In a season marked by debilitating injuries, a lack of offensive production and numerous close losses, the Tufts football team produced a 2-6 record, its worst performance since 2005. Still, in the midst of the aforementioned problems, the Jumbos were within striking distance in games against some of the NESCAC's top squads, only to come up just short.
"Underachieving," senior quarterback Tom McManama said when asked to describe the season in one word. "Obviously it was a losing season, so it was definitely not a great year, but considering all the injuries we had, there's definitely a reason for only having two wins."
"Overall, it was definitely a disappointment because no one wants to end up 2-6," senior quad-captain Dan Stebbins said. "But there were times when we were playing some good football. Record aside, there were some positives."
In a way, that was the theme of Tufts' season: close, but not close enough. After dropping their opening contest on the road to Wesleyan 7-3, the Jumbos then reeled off two consecutive victories, including a 25-22 overtime thriller on Homecoming versus Bowdoin. But from there, Tufts entered a slide from which it would not recover from for the rest of the season, rounding out its campaign with five straight losses.
By the end of the season, the Jumbos were without two of four starters in the secondary and three of five opening-day starting offensive linemen, which undoubtedly contributed to their end-of-season woes.
"I hate to make excuses and blame the injuries," McManama said. "I'm one who feels that we all need to step up and be ready, but at the same time it just seemed that every other play someone was going down. It would have been different had all those injuries not happened."
Though avoiding the injury bug turned out to be Tufts' biggest difficulty, a number of players who managed to stay healthy had banner campaigns. Senior offensive lineman Adam Wueger was named to the All-NESCAC First Team, helping to pave the way for junior back Pat Bailey. Bailey was one of the lone offensive sparks for Tufts, consistently supplying a force on the ground, through the air and even when taking direct snaps in the "Wildcat" formation.
Bailey, who was named to the All-NESCAC Second Team earlier in the week as both a running back and a return specialist, was second in the conference in all-purpose yards, averaging 152.4 per game. Additionally, he was the only player in the league to compile 400 yards rushing, 300 yards receiving and 400 return yards.
"Wueger was absolutely our best lineman," McManama said. "And most importantly he is a great role model for the younger guys. His physicality on the field is incredible; every day he lays it out on the line.
"Bailey had an unbelievable year," he continued. "Especially getting switched from cornerback at the beginning of the season, I was so surprised how well he did. He's definitely one of the toughest kids I've ever played with; he's extremely quick and knows how to make guys miss. It was great to know that if the first two guys aren't that open, I can just check down to Bailey and it's a guaranteed seven or eight yards."
McManama, the opening-day starter after senior quad-captain Anthony Fucillo went down with a season-ending ankle injury in a scrimmage versus Bowdoin, averaged 123.8 yards per game, hurling a league-low seven touchdowns against a NESCAC-best four interceptions. His best outing of the year came on Nov. 7, on the road at Colby, when he completed 83 percent of his passes for 170 yards and two scores in Tufts' close, 34-31 loss to the Mules.
As the season wore on, Tufts turned to trickery in an attempt to jumpstart an otherwise stagnant offense that was held to under 10 points five times. Against Bowdoin, senior fullback Noah Hatfield-Biondo scored on a trick running play, while against Amherst, McManama hauled in a 26-yard pass from senior wide receiver Tim Puopolo.
On defense, the Jumbos allowed a league-best 189.6 passing yards per game and boasted the third-best scoring defense. Still, Tufts forced only nine turnovers on the year, including just four interceptions — a deficiency not helped when senior quad-captain safety Tom Tassinari went down for the year in a 13-3 home loss to Amherst on Oct. 31.
Tassinari, who was selected to the All-NESCAC First Team, finished with 57 tackles, second on the team behind junior Matt Murray. Stebbins tallied 8.5 tackles for a loss, while sophomore lineman Donnie Simmons added seven, including 2.5 sacks. Senior defensive back Alex Perry was also named to the Second Team, leading Tufts with 40 solo tackles while also intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble.
"You can go through each position categorically and find guys who stepped up," Perry said. "Danny Stebbins had a phenomenal year, really playing his heart out. Matt Murray played with a bum shoulder and was still out there delivering blows. Then you look at the secondary and the whole group of freshmen who stepped in and did more than we could ever ask of them."
The season ended last Saturday with a 26-7 home loss against Middlebury. But despite their eighth-place finish in the league, Tufts can hold its head high knowing it was in games against the league's top squads. The Jumbos lost to Trinity 10-3 and Amherst 13-3, and they came within one possession of beating Wesleyan and Colby.
"The Trinity game, we should have taken that to overtime and probably won," McManama said. "The Colby game we probably should have won, and this is with all the injuries. Amherst, I thought, we should have been closer than we were."
Tufts will graduate 19 players, including all four members of its secondary, but will return a large bulk of its offense. Fucillo, who was fifth in the conference in passing yardage in 2008, will return as a sixth-year senior. Joining Fucillo to lead the offense next season will be Bailey, as well as Tufts' top three receivers.
But while the Jumbos can't wait to get back on the field and prove their record a fluke, it will be a long offseason thinking about a 2-6 record that, barring a few close plays here and there, could very well have been a .500 season.
"It was a frustrating year. I don't think there's any way around it from a personal standpoint," Perry said. "You're still going out, you're still playing football every day, but obviously we didn't get the outcome we wanted. A bunch of things didn't go our way, you can always look at injuries, certain plays, and we didn't seem to catch any breaks. But for the most part, you're still going out and playing the game you love."
