In a season defined by its consistency in home-road splits, the football team suffered again, falling short in a tough 38-24 late-comeback road loss to the Middlebury Panthers.
With the defeat, Tufts posts a dismal 0-4 road record to go along with their equally steady 4-0 home mark to end the fall campaign 4-4 overall.
The Jumbos have mounted some impressive wins at Zimman Field this fall, including a 17-7 win over the No. 2 team in the NESCAC, Williams (6-2). But Tufts stumbled in its road contests, losing to the likes of Bowdoin (4-4), Trinity (8-0) and Amherst (5-3) by less than a touchdown.
Entering the finale of the 2008 season for both squads, it remained unclear which Jumbo team would show up at Youngman Field in Middlebury, Vt. for the rainy Saturday contest. Unfortunately for Tufts, the team's shaky road defense took the field and the Jumbos suffered their fourth straight road loss.
It was an interesting day for both teams offensively, as each side's No. 1 quarterback was out with a shoulder injury coming into the matchup. For the Panthers, sophomore Jack Kramer was in for classmate Donald McKillop for the second straight game. Tufts junior Anthony Fucillo was hurt during last week's matchup with Colby. Kramer went 24-35 for 299 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions on the day, while junior quarterback Tom McManama went 7-19 for 87 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions for the Jumbos.
Tufts took to the locker room upbeat at the end of the first half with a 17-7 lead. Junior safety Tom Tassinari played a key role in the Jumbos' first half, picking off Kramer three times during the first two quarters.
"The coaches had us in really good coverage," Tassinari said. "When the quarterback overthrew his receiver, I was in real good position to make the interceptions and get some turnovers for defense."
The Jumbos turned their hat trick of turnovers into 10 first-half points that allowed them to carry the early lead into the half. Senior running back Will Forde trudged his way to a four-yard touchdown score off the heels of Tassinari's second pick to give the Jumbos a 10-0 lead. Forde would finish the day with 60 yards on 18 carries and the lone touchdown.
Both teams traded touchdowns through the air to end the first half, as Kramer connected with junior running back Ryan Bohling for a 37-yard scoring strike. Two series later, McManama found senior wide receiver David Halas for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Halas would finish the day with five catches for 82 yards and a touchdown, finishing out his time in a Jumbo uniform with 17 career touchdowns, a school record.
Despite their first half successes, the Jumbos' enduring road woes came back to haunt them in the second as McManama was picked on their first possession. The interception would turn into a Middlebury touchdown with a Kramer sneak on the goal line, the Panthers' first of four second-half touchdowns.
"They came out with a different game plan and ran a lot more in the second half," said senior linebacker and tri-captain Tyson Reynoso, who led the defensive effort with 17 tackles. "They had a lot of momentum going in the second half, and we just couldn't stop it."
"We made a few coverage mistakes in the second half," Tassinari added. "Middlebury came out with a different team than they had in the first, and they started running the option. We had some missed coverage [calls], but they just put us in some tough situations and we should have come up bigger."
The loss against Middlebury capped off a rollercoaster season for the Jumbos, who had high hopes for the 2008 campaign following last year's 5-3 record in which Tufts competed most of the way for the NESCAC Championship.
"We expected to have a better record -- we expected to be better than 4-4," Tassinari said. "We are a little disappointed, and we wish we could have had a few more wins. There were a bunch of games that just didn't go our way."
"I don't see how you can't be disappointed," Reynoso added. "With all the talent we had ... we expected to win the league, if not at least finish with a winning record. We did have some highlights that we can be proud of, such as a great win against Williams -- something we haven't done in a long time. We had some other highlights, but we just wish we could have done better."
