Washington U. 34, Knox 3
St. Louis, MO — Senior Jim O'Brien rushed for 119
yards and a touchdown as the Washington University in St. Louis
football team opened the 2010 season with a 34-3 victory over Knox
College on Saturday night at Francis Field in St. Louis, Mo.
O'Brien picked up 104 yards on 15 carries in the first half,
and played sparingly in the third quarter before giving way to
sophomore Chris Castelluccio. O'Brien upped his career total
to 1,792 rushing yards, moving him past Jim Burst (1951-54) into
sixth on the all-time list.
Castelluccio finished the day with a career-best 65 yards on 10
carries and two touchdowns as Washington University pounded out 225
yards on the ground. The Bears were also 22-of-30 for 220 yards in
the air, for a total of 435 yards of offense. The defense was not
too shabby either, as Washington U limited Knox to 134 yards of
total offense in the victory.
The Bears scored on all five possessions in the first half and
outgained the Prairie Fire, 275-40, as the Bears built a commanding
27-0 lead.
O'Brien scored from 10 yards out on the Bears' first
possession to make it 7-0 with 8:32 left in the first quarter.
O'Brien ran the ball six times for 53 yards on the opening
drive. After another defensive stop, senior Stephen Sherman found
junior tight end Brennan Fox for a five-yard touchdown pass to make
it 14-0. Sherman connected on his first 10 passes of the game for
91 yards.
Sophomore Eric Chalifour drilled a 20-yard field goal to push the
advantage to 17-0, and then Castelluccio scored from 10 yards out
to make it 24-0. Chalifour, a sophomore transfer from UCLA, drilled
a career-long 44-yard field goal with 1:52 to push the halftime
advantage to 27-0.
A nine-yard touchdown run by Castelluccio extended the lead to
34-0 with 11:40 left in the third quarter. Castelluccio carried the
ball five times for 31 yards on the drive. The Praire Fire ended
the Bears' attempt at a shutout after Sam Frank nailed a
35-yard field goal with 12:24 left in the third quarter.
Sherman was 16-of-21 for 159 yards and a touchdown, while
sophomore QB Dan Burkett was 6-of-8 for 61 yards. Junior Austin
Morman led the receiving corps with seven catches for 85 yards.
Junior linebacker Nick Hillard led the defensive unit with nine
tackles, while senior Kyle Huber had seven stops and senior
defensive lineman Greg Larson added six tackles. Larson also added
four tackles for loss, one sack, a forced fumble and a break-up in
the win.
Washington University (1-0) continues play at Rhodes College on
Saturday, Sept. 11. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Fargason Field in
Memphis, Tenn. The Lynx suffered a 20-17 loss on the road at
Westminster in their season opener on Saturday.
Bear Notebook: Washington University leads the all-time series
with Knox, 6-0-1 … Senior Brandon Brown made his
31st-consecutive start at defensive back … Larry Kindbom
coached his 270th career game on Saturday … The victory
improved Washington University's season opener record under
Kindbom to 17-5 … The Bears had a 37:31-22:29 advantage in
time of possession … Washington U. was 7-of-14 on third
downs and 3-of-3 on fourth downs.
