Decatur, Ill., October 23, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis football team dominated Millikin on Saturday evening en route to a 55-13 win over the Big Blue. The Bears are now 5-2 on the season and 5-1 in CCIW action.

Junior Cole Okmin led the Bears with five touchdowns – four receiving and one rushing – which was just one short of tying the school record for most touchdowns in a game. Quarterback Matt Rush's six touchdown passes ties the school record, previously set by Bud Schwenk in 1941 and JJ Tomlin in 2016.

The Bears put the first points on the board on their second drive of the game, which consisted of 11 plays and 50 yards.

Tennyson Holmes started things off with a six-yard rush and Okmin caught a nine-yard pass for a first down on the Millikin 44. Holmes ran again for another two yards and then caught a three-yard pass from Rush. Okmin caught another nine-yard pass to put the Bears at the 25 before Holmes ran for a six-yard gain.

Rush Followed that with a 15-yard pass to Jared Harrison to put WashU on the four yard line. Rush hit Okmin for the final four yards and junior kicker Chris Vartanian's extra-point attempt was good to put WashU up 7-0 with 6:37 left in the first quarter.

WashU ended up punting on its next possession, but regained the ball when John Christensen intercepted Cal Pohrte's pass at the 42. The Bears took advantage, scoring in a three-play drive.

The Bears moved up 15-yards to the 27 following a pass interference call on Millikin before Holmes ran for four yards. Rush hit Collin Hoyhtya for an eight-yard gain and followed that up with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Hoyhtya. Vartanian's kick was good, extending WashU's lead to 14-0 with 12 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

On the following play to open up the second quarter, Millkin cut WashU's lead in half with a touchdown following a seven-play, 85-yard drive.

Pohrte hit Jahlil Lipkin for a 16-yard pass before Marion McGhee ran for back-to-back gains of eight and four yards, respectively. Pohrte hit Lipkin for a 50-yard pass for a first down at the seven yard line. McGhee was tackled for a loss of one by Nate Light, but Pohrte found Colton Lockwood for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Tyson Roedl's extra-point attempt was good, cutting the Bears' lead to 14-7.

WashU answered right back on the following drive, scoring following a six-play, 59-yard drive that lasted just 1:32.

Emmanuel Ebirim started things off with a one-yard gain and followed that up with a 16-yard run and a 10-yard run. The Bears also moved up another 15 yards to the 17 following a Millikin face mask penalty. Ebirim moved the Bears forward another four yards to the 13 and Rush hit Okmin for a 13-yard touchdown. Vartanian's kick was good, boosting WashU's lead to 21-7 with 11:31 left in the second quarter.

The Big Blue scored on their next drive, which lasted 4:55 and was made up of 14 plays and 75 yards.

McGhee started things with a four-yard gain and Pohrte hit Stephen Gudino for a four-yard pass. McGhee had another six-yard run before Pohrte found Antonio Brown for a nine-yard pass.

McGhee rushed for four yards and Roedl followed that with four yards. Pohrte hit Lipkin for a nine-yard pass and Brown for a six-yard gain to put Millikin on the 29. Roedl rushed for two yards and Pohrte connected with Gudino for a 26-yard pass to give the Big Blue a first down at the one yard line. Lontas McClinton finished the job, running for one yard into the end zone for a touchdown. Roedl's extra-point attempt was good, cutting the Bears' advantage to 21-13 with 6:36 left in the first half.

Following drives that proved fruitless for both team, the Bears scored again on a two-play, 49-yard drive.

Rush connected with Collin Goldberg for a 29-yard pass for a first down at the 20. He followed that up with a 20-yard pass to Goldberg for a touchdown. Vartanian's kick was once again good, giving the Bears a 28-13 lead with 3:14 remaining in the first half.

At the end of the second quarter, Connor Burke intercepted Pohrte's pass, giving WashU the possession, but the clock ran out before the Bears could capitalize.

WashU wasted no time in putting more points on the board, scoring on its first drive of the third quarter following a six-play, 59-yard drive.

Ebirim ran for a 13-yard gain for a first down at the 46. Holmes then ran for a total of 13 yards on four attempts to put the Bears on the 33. Rush found Okmin in the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown pass and Vartanian's kick was good, stretching the Bears' lead to 35-13 with 11:57 on the clock.

The Bears scored again less than a minute later on a three-play, four-yard drive.

Rush found Goldberg for a five-yard gain and Holmes ran for seven yards to give the Bears a first down at the 35. Okmin caught a 28-yard pass from Rush in the end zone for another touchdown which pushed WashU's lead to 41-13 with 11:06 on the clock.

The Bears continued to dominate on both sides of the ball, as WashU's defense stopped the Big Blue five yards short of a first down to regain possession. The Bears went on to score on the following drive after an eight-play, 62-yard drive.

A personal foul on Millikin moved WashU up to the 47 prior to the drive and Brendan Morrissey ran for one yard. Another personal foul on Millikin brought the Bears to the 32 and Morrissey ran for another one-yard gain.

Rush connected with Toby Clark for a 19-yard pass for a first down on the 12. Morrissey ran for eight yards bringing the Bears to the four-yard line and Okmin closed out the drive with a four-yard touchdown run. Vartanian's kick was good, extending the Bears' lead to 48-13 with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

On the ensuing Millikin drive, Kyle Schroeder intercepted the ball at the WashU 40 to give the Bears possession. WashU ended up punting on that possession to end the third quarter, but the Bears once again regained control on the Big Blue's fourth quarter-opening drive as Sam Mattecheck grabbed the fourth interception of the game at the WashU 18.

Although WashU ended up punting on the ensuing drive, the Bears put pressure on Millikin, ultimately forcing a long snap over the punter's head. Gus Christensen recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown and Vartanian's kick was good, giving the Bears the 55-13 advantage which would hold to the end of the game.

Offensively, WashU had 371 yards of total offense with 224 yards passing and 147 yards rushing. The Big Blue finished with 307 total yards of offense with 231 passing and 76 rushing.

Rush finished 16-for-25 on the day with 224 yards and six touchdowns. 

Okmin had six catches for 96 yards and one rush attempt for four yards, scoring five touchdowns on the day. Goldberg finished with 54 yards on three catches and one touchdown and Hoyhtya had two catches for 23 yards and one touchdown.

Holmes led the Bears on the ground with 62 yards on 16 attempts for an average of 3.9 yards per rush. Ebirim ran for 48 yards on seven attempts and Morrissey had 21 yards on 12 attempts.

Defensively, Jamel Streater finished with five solo tackles and one assist plus one sack and two tackles-for-a-loss. JT Streepy had four solo tackles and one assist while Nolan Schmidt finished with three solo tackles and one assist as well as two tackles-for-a-loss. Mattecheck, Burke, Schroeder and John Christensen each had an interception.

WashU returns home next Saturday, October 30 for a 1 p.m. game against Carroll which is part of Parent and Family Weekend.