After easy wins in its last two outings, the Tufts football team will brace itself for a bigger challenge this weekend when it hosts the Trinity Bantams on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. The Bantams enter the game at 2-1, while the Jumbos are looking to extend their record to 4-0 for the first time since 1998, when coach Bill Samko's squad posted a 7-1 campaign.
"Trinity is probably better physically than Bowdoin," Samko said. "But honestly, we don't change anything as we prepare. It's not magic. We say respect all, fear none."
But if history has anything to do with it, the visitors have the advantage, with nine wins in the two team's last ten meetings, including the last four contests on Zimman Field.
Samko, however, says that home-field advantage will give his team a boost. "I would expect it to be a pretty decent crowd since it's parent's weekend," he said. "Anytime you play at home, you know the field, and familiarity with surroundings certainly makes a difference. But that doesn't mean that you're always going to win at home and you can't win on the road."
Against Trinity, Samko will again turn to Tufts' potent running attack, which has accounted for ten of the team's 16 total touchdowns so far. Tufts comes into the contest ranked eighth in Div. III in rushing yards, averaging 287.7 yards per game. Last week, despite a 34-0 rout of Bowdoin, the Jumbos saw their ground production drop off from 340 and 315 yards in the previous two weeks to 208. Nevertheless, Samko has no intentions of changing his game plan.
"We're going to try to do what we do best," Samko said. "There's no secrets."
Trinity will also rely on its running game, which produced 214 yards and a touchdown in a 21-10 win over Hamilton last week in Hartford. Junior running back Brian Fabrizio rushed for a career high 159 yards on 27 carries and a touchdown, earning the NESCAC Player of the Week accolade.
Athletic junior quarterback Greg Ward, who threw for 208 yards and two scores in his team's 27-20 victory over the Jumbos a year ago, is back to lead the offense. On defense, Trinity is lead by two-time All-American safety Steve Cella, who returned an interception 47 yards for a touchdown against the Continentals.
The Tufts defense, which has given up just 12 points in its last two games, is coming off its first shutout since 1997. The Jumbos are 26th in the nation in rushing defense, surrendering just 76.7 yards per game.
"We have to not turn the ball over, take the advantage of the opportunities, win the kicking game, and slow them down when we're on defense," Samko said.
If all goes according to plan, the Jumbos should rise to the challenge and come away with their fourth win of the season, reversing the Trinity curse in the process. Nonetheless, Samko is reluctant to go into the game overconfident.
"Every week is a challenge," he said. "Whether you want to believe it, last week was a challenge. It was only 7-0 in the first quarter and 14-0 at the half," he said. "Anything can happen."
