A week ago, the football team was undefeated, on top of the NESCAC all alone, and looking to pull away. Now, after a rude awakening from their 8-0 dream, the Jumbos are just trying to stay in the hunt.
At 4-1 following an ugly loss to Williams, Tufts finds itself in the middle of a playoff picture that couldn't be more muddled. Middlebury, which started 3-0 before losing in Week 4, is now 4-1 as well, and the Trinity Bantams, victims of a Jumbo upset that same week, are back at 4-1 themselves. Suddenly, the three teams are mired in a four-way tie for first place.
The fourth team is the Amherst Lord Jeffs, who come to Zimman Field tomorrow in a must-win game for both teams. Meanwhile, the Bantams play at Middlebury. After this weekend, two teams will be tied for first place at 5-1, and if the Jumbos are to compete for a NESCAC championship, they had better be one of them.
"If we want to win, we have to win out," senior linebacker Stephen Albertine said. "Every team has to. There's no getting around it. What the coaches call it is, 'Every game is the Super Bowl,' and I'm sure that the other teams out there are treating it the same way. If you lose, you're out."
The Lord Jeffs are the first of the three teams standing between Tufts and a league title - the other two being Colby and Middlebury - and on paper, they look like the toughest. The Jeffs boast the league's stingiest defense, allowing just 9.4 points a game, and on the other side of the ball, they're just as scary, leading the conference in team rushing.
Two of the NESCAC's top four running backs, sophomore Aaron Rauh and junior Eric NeSmith, will line up against the Jumbos this weekend. Rauh has picked up 427 yards this season, including 103 against Wesleyan last week en route to NESCAC Player of the Week honors. NeSmith is not far behind with 415.
Amherst picked up 269 yards on the ground last season on the way to a 24-6 win over the Jumbos, and despite their inexperience, Rauh and NeSmith led the way. This time, the Jumbo defense will have to be ready for the two-headed Jeffs monster.
"I remember that they broke a lot of arm tackles - you had to get a shoulder into them to bring them down," said Albertine, who made five tackles in last year's game. "A lot of gang-tackling is what we're going to need. What we have to do is put a lot of guys in the box and stop the run. We have to make them throw the ball."
Luckily for the Jumbos, throwing the ball is Amherst's one weakness. The Jeffs lost two-time All-NESCAC quarterback Nick Kehoe to graduation in the spring, and his replacement, sophomore Lucas Loeffler, has struggled so far. His 95.8 passer rating is eighth in the NESCAC.
"From what I've seen of [the Jeffs], a lot of their sets have been two-tight end, two-running back, which would say that they want to run the ball a lot," Albertine said. "That's what they want to do - they don't want to put the ball in [Loeffler's] hands."
On defense, the Lord Jeffs are a force to be reckoned with. They lead the conference not only in fewest points allowed, but in total yardage, allowing just 229.4 yards a game. Their turnover margin is also the league's best.
"Their defense is pretty athletic and pretty tough," said junior Will Forde, who rushed for 72 yards against the Jeffs last year. "But if we just stay physical and do the things we do best and execute offensively, I don't think it even matters what they do."
Forde is the team's leading rusher through five games with 199 yards and five touchdowns on the season. He began the year as one of three featured backs on the Jumbo offense alongside senior Chris Guild and junior Brad Ricketson, but injuries have since set in. Ricketson has struggled with a shoulder ailment, and Guild showed symptoms of a concussion two weeks ago.
Guild was out last week against Williams, Ricketson missed the Trinity game a week before, and both were missing against Bowdoin in Week 3. Forde has grown into a bigger role on the Tufts offense over the past month, and he's adapted well.
"I've gotten a little bit more comfortable with it," Forde said. "I knew coming in that Guild would be the leader, being a starter and a senior, and that I'd have to split carries with Brad. I've gotten more comfortable with that, and every game, I'm just trying to do the best that I can with the opportunities I get."
The offense was actually very strong against Williams despite Guild's absence, as the Jumbos outgained the Ephs 425-347. Senior quarterback Matt Russo was 30 for 45 for a career-high 308 yards, and the Jumbos had the edge in time of possession.
Turnovers, however, made the difference as Russo threw three interceptions and the Jumbos fumbled the ball six times. If Tufts wants to improve to 5-1 and stay atop the NESCAC, the sloppy play has to stop.
"I think it was a good wake-up call for us," Albertine said of the Williams loss. "We were riding a little high after the Trinity game, and losing that game [to Williams] kind of brought us back down to earth."
They're down to earth now, but if all goes well tomorrow, they're still in first place. Tufts and Amherst kick off at 1 p.m.
