The Tufts football team, now so injury depleted it's a shadow of the squad that began the year 2-1, dropped its fourth straight game and fifth overall, 28-14, to the Colby White Mules at home on Saturday.
Colby scored on each of its first two possessions and jumped out to a 21-0 first half lead, then withheld a brief Tufts comeback to gain its sixth win of the season. The White Mules are now only one win away from at least a share of the NESCAC title.
"They're not 6-1 for no reason," coach Bill Samko said after the game.
One got the sense that the Jumbos were facing a championship squad very early, as Colby marched down the field on its first possession. After twice converting on fourth downs, the White Mules scored on a 15-yard connection from sophomore quarterback Pat Conley to junior wide receiver Danny Noyes. The Jumbos appeared to have the drive snuffed at the 30-yard line, but when the White Mules went for it on fourth and seven, Tufts linebacker Dave Supple was called for roughing the passer, thereby extending the drive. On the very next play, Noyes broke free through the middle on a crossing route for the score.
Tufts would see a lot of Conley and Noyes all day, as the quarterback finished with 256 yards and three touchdowns, two of them going to Noyes, who ended the afternoon with 160 receiving yards.
"We knew Conley was good coming in," Samko said. "They did a lot of play action, which opened up the middle of the field."
Tufts could do nothing on its next drive, netting only one first down and then being forced to punt, allowing the White Mules to take over the ball at their own 35-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Supple roughed the quarterback, but legally this time for a seven-yard sack. After a six-yard run by Colby's tailback Joe Murray, Conley found Noyes again. This time, the wide receiver sprung for 66 yards and a score. Two possessions, two scores, and it appeared the rout was on.
The Jumbos would get three more possessions before Conley struck again, connecting sophomore wide receiver and defensive back Lee Carlson for 55 yards and another score. Again, Carlson was open across the middle, and after one cutback, he was in the clear.
"We thought the middle would be open going into the game," Conley said. "Tufts plays a lot of Cover Three [a defense that leaves the middle susceptible], and the play action froze the linebackers."
Colby had scored 21 points in less than 20 minutes of play, and it seemed as though it would be a long day for Samko's squad. However, the team failed to roll over, and sophomore quarterback Todd Scalia, who played the entire game this week, led the team into the endzone on its first possession of the second half. Scalia ran for 22 yards and passed for another 32 on the drive, which was capped off with a Steve Lapham three-yard touchdown reception.
Tufts had a little life now, down only two scores, when sophomore cornerback Evan Zupancic picked off his sixth pass of the year on Conley's first throw of the second half. The Brown and Blue could get little accomplished on the ensuing drive, but on its next possession, drove down to the Colby nine-yard line before it faced a fourth down.
Samko called for a fake punt, and it appeared that backup quarterback Scott Treacy, the holder on field goals, had an open man in the endzone. The appearance was more of an illusion, though - junior defensive back Patrick Fahey picked off his second pass of the game and returned it 55 yards to the Tufts 42.
Colby would score on a Joe Murray one-yard run on the ensuing possession, and the fourteen-point swing would end Tufts' brief comeback hopes. Tufts tacked on another Lapham touchdown, this one coming on a nine-yard pass from Scalia, but that would be the end of the scoring.
The Jumbos have had problems all season getting the offense started, and Samko altered the play calling a little bit to allow Scalia to create more on his own.
"I liked his scrambling ability," Samko said, who called a number of quarterback draws for the sophomore. "We've lost five offensive linemen this season, so we had to do something to slow down the defense."
Samko was pleased with the progress that Scalia is making late in the season, as he went 20 for 42 for 224 yards, two scores and two picks.
"He's getting comfortable," Samko said. "He's starting to take steps forward and getting a chance to play."
Tufts, plagued by injuries all year, lost its top two receivers in this game, as both freshman Matt Cerne and sophomore Bryan Pitko went down with shoulder injuries. That forced Samko to play two inexperienced receivers for the lion's share of the second half, and his reaction was mixed.
Tim Mack, a freshman, and sophomore Joe Orji played the majority of the second half, and helped the Jumbos stage a bit of a comeback. Mack had two catches for 36 yards, getting open over the middle on a few occasions, while Orji had one grab for five yards, but it was his dropped touchdown pass that irked the coach.
"I thought Mack did a good job," Samko said. "But Joe dropped that pass. If you get a chance to play and you drop a pass, I was a bit disappointed."
On the day, Tufts received another strong performance from senior running back Brian Holmes, who ran for 52 yards and caught for 81. The defense, though, surrendered 367 yards of total offense, 256 of which came from Conley's arm.
Conley's 256 yards come as no surprise, as the sophomore signal caller now has 1,746 yards on the season, 730 yards better than the next best NESCAC quarterback, Amherst's Peter Honig. In fact, Conley is only 278 yards shy of the NESCAC single-season passing record, set by Williams' Sean Keenan last year. Keenan became the only player from Williams' storied football history to be invited to the NFL scouting combine. The magic number will certainly not be out of reach for Conley, as the White Mules host 0-7 Bowdoin next week in the season finale, though records won't be the only thing on the sophomore's mind, as Colby will be fighting for the NESCAC championship as well.
If Colby, Amherst, and Middlebury - the three teams tied atop the standings at 6-1 - all win, there will be a three-way tie for the champion. However, if just Amherst loses, Colby wins the tie-breaker with Middlebury. But if Middlebury loses, Amherst would win the NESCAC by virtue of it beating Colby earlier in the season. A lot to think about for a sophomore.
"Yeah, the record is on the mind because people always talk about it," Conley said. "But we're going out there to get a win."
Tufts could be the team to spoil Colby's title hopes, as the Jumbos travel to Middlebury next Saturday for their season finale.
