The football team certainly didn't draw up its season like this.
The 2-2 Jumbos head into their Parents' Weekend matchup against 3-1 Williams with hopes of a NESCAC Championship on the line. If Tufts loses, not only will any reasonable shot at the title be gone, but the team will drop under .500 for the first time since the 2005 season.
"We treat every game the same and obviously every game is must-win but especially coming off two in the loss column, we want another win to get over .500 and back on track," junior quarterback Anthony Fucillo said.
After going 2-0 to start the season, Tufts has dropped two straight road games by a combined total of three points.
"It's tough when you lose, but when you lose like that you almost [wish] you lost by more than such a close margin," Fucillo said. "When you work so hard -- and our team worked very hard the last two games and left everything out there -- it's tough. But we have to put it in the past and be ready to move on."
Two weeks ago, five turnovers doomed the Jumbos as they fell to Bowdoin 28-26. Tufts failed to score on a two-point conversion that would have tied it 28-28 and then fumbled a lateral attempt on their last drive of the game.
Last week, in a matchup with undefeated Trinity, the teams ended regulation in a 21-21 tie. Both were able to reach the end zone in overtime, but the Jumbos missed their extra point attempt, which proved to be the difference in the 28-27 defeat.
Tufts now moves on to face Williams, whom it has not beaten since 1986 and whose only loss of the season came against the Trinity, 20-17.
"We need to get a win here to get back in the race," junior cornerback Tom Tassinari said. "There's a big difference between 3-2 and 2-3. Our goal is to win out to win the NESCAC, and first we have to beat Williams."
"It's definitely a turning point in our season," senior tri-captain linebacker Tyson Reynoso added. "We haven't beaten these guys in a long time, and they're a good team. It's a big game; every game is big, but this is one of the bigger ones."
The Ephs have traditionally boasted one of the strongest teams in the NESCAC, and this season is no different. Putting up 30.5 points per game, Williams is second in the NESCAC in scoring, averaging almost four more points than Tufts. The Ephs' offense is difficult to stop because of its balance; it ranks second in the league in both passing and rushing yardage.
"We've watched a lot of film on these guys and they have a strong offense, but our coaches have put in a couple new defenses this week," Tassinari said. "Williams has always done pretty well against us, but we have a good defense this year and we should be able to slow them down a bit."
"I think we've only given up about 100 yards total rushing [these] last two games," Reynoso added. "Last game was a little misleading because we blitzed so much that they had a lot of chances to pass in open space. I don't think we're too bad ourselves."
Indeed, the Jumbos have only allowed 112 rushing yards over the past two games, and their rushing defense, at 71.8 yards against per game, ranks second in the NESCAC behind Amherst. Their pass defense, though not as strong statistically, is still solid. Tufts ranks sixth in the NESCAC with 228.8 yards allowed per game, but, as Reynoso points out, that number is skewed somewhat by the 470 passing yards put up by Trinity quarterback Eric McGrath last week.
Unfortunately for the Jumbos, they will have to play without junior defensive lineman Dan Stebbins, who they lost for the season when he broke his leg during last week's game against Trinity. Stebbins led the team with five tackles for a loss and was tied for the team lead with two sacks.
"Losing any starter is tough," Reynoso said. "Stebbins is a great player, great lineman, but luckily we have a few players who can step up. [Senior lineman] Jeremiah [Lechleiter] will be back this week; we'll make a few adjustments and we'll be fine."
On the offensive side for the Jumbos, the keys to the success will be the arm of Fucillo and the legs of senior running back Will Forde.
Fucillo, a transfer from Div. I Colgate, has seen gradual improvement as he's grown more comfortable with the Tufts offense. His pass attempts in the past three games have gone up from 13 to 25 to 28, and has thrown for over 200 yards in each of the past two contests.
"I think we go into every game with the same type of game plan," Fucillo said. "We want to establish a running game to make holes for the passing game. Will's been doing a great job, so we're able to pass the ball through the air. I think we've done a good job equalizing it: passing and running a good amount. We're not crazy either; I think we're pretty balanced. Any team that faces us will have to prepare against both."
Forde leads the NESCAC with 131.2 rushing yards per game and, after never reaching 100 yards in a game before this season, he has broken the century mark in every contest this year. The Ephs, meanwhile, have allowed an average of just 114.5 yards per game.
"I mean, those statistics don't really tell how good of a defense Williams has," Forde said. "They have a lot of athletic guys who like to play physical. I'm sure they're excited to come in and play our offense tough, so I expect them to be ready and be a good defense."
Williams has won its last 15 games against Tufts and has not surrendered a loss to the Jumbos in 21 years. Once more, the Ephs' average margin of victory in the past three contests has been over 20 points.
Still, the Jumbos have more recent history on their minds. Only three points from a 4-0 record, they will head into Saturday's contest fighting for their season.
"[The past two losses are] obviously on our minds, but I think everyone's got their head [on] straight," Tassinari said. "Going into this week, we made sure everyone got focused for Williams; we don't have time to sulk."
