The football team will look to rebound from back-to-back losses when it travels to Waterville, ME on Saturday for a match-up with Colby. Coach Bill Samko's squad should be prepared to redeem themselves against the White Mules, who have struggled at times this fall and currently stand at 3-3. Revenge will also be on the Jumbo's minds - Colby, which surprised the NESCAC a year ago when it finished 7-1 and earned a share of the conference crown, handled Tufts along the way with a 28-14 victory in Medford.
Although the 4-2 Jumbos are the clear favorites, they will need to avoid the costly mistakes that have become a pattern in the last two weeks. In tough losses against both Williams (21-17) and Amherst (14-10), Tufts outplayed its opponents, but fell short in the end due to second half turnovers during crucial drives. In fact, the Jumbos turned the ball over nearly as many times in the last two games (six), than they had in their previous four (seven).
"In both those games, we had less turnovers than the other guys had," Samko said. "We try to win the turnover battle against teams and we did both times. And I still don't think Keven [Kelley] actually fumbled at Williams. But that's the one thing we've changed, I told him not to jump over the pile any more."
Offensively, Samko will again call Kelley's number most frequently. Kelley remains the top rusher in the NESCAC at 143.7 yards per outing, having redefined the term "workhorse" this season for the Jumbos with 862 yards on 173 carries. And barring any unforeseen circumstances, Kelley, who ran for 155 yards last weekend, should easily eclipse Tufts' single season rushing record of 1,070 yards, set by Paul Dresens in 1988.
Along with Kelley, junior Chuck McGraw has seen his share of touches, translating them into 383 yards on the ground. The Jumbos remain first in the NESCAC with an average of 260.5 yards rushing per game, and Samko makes no secret about his game plan.
"We're not going to change a damn thing," he said. "We've changed two out of the 150,000 plays we started with. If I thought we were wrong, I'd change. But we haven't been doing much wrong, we just have to finish better."
Colby, which has won its last two, is led by the potent combination of junior quarterback Pat Conley and senior wideout Danny Noyes. Noyes, last week's NESCAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week, caught nine passes for 209 yards and scored twice in the White Mules' 42-0 thrashing of Bates. For the season, Noyes has 47 catches for 776 yards, ranking him first in the conference.
"Offensively, they're pretty good," Samko said. "They throw the ball well, and if I'm not mistaken, they're ranked first in the NESCAC for total offense."
Even with its dominant air attack in place, Colby has scored more frequently on the ground this year, with 12 rushing scores compared to six from Conley's arm. The backfield trio of senior Joe Murray, freshman Aaron Stepka, and junior Don Williams could do some damage behind a veteran offensive line.
Defensively, the squads are even. Colby ranks third in the conference in total defense, and will have key in on Tufts' ground game and watch junior quarterback Scott Treacy, who comes off his best two passing games of the year (152 yards against Williams and 112 against Amherst).
Tufts, on the other hand, ranks fourth in total defense and will concentrate on containing Conley and Noyes, as well as the ground game. Williams had a big passing day against the Jumbo secondary, but better coverage against Amherst limited the Lord Jeffs to just 35 yards.
Either way, Samko is confident not only in his team's ability, but also its attitude. "I like our guys," he said. "I like their attitude, their fight, their pluck. We play hard. We don't give up. And if they keep doing that, I have no complaints."
