Tufts' football season opened on a sour note a year and a day ago: with a 37-7 hammering by the Wesleyan Cardinals.
The Jumbos surrendered 336 aerial yards to sophomore transfer quarterback Zach Canter, and another 95 on the ground to sophomore running back Phil Banks.
Tufts' goal for Saturday: don't let it happen again. But to be honest, coach Bill Samko really doesn't know how the action will play out when Wesleyan visits Zimman Field at 1:00 p.m.
"In general we always have two or three films on someone and that makes a big difference, but you go into the opener having no film," Samko said. "So we're going in blind. It doesn't necessarily give either team the advantage; it's just a change in preparation. We're guessing."
And the thing is, it is hard to predict what will happen on Saturday, or this season, for the Jumbos. Wesleyan blew out Tufts last year, but the previous time the schools met, Tufts came away with a 35-20 victory.
One thing is sure: in order to be successful, the Jumbos will have to generate more points than last year. In some cases, that means better production from the Casey D'Annolfo-led attack. Last year, Tufts' offense was the worst in the league.
"Unfortunately we're pretty young offensively. But Casey's started a lot of games for us and he's a veteran," Samko said of his senior signal-caller. "This is his chance to shine, it's his moment."
But in some cases, scoring points doesn't mean mounting impressive length-of-the field drives, or producing big pass plays and breakaway touchdown scampers. It means merely executing well enough to take advantage of the opportunities presented.
Late in the first quarter of last year's game, with Wesleyan leading 10-7, senior defensive back Donovan Brown intercepted a pass by Canter and returned it 78 yards to the 1-yard line before being hauled down from behind. Three unsuccessful plays, a Tufts penalty, and a missed 26-yard field goal later, the Jumbos were still down 10-7. They would never get any closer.
"I think it was a turning point in the game that we didn't put any points on the board after Donovan's return," Samko admitted. "I thought that was a significant factor, it kind of changed the flow of the game. Games are funny sometimes. They just get away from you. We can't let that happen; we need to do what we need to do."
With Brown graduated, along with running back Steve Cincotta and wide receiver Kevin Holland, it's unknown as to who, if anyone, will step up to make the big plays for the Jumbos tomorrow. That goes for Wesleyan, too, where Canter, after his stellar opener against the Jumbos, wasn't even starting at year's end, according to Samko.
"It will be interesting to see who comes out," he said. "Again, we don't know, we haven't seen any tape from this year because there isn't any."
No matter who starts at quarterback for Amherst, he probably shouldn't expect the same kind of success the Cardinals had last year with the passing game, not after the improvements the Jumbo D made throughout the season and the success they expect to have with nine returning starters.
"Last year we started eight new guys on defense the first game, and some of that immaturity showed," Samko said. "The first game, you make stupid mistakes. There's just no way to know exactly what's going to happen."
Samko is sure of one thing, however.
"I'd be very surprised if we don't play hard and give a great effort and get after it," the coach said. "That much I can tell you. We had a great preseason and worked very hard and I like the makeup of this team. I like it a lot."
