ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- The Augustana Vikings football team will head south on Saturday, October 14 for a key CCIW matchup against the undefeated Washington-St. Louis Bears.

Augustana enters with a 4-1 overall record and 3-1 mark in CCIW action after defeating Millikin last weekend at home by a score of 42-3. The Big Blue got on the board first with an opening-drive field goal and after a couple of empty possessions both ways, the 3-0 score remained intact after 15 minutes of action. Both defenses continued to keep one another out of the end zone to begin the second until the Vikings connected on points for the first time around the five-minute mark in the second quarter. A nine-play drive that saw eight rushes resulted in a one-yard run from Tyler Rivelli to give Augie the lead at 7-3. This began a string for the Vikings of three straight possessions with a touchdown to close the half, with the next score set up from a first-play interception from Darren Oregon on the ensuing Millikin drive. Augie saw their second touchdown come from the arm of Cole Bhardwaj, connecting with Breyden Smith from 15 yards out to make it 14-3. Later, a 48-yard punt return from Bobby Inserra put Augustana deep in the red zone with under two minutes to go. On the first play from scrimmage, Augie made it 21-3 heading into half thanks to a 12-yard touchdown pass to Inserra. 

The stretch of touchdowns continued from the Vikings to begin the third, utilizing a nine-play, 72-yard march down the field that resulted in a six-yard scamper from Mike DiGioia. Later in the quarter, Rivelli secured his second score of the day, this time bulldozing in from two yards out to bring the differential to 35-3 heading into the final frame. DiGioia snagged his second of the game early in the fourth, pushing the score to 42-3 after his plunge into the end zone from a yard out.

Following Millikin's opening 61-yard drive down the field, the Augie defense did not allow a single drive over 50 yards and only two over 40 the rest of the way. Rivelli led the balanced attack on offense with 109 yards rushing the ball, followed by Ben Ludlum with 90 yards and DiGioia with 56. In the second quarter, Inserra snagged his 122nd career reception, putting him No. 1 in the record books for most in a career. He breaks the previous record of 121 set by Ryan Hennessy from 2015-18 and ended the game with four catches to give him 125 for the time being. He also is now third all-time in receiving yards and tied for fourth all-time in receiving touchdowns. 

On defense, the Vikings forced four turnovers, three coming via interceptions. Oregon picked off the Big Blue twice, while Nick Harper was second on the team in tackles with six to go with his interception. Tim Swaney led all tacklers with 10.

Washington currently sits 5-0 on the year and 4-0 in conference play, recently checking in at No. 25 in the latest AFCA Coaches' Poll. The Bears have won all five contests by double figures this season, including a 38-10 victory over Illinois Wesleyan last weekend. After a low-scoring opening half saw a 10-3 lead for the Bears at the break, the team used a 21-0 third quarter to pull away for good. WashU is averaging just under 450 yards of total offense this season, with nearly 200 coming on the ground. 

Saturday will feature the No. 2 and 3 scoring offenses in the CCIW, with the Bears averaging 44.8 points and the Vikings 44.4 points per outing. WashU also ranks first in the league in scoring defense at just under 13 points allowed per game. Augustana is third at 19.2.

Augustana will be seeking its first win against Washington this weekend. The Bears have won all four meetings in the series, including last season's 49.28 victory in Rock Island.

Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Live coverage can be found here.