The Bears struggled against the offensive prowess of North Central (Photo by Clara Richards | Student Life)

Even freezing temperatures and a snow-covered field could not extinguish the trail of progress that WashU Football blazed all season.

Although the Bears fell 31-24 to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons, this year’s Isthmus Bowl performance was an improvement from the 48-27 loss to the same team, in the same bowl game, just one season ago.

And perhaps more importantly, the game showcased the program’s bright future. Sophomore quarterback Clark Stephens, helming the offense from the start for just the second time in his career, threw for over 400 yards and tallied one touchdown. Sophomore running back Kenneth Hamilton totaled 113 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. Sophomore Collin Goldberg served as Stephens’ primary target throughout the game, accumulating 198 yards on eight receptions.

For the program to build on this year’s success, these three — as well as other young players — will need to take the next step forward. Offensively, this means filling the shoes of senior quarterback Matt Rush, who has been QB1 for the past two seasons and finished this year with 28 total touchdowns, over 2200 passing yards and ranked eighth in the country in passing efficiency. It also means accounting for the production of senior wideout Cole Okmin, whose 482 yards and six receiving touchdowns were both third most on the team.

Losses in such productivity will occur on the defensive side of the ball, too. Seniors Gus Christensen, Matthew Schmal, Kieran Conjar, and Connor Burke — the team’s top-four leading tacklers — have all likely played their final snaps for the Bears, so figuring out how to replicate their defensive prowess will have to be a key point of emphasis moving forward.

But that’s a problem for a date a few months down the line. Before that happens, it’s more important to consider how this season played out.

If there was one word to describe the Bears’ offense this season, it would be efficiency. In 40 fewer plays compared to the 2021 campaign, the team totaled over 550 more total yards of offense — allowing for the team to score nearly 11 more points per game this season. Despite the stellar numbers from the aforementioned Rush, where the Bears realized much of their offensive improvement was on the ground; toting the pigskin over 40 fewer times compared to last season, the Bears’ rushing attack accumulated almost 200 more yards. From third and fourth down conversion percentages to red zone scoring efficiency, the numbers spiked across the board.

These numbers (“counting statistics,” as they’re often bemoaned) are only part of the story, though. Sure, the team scored more points, played stouter defense and finished with one more win compared to last season, but the Bears failed to beat the Wheaton Thunder for the third consecutive season and North Central College Cardinals for the fifth consecutive season. These division opponents are perennial powerhouses not just in the CCIW but in the country: the Cardinals haven’t had a losing season since 2001 (along with a national championship in 2019), while the Thunder haven’t finished under .500 since 1997.

Beating these teams, then, would signpost true progress for the Bears. Even though the Bears’ two regular season losses this season came in games against these teams, it should thus be promising that the team narrowed the margin of defeat against the Cardinals and lost by just one possession against the Thunder.

The Bears line up for their first scrimmage of the season (Photo by Clara Richards | Student LIfe)

It’s been four years since the Bears won against a ranked opponent. In 2019, the team headlined a 21-0 victory against Illinois-Wesleyan University after losing to the team for three consecutive years, but IWU was not ranked in the top 25 at the time. You’d have to look back one more year to 2018, when quarterback Johnny Davidson led a team that successfully upstaged no. 12 Wheaton (Illinois). The Bears’ struggle to get to the NCAA tournament speaks to the quality of the CCIW opponents; North Central hasn’t lost a conference game since 2018, and Wheaton has been a lock for a ‘Pool C’ at-large bid.  The combination of those two midwestern powerhouse programs has successfully kept the Bears out of the postseason for the second year in a row.

By almost all metrics, it’s clear that the trail of progress is ablaze. Now the Bears have to do is fan the flames.