For the football team, there's some good news and there's some bad news.
Let's start with the good: for the second consecutive season, the Jumbos have started off at 3-0. With wins over Hamilton, Bates and Bowdoin, Tufts has skyrocketed to the top of the NESCAC standings, now resting in a three-way tie with Trinity and Middlebury for first place.
The bad news? Win number four will be a lot tougher.
Trinity, 3-0 and a historical powerhouse, makes the trip from Hartford, Conn. tomorrow afternoon. The Bantams have won league titles every year between 2002 and 2005, embarking on a 31-game winning streak - the nation's longest at that time - along the way. They finished 7-1 last season, with the lone loss coming to NESCAC champion Williams, and it was their only loss in their previous 41 games.
Tufts last beat Trinity in 2001 - in fact, the exact date of the Jumbos' 9-7 win was Oct. 13, 2001. Tomorrow, on the sixth anniversary of that win, this year's Jumbo team will take the field with a level-headed approach.
"We've got to just take each game as an individual game," senior quarterback Matt Russo said. "Trinity's done a lot of great things in the past, and we have a lot of respect for what they've done. But it's a new season, and this is a new game."
A new season, but so far, one that looks eerily like the last one. The Jumbos were 3-0 heading into last year's Trinity game but fell 17-0. That team was largely untested in big games, as its first three opponents finished the season a combined 5-19. Tufts has again started with the same three pushovers in the Continentals, Bobcats and Polar Bears, and it remains to be seen whether this team has improved in the past year.
"If you asked me before the season started, I'd have been disappointed if we weren't 3-0," coach Bill Samko said. "We've done what we had to do. But I think we're better this year - we're an improved team in a lot of ways. We'll find out on Saturday."
Russo, in particular, ran into trouble against the Bantams last season. After beginning the year with four touchdowns and no interceptions in his first three games, he imploded in Hartford. He threw for just 80 yards against the Bantams and was picked off three times in the second half.
"In their secondary, they have great speed," Russo said of the Trinity pass defense. "They really have some great defensive backs - they're real quick. I lost my composure a couple of times, and I tried to throw the ball a couple of times in places I shouldn't have. You can't do that against a great team like Trinity."
This year, however, the Bantams are a bit weaker in their secondary. They were the NESCAC's best pass defense in 2006, but this year they are without safety Michael Soules, who graduated in the spring as a two-time All-NESCAC First-Teamer and the reigning Defensive Player of the Year. Trinity's pass defense has dropped from first in the league to sixth, allowing 210 yards per game.
"We hope to be able to throw the ball more," Russo said. "But like every week, we'll try to attack them on the ground first, get the run going a little bit, get an extra guy in the box, and see what that gives us. But if the line can give us some time, we can definitely attack them through the air."
Making the run their first option seems a natural decision for the Jumbos, who have three premier running backs in senior Chris Guild and juniors Brad Ricketson and Will Forde. Guild and Ricketson were among the NESCAC's top 10 rushers going into last week, and Forde vaulted onto that list Saturday after Guild and Ricketson missed the Bowdoin game with injuries.
Both running backs are questionable for tomorrow - Ricketson with a shoulder injury, and Guild showing concussion symptoms.
"They both practiced this week, but without real full contact," Samko said.
If one of them doesn't start, Forde and sophomore Darren Ferguson, who made six carries last week, will carry a much bigger burden. And it appears that Forde is up to the task.
"He did it last week," Samko said. "He was our player of the week last week, and we found out a few things about Darren Ferguson at the end of the game too. We're fortunate - we have four guys that we think we can count on."
On the defensive side, the Jumbos will match up against a star quarterback in junior Eric McGrath. McGrath leads the NESCAC in passing efficiency with a rating of 133.7, and his 10 touchdowns are also a league best.
"We know he's mobile," said junior Tyson Reynoso, who made six tackles and forced a fumble in last year's Trinity game. "He's an athlete. We've got to have a good pass rush against him, and we need good coverage this week."
McGrath has a pair of potent weapons in his arsenal. One is senior Joe Clark, the QB's favorite target, who has amassed 292 receiving yards and a NESCAC-leading six touchdowns. The Bantams are without '07 graduate Gennaro Leo, one of the best running backs in team history, but they return senior Jordan Quinones, also an elite rusher.
"I said last week that if we could try to make Bowdoin one-dimensional, and shut down the running game, we had a chance to win," Samko said. "If you let people run the ball on you, it's going to be a long day. So we're going to try the same tactic against Trinity - we'll try to shut down the running game."
"Our defense, in general, against any team [hasn't] played to the best of our ability yet," Reynoso said. "I'm pretty confident in our defense, and I think we can take care of them."
