St. Louis, Mo., October 13, 2012 — The Washington University in St. Louis football team could not overcome a 20-point second-quarter deficit as the Bears suffered a 34-14 loss to No. 15 ranked Wabash College on Saturday afternoon at Francis Field in St. Louis Mo. Washington U. drops its second-straight game and falls to 1-5, while Wabash wins its third-straight contest to improve to 5-1.
Washington University trailed 20-0 with 3:03 left in the second quarter before scoring 14-straight points to cut the lead to 20-14 with 3:03 left in the third. Wabash answered back with a 12-play, 78 yard drive as Tyler Holmes scored from three yards out to make it 27-14. CP Porter added a four-yard TD run with 3:28 left in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for Wabash.
Washington U.'s defense allowed a season-high 479 yards (134 passing, 345 rushing) of total offense in the loss. Wabash had a 479-232 advantage in total offense, and limited Washington U. to 84 yards rushing.
Belton did it again with 10:19 left in the second quarter, going 56 yards on an option for his second rushing touchdown of the game to make it 13-0. Following the Bears' fifth punt of the afternoon, Belton recorded 33 more yards on an option that got Wabash down to the WUSTL 19-yard line. He was injured on the run and did not return to action.
With Belton on the bench, backup quarterback Andy Walsh connected with Sean Hildebrand for a seven-yard TD pass to push the Wabash lead to 20-0 with 3:03 remaining before half.
The Bears' offense finally started to move the football late in the second quarter, and found the end zone after a 16-yard screen pass from junior quarterback Eric Daginella to senior running back Chris Castelluccio to make it 20-7 at half. Castelluccio broke a pair of tackles during the run as he scored his team-leading fourth touchdown of the year.
Wabash had a 325-143 advantage in total offense, including 246 rushing yards. Belton picked up 166 yards rushing on six carries in the opening half for Wabash. Daginella completed 10-of-14 passes for 102 yards and a TD in the first half for Washington U.
Washington University's offense drove right down the field on the opening drive of the third quarter to the Wabash 30-yard line following a 19-yard reception by senior wide receiver Drew Sexton. The Bears got to the 22-yard line, but were stopped on 4th-and-3 after a dropped pass by Sexton.
The defense recorded its first big play of the game after freshman linebacker Matt Goad intercepted Walsh and returned it to the Wabash eight-yard line. Three plays later, Daginella scored from a yard-out to make it 20-14 with 6:56 left in the third. The rushing TD for Daginella was the first of his career.
Daginella finished the day 15-of-28 for 148 yards and one touchdown in his second career start. Castelluccio led the ground attack with 78 yards on 22 carries. Senior punter Eric Chalifour had a career day for Washington U. on special teams, with nine punts for a 43.8 average, including a career-long 65-yard punt in the third quarter.
Freshman linebacker Jonathan Way (six solo tackles), junior defensive lineman Jeff Stoecker (six tackles) and junior defensive back Tate Byers (six tackles, fumble return) highlighted the defense effort for Washington U. Junior Seth Wight added five solo tackles, two tackles for loss and a sack in the loss.
Belton (166 yards), Porter (83 yards) and Holmes (70 yards) combined for 319 rushing yards for Wabash, its second-highest output of the season. Walsh was 6-for-11 for 67 yards and a TD.
Washington University returns to action at Denison University on Saturday, Oct. 20. Game time is set for 1 p.m. (ET) in Granville, Ohio. Head coach Larry Kindbom will celebrate his 60th birthday on Saturday against Denison.
Bear Notebook: Wabash leads the all-time series with Washington U. 27-16-2 … The two teams first met in 1915 … Washington University is 4-5 in games played after a bye week since 2004 … The Bears were 1-of-12 on third down, while Wabash was 8 of 13.