Case Western Reserve 17, Washington U. 0

St. Louis, Mo. — The Washington University in St. Louis football team ended its season with a 17-0 loss to No. 12 Case Western Reserve University on Saturday afternoon at Francis Field in St. Louis, Mo.

Prior the to contest, Washington University honored its 14 seniors who played their final game with the Red and Green. This year’s senior class posted an overall record of 24-16 (.600).

Case Western Reserve, which captured its 21st-consecutive regular season victory dating back to 2006, finished regular season play with a 10-0 record for the second-consecutive season. The Spartans also captured the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a perfect 3-0 record, its second-straight title and third in school history.

"The hardest part of the year was probably coming back from that three-loss streak and getting our confidence back,” said Washington University head coach Larry Kindbom, who was on the sidelines for his 200th career game on the Danforth Campus. "Our guys took us on ride this year and never got down. They certainly didn’t give up today either."

Case Western Reserve scored the game’s first touchdown with 1:08 remaining in the first quarter as Derek Bush scored from nine yards out to make it 7-0. The Spartans started the drive on there own 33-yard line, but drove nine plays on 67 yards for the score. Cold and windy conditions kept both punters busy in the first quarter as Case outgained Washington U. 95-24 in total offense.

Washington University junior Andrew Berryman picked off CWRU junior quarterback Dan Whalen on the Spartans’ 40-yard line to retain possession midway through the second quarter for the Bears. Another defense stop by Washington U. kept the game at 7-0 as sophomore Todd Palmer blocked a 37-yard field goal by Sam Coffey with 2:07 left in the second quarter. It was WU’s fifth blocked kick of the season.

The Spartans had a 210-53 advantage in total offense in the first half, including outgaining the Bears 146-5 on the ground. Washington U.’s defense kept the Bears in the game by picking off Whalen two times in the first half. He entered the contest with three interceptions in 208 attempts.

After Washington U. failed on a fake punt attempt on its own 40-yard line, Case Western Reserve moved ahead 10-0 with 14:55 left in the fourth quarter on a 45-yard field goal by Coffey. A one-yard touchdown run by Whalen with 5:59 left in the game sealed the victory for the Spartans.

Case Western had a 336-182 advantage in total offense in the victory. The Spartans ran for 220 yards, and held the Bears to 30 yards on 24 carries. Senior quarterback Buck Smith was limited to 90 yards passing on 13-of-30 passes, while sophomore Mitchel Bartel was 3-for-7 with 60 yards.

Junior Matt Glenn ran for 56 yards on 19 carries, and caught eight passes for 38 yards. Junior Tim Olivos led the defensive unit with a career-high 10 stops, while junior Berryman had nine tackles. Freshman Austin Morman punted six times for the Bears with a 41.3 average to finish the season first in the UAA with a 40.4 average.

Whalen was 11-of-21 for 116 yards for Case, while Greg Meyer led the rushing attack with 68 yards on 12 carries. Lee Sasala had a team-high seven tackles for the Spartans.

Washington U. wraps up the 2008 season with a 5-5 overall mark, including a 1-2 record in the UAA. The loss against CWRU snaps a school-record 15-consecutive winning seasons for the Bears, and drops their record to 18-2 (.900) in the final game of the regular season under Kindbom.
Press release submitted by on Nov 15, 2008 at 05:21 PM Eastern