For the football team, tomorrow afternoon has exactly the same meaning it does for the rest of the Tufts community: It's time to come home.
After opening their season with a pair of road games in September, first topping Hamilton 24-7 in Clinton, N.Y. on Sept. 22 and then running wild on Bates for a 35-20 victory in Lewiston, Maine on Saturday, the Jumbos finally return to Medford to celebrate Homecoming Saturday.
"I actually think it's good that we opened up on the road," said junior David Halas, the Jumbos' leading receiver in their first two games. "It allows us to focus solely on the game. But of course, we're excited to get back home and get the support of the people around us. We'll be pumped up for this game."
They'd better be excited, as their opponents this weekend, the Bowdoin Polar Bears, arrive in Medford battle-tested and ready for the Jumbos. Their record stands at 1-1, but the one win was a 28-14 shocker over Williams, the defending NESCAC champion. Tufts has already seen this year's Bowdoin squad once - in the preseason scrimmage the two teams played on Bello Field three weeks ago - and clearly, the Polar Bears have already earned some respect.
"They've definitely got some talent," junior safety Andy Henke said. "They've got a very big and very good offensive line, they've got some playmakers and I know their quarterback's a tough kid and makes plays for them. They've definitely got talent, and I think that showed when they went out and beat Williams."
That quarterback is sophomore Oliver Kell, who broke into the Bears' lineup midway through last season and will make his seventh career start this weekend. Kell shined in the Williams game, passing for 216 yards and a touchdown and despite the Bears' rushing troubles against Amherst in Week 2, had another solid outing, picking up 170 yards through the air and another TD.
After being out-rushed by a 331-23 margin Saturday, the Bears sank to ninth in the NESCAC in team rushing. Bowdoin appears to be more of a pass-oriented team this season, and the key for the Jumbo defense will be containing Kell.
"I have confidence in our team," Henke said. "I think that if we all play to our responsibilities, then I feel like we can play with anyone in the league. It depends on our abilities to control our gaps up front. If we can do that and we can penetrate to the quarterback, I think we can contain them."
Offensively, the Jumbos will look for balance between the run and pass. Senior quarterback Matt Russo threw for a career-high 205 yards and two touchdowns against Hamilton, but the running game took over the following Saturday. The Jumbos picked up 236 yards on the ground in Lewiston, including 111 from junior Brad Ricketson and 79 from senior Chris Guild. Junior Will Forde gained just 47 yards but found the end zone twice.
"We're just going to take whatever the defense gives us," said Halas, who caught one of Russo's Week 1 touchdowns. "The first week, the pass was there for us, so we took advantage of that. But then Bates picked up on that, so that opened things up for the run. Now, we're going to take whatever we can get offensively."
While the Bears' win over Williams was impressive, it won't scare the Jumbos, who handled Bowdoin 16-6 in Brunswick, Maine last season, and disposed of the Bears again in the preseason scrimmage this year. This team is again ready to take Bowdoin seriously.
"The Williams score surprised some people around the league," Halas said. "But we're not taking that as a fluke or anything. We know that they're going to be a good opponent for us, and we're ready for the challenge."
And if the Jumbos can handle that challenge, they'll find themselves exactly where they were at this point last season: undefeated at 3-0, but staring down an intimidating October schedule. Just like last year, Tufts will follow up the Bowdoin game with Trinity, Williams and Amherst, three teams that beat the Jumbos last October by a combined 79-20.
"All of those games last year were closer than some of the scores let on," Henke said. "We were in all of those games. We're definitely starting to show a lot more on offense, and I think we're an all-around improved team since last year."
Last year's team lost four of its last five to slide to a 4-4 final record. This year, the Jumbos hope to keep the winning streak rolling, and they just might have the talent to do it.
"We'll definitely be in good shape to finish the season strong," Halas said. "Because we're more experienced and we saw what happened last year, we won't take the 3-0 lightly - we won't get inflated about ourselves. We'll be smarter mentally and better prepared physically to finish strong."
