we’ve got a lot of players in our locker room who are gonna be fired up to come back to practice Sunday and watch the film and get better,” he said. “[They’ll want to] get back on the field and get this sour taste out of their mouths.”
More on the WashU football team’s season:
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