Elle SU | Student Life

Before this week’s college football action, ESPN writer Bill Connelly compiled a composite ranking of all 665 college football programs. Connelly rated the Washington University Bears as the 332nd-best program in the country, good for 15th in Division 3 and even ranked higher than three Division 1 programs. 

All things considered, within the landscape of Division 3 football, it’s clear that Bears football is among the top programs in the nation. Unfortunately for WashU; they compete in the highly competitive College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW), largely considered the pinnacle of Division 3 football. What makes it even more challenging is that they share this conference with their arch-nemesis, North Central College, who have been a persistent thorn in the Bears’ side throughout their program’s history. North Central, boasting a remarkable ranking of 222nd according to Connelly, stands as the undisputed best in Division 3.

WashU’s frustrations reached their peak in their recent encounter with North Central, resulting in a lopsided 49-3 defeat – marking the Bears’ sixth consecutive loss to their rivals. What’s even more disheartening for WashU is that they haven’t managed to score a single touchdown against North Central since 2021.

Despite the lopsided scoreboard, it would be unfair to call this loss an abject failure on WashU’s behalf. Last year’s result was a disappointing shutout in front of a packed Francis Field, a game in which they looked outmatched in every facet of the game by the Cardinals. This year, WashU recorded nearly as many first downs as North Central, and WashU had eleven more minutes of possession than the Cardinals. North Central simply took advantage of every opportunity when they did have the ball. The Cardinals averaged over 10 yards per play, did not punt on any of their drives, and found the end zone on all seven of their drives throughout the entire game. 

The biggest difference-maker for either team was run defense. North Central found their way through holes in the Bears’ defense for a staggering 351 yards on the ground on 34 attempts. The Cardinals stopped the Bears’ rush with ease, holding WashU to just 29 rushing yards on 35 attempts. While North Central had more difficulty stopping quarterback Matt Rush, who completed 13 passes of 20 tries, the Bears’ quarterback was sacked at five crucial moments. Junior Clark Stephens was successful in relief, passing for 55 yards and to an 80% completion rate. WashU’s sole scoring drive of the afternoon took up ten minutes of the second quarter, with the Bears marching down the field and slowly gaining yardage through short passes and runs. Graduate kicker Chris Vartanian sank a 35-yard field goal to put the Bears on the board, trimming the North Central lead to 14-3 towards the end of the half. Yet after a North Central score with just a minute to spare in the quarter, the Bears had no answer for North Central’s dominance on either side of the ball. 

With the loss, WashU moves to 5-2 on the year, a mark which all but eliminates them from the Division 3 playoffs – the nationwide March Madness-esque tournament which North Central won last season. A strong performance against remaining CCIW opponents Elmhurst University, Wheaton College, and Carroll University could see the Bears sneak into the CCIW’s Isthmus Bowl, though they would need to leapfrog Augustana College, who they recently lost to, in the conference standings to have a shot at the bowl game. 

WashU will face Elmhurst on Saturday at Francis Olympic Field, a must-win game for WashU against a struggling Blue Jays team.