Two weeks ago, the football team was on the wrong end of a broken streak when Bates beat Tufts for the first time since 1985. Tomorrow, the Jumbos have a shot at turning the tables when they visit the Trinity Bantams, winners of 36 straight at Jessee/Miller Field, for the chance to move to .500 and snap the Bantams' nine−year unblemished home mark.
"Guys are really excited this week, and I think we have an opportunity to do something special," senior quarterback Anthony Fucillo said. "A win would mean a lot to everyone and to this program."
On paper, Tufts has had very little trouble putting up gaudy digits in the box score. Playing in coach Bill Samko's new spread offense, Fucillo over the first three weeks of the season has shattered the single−game school records for yards, completions and attempts. Buoyed by the NESCAC's second−best pass−offense ranking, seniors Greg Stewart, Billy Mahler and Pat Bailey all rank in the top 10 in the conference in receptions. The Jumbos also boast the conference's top pass defense.
According to Fucillo, the problems the team has faced thus far, especially in scoring, rest not in any systematic faults or in the personnel, but rather are a result of simply not putting it together at the right time.
"I really think we have some of the best weapons in the league," Fucillo said. "I don't think it's anyone's personal fault that we're not scoring. Our offense [and]the system is great, and we're moving the ball well. There are times when you get to the point when you have to change things up a bit, but right now it's more of a mentality thing."
But against Bowdoin this past Saturday, despite building up a 12−0 first−quarter lead, Tufts only managed a 28−yard field goal from junior Adam Auerbach for the rest of the game, ultimately falling 22−15.
"You have to put [the losses] behind you, but that's still easier said than done," Samko said. "We had the best practice of the year [this week]. The enthusiasm was great. Sometimes you drag and feel sorry for yourself, and they're not, so I was impressed by that."
Coming off consecutive losses by a total of eight points to Bates and Bowdoin, Tufts will look to figure out the red zone woes that have plagued them in recent weeks. The special teams unit looked solid throughout preseason play, a 21−10 season−opening win against Hamilton and the Homecoming loss to Bates, but faltered against Bowdoin with two missed field goals and a pair of blown extra points.
"I really thought we had opportunities to win the last two games, not that we should have or not that they were a given," Samko said. "People are confident in this league, and we just have to take advantage of those things, and we didn't. The trick is trying to figure out why it didn't come together like that."
Trinity enters tomorrow's contest fresh off a 41−7 drubbing of Hamilton, which more than made up for the team's struggles the week prior in a 29−21 loss to undefeated Williams. Trinity has relied on a strong defense that leads the NESCAC in turnover margin — plus−6, including 10 interceptions — and rush yards allowed — 41.7 per game — though its two victories have come in lopsided decisions to perennial bottom−feeders Colby and Hamilton. Moreover, the Jumbos are not a running−heavy team, having rushed the ball a league−low 70 times.
"They're physical and they're athletic, so they're not that much different than they normally are," Samko said. "We've beaten them before and we can beat them again. But we don't have to play over our heads or anything like that; we just have to play."
Any weaknesses that Trinity has, of course, tend to go out the window when the team returns to Hartford, Conn., where they haven't lost since 2001. Tufts nearly ended that streak in 2008, but a botched snap on an extra point in overtime resulted in a 28−27 Trinity win.
"Trinity's one of the best programs in the conference, and year in and year out, anytime you can beat a team like that is exciting," Fucillo said. "Especially because we're 1−2, something like that can really fire up the team and get the season rolling. On both sides of the ball, Trinity's great."
The closeness of the Jumbos' two losses this season, however, has lingered in the team's mind throughout the week, even as the squad tries to rally past its first 1−2 start since 2004.
"I think guys have done a good job of getting together and keeping a positive attitude in the locker room," Fucillo said. "It stinks because I think we've been one play away from being 3−0, which is the most frustrating part."
"Keeping a positive attitude is huge, especially in this situation," he added. "It's easy to get down on yourself and on the team. I'm going into this game like any other one, and trying to get spirits high on the field."
