St. Louis, Mo., October 9, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis football team defeated Illinois Wesleyan, 38-22, on Saturday afternoon at Francis Olympic Field. The Bears are now 3-2 overall and 3-1 in the CCIW.

After forcing a four-and-out on Illinois Wesleyan's first drive, the Bears capitalized and put points on the board. The first scoring drive consisted of eight plays and 54 yards, lasting 2:28.

Emmanuel Ebirim started things off with a five-yard run before quarterback Matt Rush hit Cole Okmin for at 16-yard pass, putting WashU on the 38 for a first down. Rush then hit Collin Goldberg for a 32-yard pass, moving the Bears up to the six-yard line. Ebirim ran for another five yards putting WashU one yard away from a touchdown. Okmin finished the job with a one-yard run and kicker Chris Vartanian converted his extra-point attempt, giving the Bears a 7-0 edge with 11:12 left in the first quarter.

The Titans answered back with their own touchdown on the next drive, made up of four plays and 70 yards.

Hamid Bullie had three-straight runs for six, four and two yards, respectively. At their own 42, quarterback Sage Shindler hit Wesley Watson for a 58-yard touchdown pass and Andrew Stange's extra-point attempt was good to even things, 7-7, with 9:18 left in the first quarter.

The Bears, however, added another touchdown on their next drive, moving 75 yards on nine plays.

Rush had the first gain of the drive, running for 30 yards for a first down at the Bears 43. Kenvorris Campbell moved WashU up with a six-yard run and Rush hit Jack Jopes for an eight-yard pass. Rush then found Campbell for a 17-yard catch to give the Bears a first down at the IWU 26.

WashU was pushed back due to a penalty, but Rush hit Jared Harrison for a 37-yard touchdown catch. Vartanian's extra-point attempt was good, putting WashU in the lead again, 14-7.

The Bears' defense shined on the Titan's next drive. In a third-and-nine situation, JT Streepy intercepted Shindler's pass intended for Cole Walker to give WashU possession.

After WashU turned it over on downs, Illinois Wesleyan went on to open the second quarter with another touchdown to tie things up, 14-14, following a 12-play, 56-yard drive.

Bullie started the drive with a run for a loss of one yard before Anthony Marre ran for 13 yards to earn a first down at their own 43. Bullie ran again for a gain of five and Shindler hit Charlie Hamilton for a 15-yard pass.

After another four-yard run from Bullie, Shindler hit Bullie for six and eight-yard passes, respectively. Marre moved the Titans up three yards for a first down at the three-yard line. Another two-yard pass from Shindler to Seth Albin cut that down to one yard and Bullie ran the final yard for a touchdown. Stange's kick attempt was good to even things up.

The Bears' next drive lasted 10 plays and 5:18, but only consisted of 33 yards and they ended up punting the ball. Illinois Wesleyan followed with a similar drive that lasted nine plays and 45 yards, ending in a punt.

WashU had the first drive of the third quarter, scoring in five plays for a 75-yard gain.

Rush hit Goldberg for an eight-yard pass and Ebirim ran for nine yards to give the Bears a first down at their own 42. Rush then found Collin Hoyhtya for a 26-yard completion to put WashU at the 32.

Goldberg then caught a 32-yard pass from Rush to score with 13:43 left in the third quarter. Vartanian converted the extra point, giving the Bears a 21-14 advantage.

After several scoreless drives on both sides, the Bears reached the end zone again on an 11-play, 84-yard drive that lasted 4:56.

Ebirim started off with a five-yard gain and Rush hit Goldberg for a 26-yard pass for a first down at the Bears 47. Ebirim then ran for one yard and Rush found Danny Taylor for a five-yard pass. Goldberg moved the Bears forward with a 17-yard catch from Rush, putting WashU at the 30 for a first down.

Rush was sacked for a loss of three yards but Ebirim made up for it with a 30-yard run followed by a two-yard gain to put the Bears at the one-yard line. Okmin ultimately scored for WashU with 43 seconds left in the quarter. Vartanian's successful kick put the Bears up 28-14.

On the first drive of the fourth quarter, Illinois Wesleyan reached the WashU 44 but John Christensen forced a fumble which was recovered by Langston Laramore-Josey to give the Bears possession.

WashU then added another touchdown, with just one play that totaled 65 yards. Campbell broke through the pack to run for a 65-yard touchdown for a career-high. Vartanian's kick was good, pushing the Bears' lead to 35-14 with 12:28 remaining.

The Titans made it to the WashU 20 on the following drive, but the Bears' defense stopped them two yards short of a first down to take possession.

Ebirim started out WashU's six-play, 61-yard drive with an 11-yard gain. He then broke free for a 48-yard gain to put the Bears at the 19. Ultimately, Vartanian added three more points for the Bears, kicking a 34-yard field goal with 5:42 left, boosting WashU's lead to 38-14.

On the following drive, Illinois Wesleyan went 75 yards in five plays to add more points on the board.

Following two incomplete passes, Shindler hit Zack Tencza for a 10-yard gain and a first down at the IWU 35. Shindler found Tencza again for a 58-yard pass to move up to the WashU seven-yard line. The two connected for a third-straight time for a seven-yard touchdown pass. The Titans went on to attempt a two-point conversion, which was successful as Shindler ran it into the end zone with 4:13 remaining.

WashU totaled 541 yards of offense, consisting of 265 yards passing and 248 yards rushing. Illinois Wesleyan had 442 total yards with 264 yards passing and 178 yards rushing.

Rush finished 19-for-29 with 265 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Ebirim led the Bears with 138 yards rushing on 15 attempts for an average of 9.2 yards per gain. Campbell finished with 87 yards on eight attempts for an average of 10.6 yards per gain.

Goldberg tallied 115 receiving yards on five catches for a 23.0 yards-per-catch average. Hoyhtya had 47 receiving yards on three catches and Harrison totaled 37 receiving yards on one catch.

Defensively, Christensen finished with eight solo tackles and one assist for a total of nine plus one forced fumble while Streepy had eight total tackles including seven solo as well as one tackle for a loss and one interception. Kyle Schroeder had seven total tackles including six solo while Andrew Whitaker finished with seven solo tackles.

Anthony Brown had one tackle for a loss while Matthew Schmal finished with one sack, one tackle for a loss and two pass breakups. Jamel Streater had one sack and two tackles for a loss. Brad Hamilton also had an interception against the Titans.

WashU hits the road for the next two weeks, starting with a 1 p.m. game at Augustana next weekend, followed by a 6 p.m. game at Millikin on October 23.