Sophomore tailback Maddox Duncan and the Bears qualified for the Culver’s Isthmus Bowl with a win over Augustana. (Ben Ganz | Staff Photographer)

The WashU football team defeated the Augustana College Vikings by a convincing score of 35-13, led by junior quarterback Levi Moore’s four rushing touchdowns, on Nov. 15. 

The program marked two important milestones in the win. Foremost, the Bears secured a spot in the Culver’s Isthmus Bowl on Nov. 22, where the Bears will face the University of Wisconsin–Stout. WashU also played its final conference game as a member of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) before it will join the North Coast Athletic Conference for the 2026 season. 

The Vikings started on offense but were thwarted by the Bears defense, who started strong. They stopped a 4th & 1 attempt at the Augustana 34, giving them prime field position. After the Bears  gained 16 yards and then lost 16 on the next play, Moore took off for a 34-yard touchdown to put the Bears up 7-0.

Both teams then traded scoreless drives, with the Bears defense once again coming up big to stop a 4th & 6 from their own 23-yard line. However, the Vikings then put together an 84-yard drive to even the score at 7-7, highlighted by a 40-yard pass, to end the first quarter. 

The second quarter started with the Bears coming out and scoring another touchdown to make it 14-7. First-year running back Brayden Lewis had two touches for 10 yards, and Moore once again made things happen on the ground. He rushed three times for 19 yards on the drive, including a 3-yard run for the score.

On the next drive, the Vikings made it all the way to the Bears’ 16-yard line before junior cornerback Cosmo Guion came up with a crucial interception with 2:35 left in the half. The Bears ran the rest of the clock down to take the game to halftime.

The third quarter of the game was scoreless, with all four drives resulting in punts. Going into the fourth quarter, however, the Bears added to their lead. After rushes of 23 and 10 yards, Moore punched it in from the 1-yard line for yet another rushing touchdown to make it 21-7.

Just two minutes later, the Bears scored again. On the resulting kickoff, Augustana fumbled on the return, and junior wide receiver Drew Bomar recovered the ball on the Vikings’ 27-yard line. Three plays later, on 4th & 1, Moore found the end zone with his legs for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game. The PAT was converted to make it 28-7.

The Bears defense had another 4th down stop in their own redzone, a recurring theme in the game as Augustana constantly tried to play catch-up. The Vikings got the ball back soon after, and they got their second touchdown of the game with a 50-yard run. The PAT was blocked, making it 28-13. 

The Vikings then attempted an onside kick, but junior tight end Nathan Bluhm recovered the ball and took it back for a touchdown, the Bears’ third of the quarter, sealing the final score of 35-13.

The game was a tale of WashU’s rushing attack, which accumulated 225 yards, versus Augustana’s pass game, which got 282 yards. Despite having less total offensive production than Augustana, with 292 yards to 336, the Bears pulled away for a fairly simple victory. The Bears have a week to prepare to take home the Isthmus Bowl, where they will face the top team in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) that failed to make the D-III football tournament — Wisconsin–Stout. While the Blue Devils lost four out of seven conference games, Stout’s losses are to some of the best teams in D-III; the WIAC is considered to be the best conference in the entire division. The Bears are favored in their final game representing the CCIW, but Stout marks a tough matchup for WashU.