Rock Island, Ill. – The No. 24 Washington University in St. Louis football team defeated Augustana, 49-28, on Saturday afternoon to stay a perfect 6-0 on the season with a 5-0 mark in CCIW action.
 
This is just the fifth time in program history the Bears have gone 6-0 to start the season, last taking place during the 1995 season.
 
The Bears won the toss and deferred, giving Augustana the ball to begin the game. The Vikings Tyler Rivelli started things off with a three-yard rush. Quarterback Cole Bhardwaj found Rivelli for a four-yard gain. Following an incomplete pass that left them at third and three, the Vikings went for it but they lost two yards, fumbled, and turned it over.
 
WashU then scored on the following drive, starting with an 18-yard run from Kenneth Hamilton to the 15. Hamilton picked up another three yards and senior quarterback Matt Rush found Gabriel Sirek for the 12-yard touchdown. Senior Chris Vartanian's extra-point kick was good, giving the Bears a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game.
 
WashU's defense stopped the Vikings at their own 40 and forced them to punt the ball. The Bears turned around to make it a 14-0 game on the following drive.
 
Hamilton started the drive with a seven-yard gain and picked up a first down with another three-yard run. Rush launched a 55-yard touchdown pass to Collin Goldberg, which was followed by a Vartanian extra-point kick, extending the Bears' lead to 14-0 with 9:17 remaining in the first.
 
The Vikings went on to score on the next drive, cutting WashU's lead in half, 14-7. Jacob Brooks made the first run with eight yards and Bhardwaj hit Bobby Inserra for an 11-yard pass and first down. The pair connected again for a seven-yard pass before Jordan Vesey caught a 33-yard touchdown pass. Sidney Maroon's kick was good.
 
WashU quickly answered with another touchdown. The Bears started with a loss of two yards before Rush found Collin Hoyhtya for a 13-yard first down. Fred Ware ran for one yard and Rush followed with a 10-yard gain for a first down at the WashU 46. Ware picked up six yards and Rush hit Goldberg for 15 yards for another first down. Rush ran for five yards and Ware picked up 19 yards to put the Bears on the nine. Rush hit Hamilton for the nine-yard touchdown and Vartanian's kick was good to go up 21-7 with just over one minute left in the first quarter.
 
Augie started the final drive of the quarter with a Rivelli rush for five yards and Bhardwaj ran for a loss of 11 yards then fumbled. The ball was recovered by the Vikings, though, setting up their touchdown at the start of the second quarter. Bhardwaj opened the second with an 11-yard touchdown pass to Inserra and Maroon's extra point was good for a 21-14 WashU lead.
 
The Bears continued to show their offensive strength, scoring another touchdown on the following drive.
 
After a loss of five yards for a delay of game penalty, Rush connected with Hamilton for a 16-yard pass to the WashU 21. The next play resulted in a pass interference call on the Vikings, pushing the Bears to the 48 with a first down.
 
Hamilton ran for back-to-back gains of 16 and 11 yards, respectively, putting WashU on the eight yard line and Ware added five more yards to make it to the three. The Bears came out of their time out to score on a Hamilton run for three yards. Vartanian's kick attempt was successful, bumping WashU's lead to 28-14 with just over 12 minutes left in the half.
 
Augustana made it to the 26 on the next drive, but fumbled the ball and Grant Purdy recovered at the Bears' own 32. WashU was unable to do anything on its drive, only making it to the 50 before Rush's pass was intercepted by Josh Timm.
 
The Vikings used that momentum to score on the next drive, starting with a Bhardwaj seven-yard pass to Ian Gorken. The pair connected again for a nine-yard pass and first down before Rivelli lost two yards. Bhardwah drilled a 14-yard pass to Gorken for a first down and Inserra caught a 25-yard touchdown pass. Maroon's kick was good, cutting into WashU's lead 28-21 with 33 seconds left in the half.
 
The Bears opened the second half with the ball, but after only making it to their own 40, were forced to punt.
 
Rivelli ran for 11 yards to open Augie's next drive drive and then broke away for a 48-yard run, putting the Vikings on the 21. Brooks ran for nine yards and Rivelli moved the Vikings up another yard for a first down. Brooks added another yard before Bhardwaj found Craig Shelton for a 10-yard touchdown pass. Maroon's extra point was good, tying things up at 28-28.
 
WashU pulled ahead again on the following drive.
 
Rush started with a nine-yard pass to Hamilton and then a 17-yard throw to Treyton Lamphier for a first down. Hamilton ran for a total of seven yards and caught a one-yard pass from Rush. Goldberg caught a 10-yard pass for a first down and Hamilton ran for a gain of seven and then for eight to score with 4:46 left in the third quarter. Vartanian's kick was good, extending WashU's lead to 35-28.
 
No one would score again until the Bears scored with just under 10 minutes left in the game. Rush hurled a 49-yard pass to Danny Taylor and Hamilton ran the ball in for the final seven yards for a touchdown, his team-leading 11^th rushing touchdown.
 
WashU scored its final points with just over six minutes left.
 
Hamilton ran for 35 yards to the 11 and the Bears moved up another five following a Vikings' penalty. Hamilton picked up another four and Cole Okmin ran in for the final two yards for a touchdown. Vartanian's kick was good giving the Bears the eventual 49-28 win.
 
WashU finished with 450 yards of total offense including 227 passing and 223 rushing. The Bears' defense limited Augie to just 89 rushing yards. The Vikings finished with 366 yards of total offense.
 
Rush finished 16-for-24 with 227 yards and three touchdowns. Hamilton led the Bears' rushing efforts with 144 yards on 17 attempts and three touchdowns while Ware had 56 yards on 15 carries. Goldberg led the receivers with 86 yards on four receptions with one touchdown. Hamilton had 36 yards on five catches and a touchdown. Lamphier finished with three kickoff returns for a total of 88 yards.
 
 Defensively, Gus Christensen had 14 tackles including eight solo with half a tackle-for-loss and one pass breakup. Both Kieran Conjar and Andrew Dotson finished with five tackles apiece and an interception. Nate Light, Dalton Bingman and Nolan Schmidt each finished with a sack.
 
The Bears are back home next Saturday with a 1 p.m. game against No. 1 North Central. The game marks Parent and Family Weekend.