QB Matt Rush, who threw for 2,829 yards and 27 touchdowns last season, will be back to lead the Wash. U. Bears football team in 2022. (Photo: Thomas Grove)

DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer

The Washington University athletics program released the official schedule for its 2022 football team on Thursday. The Bears will play 10 games this fall, five at home and five away, all in consecutive weeks, beginning with the 2022 season opener on September 10, at home, against Hendrix College.

Opening kickoff for the game that day at Francis Olympic Field will be 1 p.m.

Wash. U. will again play in the CCIW conference, with nine other teams, and will begin play against those clubs in Week 2, when it will host Millikin University. Last year, the Bears routed the Big Blue, 55-13.

Wash. U. will play its first road game of the season in Week 3, when the Bears will travel to Kenosha, Wis., to take on Carthage College. The Bears and Firebirds met in the regular season finale last year, with Wash. U. winning 37-16.

October will be a busy time for Wash. U., as the Bears will play five games that month — three on the road — including back-to-back trips to northern Illinois on October 15 and October 29, to play Augustana College and Elmhurst University in both those schools’ 2022 Homecoming Games.

In between those two games, Wash. U. will host its 2022 Parent and Family Weekend Game, against 2019 NCAA Division III national champion and 2021 national runner-up, North Central College. The preseason polls haven’t been released yet, but many expect the Cardinals to be once again ranked among the best teams in the country heading into the season.

The Bears’ final home game of the season will be against Wheaton College on November 5, with the regular season finale scheduled for the following week, on the road, against Carroll College.

The Bears were 7-4 last year, and played in the first-ever Isthmus Bowl, one of just four post-season bowl games that feature Division III teams.