 "Photo: Matt Mitgang | Student Life")
The Washington University football team suffered its third straight loss, falling 38-13 on the road, to the College of Wooster. The game was played in front of a crowd of 3,450 as Wooster’s homecoming game. The Bears are now 3-3 and will face The University of Ohio Wesleyan at home next week in the last game before conference play.
The Fighting Scots dominated every aspect of the game, holding Wash. U. to 11 first downs with only one third down conversion in 13 attempts. The Wooster offense outgained Wash. U. 489-237, with a 162-56 advantage on the ground.
"They really didn’t do a whole lot. It was really us making small mistakes here and there. We kind of stopped ourselves. They didn’t really stop us most of the game,” senior left guard Dan Elliot said. The team was penalized six times for 50 yards against Wooster.
Similarly to last week, the Red and Green played Wooster close during the first half. Wooster took the lead just more than four minutes into the game on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Austin Holter, who passed for a career high 327 yards, to freshman wide receiver Robert Flagg. The drive was set up by a 33-yard completion from Holter to freshman wide receiver Zack Gust on the first play from scrimmage.
Wash. U. answered back toward the end of the first quarter after an interception by junior defensive back Tim Olivos, giving the Bears the ball on the Wooster 28. Seven plays later, senior quarterback Buck Smith connected with sophomore wide receiver Tom Gulyas for an 11-yard touchdown. The score would be the Bear’s only offensive points of the game.
After an 11-yard touchdown pass from Holter to Mike Francescangeli early in the second quarter, safety Drew Makar answered with a 50-yard interception return for a touchdown to make the score 14-13 in favor of the Fighting Scots. The extra point attempt was blocked, ending the scoring for Wash. U.
Holter threw his third touchdown of the half with four seconds remaining to extend the lead to 21-13 at halftime. A fourth touchdown by Holter, a 23-yard field goal and an interception of Smith returned for a touchdown made the score 38-13.
“We left our defense on there so long… Our offense put a lot of pressure on our defense, and I think they just got worn down from being on the field for so long,” Gulyas said.
“They really just came out and stuck it to us in the second half. They adjusted well at halftime and really frustrated us on both sides of the ball. Nothing really was working for us in the second half,” junior defensive back Tim Machan said.
The team is in the midst of a three-game losing streak, a stretch that has exposed the need for more consistent play.
“We need to put everything together. We started the season really strong, and we kind of hit a rough spot. It’s not really that anything has changed. It’s just that stuff isn’t coming together like it should at this point in the season,” Machan said.
The team returns home on Saturday for a matchup with Ohio Wesleyan University before opening UAA play at home on November 1 against Carnegie Mellon University.
“We’re trying to focus as much as we can on winning our conference…Everyone is really looking forward to a break from buses,” Gulyas said.
