How WU’s quarterback went from never playing in college to leading a team that’s 4-2

| Staff Reporter
A football player in a red jersey and the number 17 in white slides to the ground as he leans to his right. Two players in white jerseys chase after him.

Junior quarterback Matt Rush slides to the ground following a run against North Park in September. Rush has passed for 1475 yards through six games this season. (Photo by Curran Neenan/Student Life)

The Washington University football team has experienced many highs and lows early in the season. From a 41-7 win over North Park to a devastating 40-10 loss at the hands of Wheaton, the Bears have shown their best and worst colors in their first games under head coach Aaron Keene. A bright spot for WashU has been junior quarterback Matt Rush. In his first season of action at WashU, Rush has taken nearly every snap for the Bears and performed exceptionally, posting a 65.3% completion percentage and a 148.6 passer rating. Student Life sat down with the quarterback earlier this month to get his perspective on the season and his goals moving forward, among other things.

This interview has been edited slightly for clarity and length

Student Life: This is your first real college playing time after the pandemic has cut your first seasons short. What has helped adjust to the college game?

Matt Rush: I think what’s helped me the most is the great coaching staff. We have great personnel so it makes my job easy when we have great receivers, a great offensive line, and a coaching staff with great protocols. That’s really helped but it’s definitely a lot different coming in playing after not having a season last year, not really getting much playing time.

SL: Have you always known football is the sport for you, or did you play any other sports growing up?

MR: I played basically every sport, but in high school I played basketball and football. Basketball and football were the biggest sports for me and my family growing up. I have three sisters and a brother. I’m the youngest of five so we were always out in the backyard, playing basketball and really any sport we could think of, just competing with each other to see who was the best.

SL: Has that competitive battling with your siblings made you a better athlete?

MR: Oh yeah, definitely. I feel like we can’t even play a normal card game without it getting heated, so I definitely think that helped me a lot. Getting pushed around in the backyard helped me learn how to compete and stand up for myself.

SL: Do any of your siblings play college sports also?

MR: I had two sisters that played college basketball and my brother played spring football, which is normal football but everybody’s below 175 pounds.

SL: With the way the pandemic has separated from the team, how has the team been able to come together and play so well?

MR: It was definitely odd last year; every time we would start to get into the groove with practicing during the spring, COVID would happen and we would have to take a stepb ack and take time off, but being back in-person during summer camp helped the team gel and connect. We were spending a lot of time with each other, and you really get to know people when you’re with them for that long, so having that leading into the season helped us create chemistry and make up for lost time.

SL: What’s one fact that your teammates might not know about you?

MR: I feel like the one I always go to is that I broke my jaw, playing frisbee in high school, not football which surprises some people.

SL: What else do you like to do in your free time other than school or football?

MR: I like to hang out with friends, spend time with my family. I like to listen to music too. And I also like to read. Just like casually. If I’m not too burned out from, you know, reading textbooks. I like a lot of similar action novel type books where it’s a James Bond type of guy now. I’ve read a bunch of those, even though it’s pretty much always the same plot.

SL: What type of music do you like to listen to?

MR: I like to think I have diverse taste, I like a lot hip-hop and some soft EDM, but hip-hop is the top one. In terms of artists, I feel like the basic answer is always Drake, I’m also a big J. Cole fan, so definitely those two are my top two artists

SL: It’s coach Keen’s first actual season, how has that adjustment been for both you and him?

MR: I think he’s done really well with it, and I definitely feel although it is his first year coaching there’s still some continuity because he came here my freshman spring. He’s been here for a year and a half, so that’s definitely helped. I think he’s doing a great job and we’ve all done a good job working together.

SL: Are there any particular opponents this year that you’re excited to face or any teams you think are going to a particularly tough opponent this year?

MR: We’re in a really good conference. Every week is a good opponent, a tough team, and we definitely have a good rivalry with all these teams.

SL: What are your goals for this year for the rest of the season?

MR: The biggest goal is to just win out from here on out, because I feel like, like you said, we’ve had two tough losses, two good wins. And I definitely think we have momentum going forward and I feel like that would be huge if we were able to keep winning.

SL: Finally, would you rather have to adopt a child every time you hear the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” or have fish for hands?

MR: I love a good would you rather, this is a good one. I think I would have to adopt a kid every time I hear “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I feel like fish for hands would be tough.

SL: For the fish for hands, you can control the fish, you’re able to control the mouth and pick stuff up and move the fins so it’s not like they’re just flopping around

MR: I still would have to adopt the children. I don’t hear the song that often, it’s a good song, but I don’t even remember the last time I’ve heard this song, I mean, hopefully if I hear it I can run out quick enough, you know, give it a second before the first note hits my ears.

SL: I just want to clarify that for every child you adopt, you have to support it into adulthood. The child is yours from birth and you have to support it for 18 years.

MR: Damn, I can’t adopt a 17 year old? I’m not sure then, that’s a really tough question. I didn’t realize I actually had to be a father and raise it fully. 

StudLife’s Athlete of the Week ‘Would You Rather Tracker?’: Bohemian Rhapsody: 2 – Fish: 0


Get to know more WashU sports stars:

From pole vaulting to speaking Norwegian, Ariana Miles does it all

Exploding Kittens and coffee: One receiver’s strong start with the Bears

Why Sergio Rivas, who leads men’s soccer with four goals in three games, says he peaked in middle school

 

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