Coming off their fourth consecutive loss, falling at the hands of Amherst College, and now at 2-4 on the season, the football team is between a rock and a hard place. With two games left on the season, the best the Jumbos can hope for is finishing the season at .500. Despite the poor performance over the last four games, Tufts would like to finish the season off strong and is optimistic about its chances this weekend when it travels to Maine to face off against Colby College.
"This game is important for a lot of reasons, mainly because it is a game we expect to win," offensive coordinator Mike Daly said. "Its important for our seniors to go out on a winning note and it is important for our younger guys to set the tone for the offseason."
Colby does not dominate any one defensive or offensive category in the league but has found ways to win all season. The White Mules currently sit at 5-1 on the season, and are in a three-way tie for second place in the league with Amherst and Bates. The team's only loss has come at the hands of Trinity, a team that the Jumbos matched up well against earlier this season.
On defense the Jumbos will focus on trying to contain Colby's potent running game. Tufts has dropped its last two games partly because of uncharacteristically poor defensive play, which players and coaches are trying to fix before this weekend's matchup.
"There is definitely a sense of frustration among the players," junior defensive end Chris Decembrele said. "We know we haven't been playing to the best of our ability and it has created a sense of urgency to come out and play well the next two games."
For much of the season, Tufts has relied heavily on its defense to win games. The poor play has not been a matter of poor preparation but a combination of poor execution and a lack of focus, which the team has worked on fixing in practice.
"The frustrating thing is that we knew what to expect against Amherst," Decembrele said. "[Defensive coordinator John Walsh] scouted them well, and we knew what was coming. It's just been a lot of mental mistakes, and not capitalizing when it counts. You can't afford to do that against good teams."
Tufts has not been preparing any different plays on offense, but has focused more on execution. The team has struggled all year in completing drives and capitalizing on key scoring opportunities.
"We're focused on consistency," Daly said. "We definitely need to finish our offensive drives in order to be successful on Saturday. We've made plays and had opportunities, but just haven't finished."
The Jumbos will also look to try and keep the defense off the field by controlling the game on offense. Execution and a focus on running simple plays will be the major points of the Jumbos offensive game plan.
"We want to control the ball with our running game and just make simple plays," Daly said. "We expect the guys we put in positions to play to execute their assignments as a unit. If we do that we will be fine."
As a team, the Jumbos are trying to put the last four losses behind them and learn from their mistakes. With two games left on the season, the Jumbos are trying to maintain a positive attitude. Players and coaches agree that the team must look forward in order to be successful.
"Right now it's hard for us to look back on the mistakes we made in the last two games," Decembrele said. "We can't wait to get back on the field and hopefully learn from our mistakes and not make them again. The thing with this team is that we have a lot of guys who want to work hard and win. The last two games just make [tomorrow's game] that much more important for us."
