Despite bolting out of the gate to a 17-0 lead, the Washington University football team fell short in its season opener at home and suffered a 31-24 defeat at the hands of Ohio Northern University.

Madelaine Azar | Student Life

Sophomore defensive back Dylan Newcomb returns a kickoff against Ohio Northern University on Saturday at Francis Field. Newcomb had six returns for 113 yards and recorded one tackle.

It was the third straight defeat in a season opener for the Bears, who lost to national power University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in their last two debuts. With one defeat already in its win-loss ledger, Wash. U. will hope that the rest of the season resembles last year’s 8-2 finish and playoff appearance rather than the previous season’s postseason miss.

The season’s start was promising for the Bears on both sides of the ball. On the first drive of the game, sophomore defensive lineman Josiah Situmeang recorded an interception off a deflection to give the Bears’ offense great field position. Capitalizing on the pick, sophomore quarterback J.J. Tomlin, making his first career start, led a nine-play drive that ended with an eight-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Will Smith. Junior kicker Alex Hallwachs later added a 36-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.

“Ohio [Northern] was gassed by our fast offensive pace,” Smith said. “They played a lot of man-to-man coverage and [Tomlin] did a great job of finding the open man. Our receivers got pretty good separation as well, but we weren’t making plays consistently enough.”

After the Bears added another touchdown early in the second quarter, Ohio Northern switched to an option offense and reeled off 24 straight points heading into the half. The Bears had difficulty shutting down Ohio Northern’s balanced offense, and Wash. U. allowed 249 yards in the second quarter alone. While senior linebacker Fade Oluokun said that the team has played against option offenses in the past, he said that a lack of consistency accounted for the defensive breakdowns.

“Sometimes we made tackles in the backfield and sometimes we made tackles 20 yards down the field after a long run, so consistency is a big thing for us moving forward,” Oluokun said. “We came out in the second half a little better schematically—we just need to work on tackling and fundamentals.”

In the third quarter, Ohio Northern tacked on another touchdown to stretch the lead to 31-17, but Tomlin capped a 74-yard touchdown drive with a two-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Zach Strittmatter, the latter’s second of the game.

Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, despite both teams having plenty of chances. With just fewer than four minutes left, junior defensive back Quincy Marting blocked Ohio Northern’s 31-yard field goal attempt to give the Bears’ offense one final chance to tie the game. The Red and Green eventually turned the ball over on downs, however, sealing an Ohio Northern victory.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Bears ran the ball 38 times but only had 120 yards to show for it, as senior running back Zach Lonneman racked up 54 yards while sophomore running back Austin Smestad added 48. The Bears found much more success passing the ball, as Tomlin was 28-42 with 228 yards and added three touchdowns without an interception. Overall, head coach Larry Kindbom was pleased with Tomlin’s decision-making and passing performance while leading the offense in his first career start.

“He was making some good plays, made some good passes, made some good decisions. I haven’t seen the film, but I’m eager to see what he does now, having his first start under his belt,” Kindbom said.

Defensively, senior linebacker Jonathan Paramore and senior defensive back Patrick Cantwell each tallied 13 tackles to emerge as the lone bright spots for a defense that gave up 492 total yards. While the Bears were unable to come back and earn the win in the season opener, Kindbom was optimistic about the team going forward once it finds an identity on defense.

“Obviously, there’s a little disappointment there, but in terms of the way we were playing, it was hard,” Kindbom said. “It’s fun to watch your offense score those points and control the football and move the ball, and I keep thinking that, defensively, when we begin to find that identity, we could have a pretty good situation here.”