CHICAGO, Ill. – In its season-opening game, the University of Chicago football team produced a dominating defensive effort to beat Beloit College 28-6 on Saturday.

The Maroons (1-0) won their first game for the sixth-straight year. The Bucs fell to 0-1.

UChicago opened the scoring on its second drive of the game. The home team started on Beloit's 44-yard line and several effective runs moved the offense into the red zone. Facing fourth-and-three at Beloit's 13-yard line, senior quarterback Patrick Ryan faked a handoff up the middle and then slipped through the right side of the line. He ran untouched into the end zone and the extra point made it 7-0.

The second quarter was the most productive of the game for the Maroons. Starting at the 13:04 mark of the quarter, UChicago gashed Beloit for 62 yards on three plays. Ryan then found junior tight end Nathan Massey in the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Two drives later, junior wide receiver Sam Coleman crossed the goal line as well with an impressive individual effort. Coleman caught an eight-yard pass on the right side and then looped around multiple defenders for a 35-yard touchdown.

The home side closed out the half with another touchdown to go in the break with a 28-0 lead. Senior running back Zak Ross-Nash bulled his way to a five-yard touchdown run on second-and-goal with 52 seconds left on the game clock.

The second half was less eventful as Beloit scored the only touchdown of the half. Bucs running back Mason Dixon broke through the left side on third-and-one and rolled his way to a 36-yard touchdown with 6:20 remaining in the third quarter. A bad snap on the extra point led to a failed pass, which kept Beloit's point tally at six.

UChicago surrendered three sacks in the second half and were stopped on fourth down twice deep in Beloit territory. The game wrapped up in a tidy two hours and 28 minutes.

Defensively, the Maroons limited the visitors to 114 yards of total offense (1.9 yards per play), including only 32 yards passing on 18 attempts. The defense also tallied five sacks, nine tackles for a loss and six pass breakups on the night. Beloit converted only 2 of 16 on third down, while UChicago was 1 of 10 in the same category.

Senior defensive tackle Scott Mainquist was a frequent menace to the Beloit offense with a team-high seven tackles. Mainquist leveled several hard hits on the running backs to stand them up at the line of scrimmage. Senior defensive end Brandon Bolock also got in on the action with seven tackles, one sack and two pass breakups. Sophomore linebacker Jackson Garrey flew into the backfield on several occasions, totaling 1.5 sacks, six tackles and one fumble recovery. Sophomore defensive tackle Eddie Giannina produced 1.5 sacks as well with one fumble forced, 2.5 tackles for a loss and five tackles total.

The Maroons pounded the ball on offense, totaling 50 carries versus 15 passes. Ross-Nash was the main recipient with 16 rushes for 84 yards and a touchdown. Freshman running back Chandler Carroll tallied 60 yards on 12 carries in his collegiate debut.

Ryan completed 10 of 15 passes for 137 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also had one touchdown rushing. Massey was his most frequent target, catching five balls for 48 yards and a touchdown. Coleman had two receptions for 67 yards.

NEXT GAME:

• Saturday, Sept. 13 – Concordia University Chicago at UChicago, 6 PM