Dave Caputi knows statistics are everywhere, but Bowdoin's football coach keeps track of a simple few: turnovers, explosive plays and touchdown efficiency in the red zone.
The Polar Bears passed with flying colors in those categories on Saturday.
With their offense stalling in the first half against Tufts, a pair of sophomore linebackers stepped up. The Jumbos had just driven down to the Bowdoin 5-yard line and, on 2nd-and-goal, senior quarterback Johnny Lindquist found himself flushed out of the pocket by Bowdoin's Griffin Cardew, who hit Lindquist as he threw. Joey Cleary picked off the pass and scampered 99 yards down the far sideline for the touchdown, giving Bowdoin a 7-0 lead and recording the longest play in the Polar Bears' 120-year history.
Cardew must have wanted a piece of the action. On 4th-and-goal from the Bowdoin 6-yard line in the fourth quarter, the sophomore one-upped Cleary, intercepting Lindquist at the goal line and taking it back for a 100-yard return, sealing his team's 27-6 win.
It is believed to be the first time in Div. III history that one team had two interception returns of 99 yards or more in a single game.
"That's some guys making some great plays, doing a good job in a lot of the things we've been coaching," Caputi said. "We're doing some things a little bit differently, and that was a great effort on some young guys' parts. They're both playing new positions this year, so they're both getting their feet wet and starting to make some plays. We're excited about their development and how the defense has been playing."
The Jumbos had been rolling upfield until Cleary's game-changing interception. Lindquist put together an eight-play, 46-yard drive that included consecutive completions of nine and 14 yards to sophomore running back Ryan Pollock, a 12-yard scamper himself and a 22-yard pass to junior receiver Dylan Haas.
Given that Bowdoin's offense had mustered just 43 yards on 15 plays in the first quarter, the defense stepped up in a big way.
"The first play got us on the board early, [and] especially Tufts' defense was playing well, giving [the offense] a hard time," said Cleary, the NESCACs Defensive Player of the Week. "But our offense picked it up from there and we were able to keep rolling off that. If the offense is struggling, the defense has to put the team on our backs."
Caputi returns
Four years after graduating from Middlebury, Caputi latched on as the Jumbos' quarterbacks' and secondary coach under then-head coach Duane Ford. The luster of returning to the Hill hasn't been lost on Caputi in his 12th season with the Polar Bears.
"I was just a young guy fresh out of college, and I was here at a good time with some really good football players," Caputi said. "It's fun to come back here and reconnect with those guys, because now that we look back at it now, we're all the same age, we're all middle-aged men. I had a lot of fun here."
Indeed, during Caputi's tenure, Tufts went from a 0-7-1 team in 1984 to a 7-1 squad in 1986. He left the Jumbos to become Williams' offensive coordinator for 13 seasons, helping the Ephs to an 88-13-3 record over those years, including four undefeated campaigns.
Injuries, returns
The revolving door of injured Jumbos continued on Saturday, as senior tri-captain linebacker Nick Falk made his return after suffering a high ankle sprain during a preseason scrimmage against Bowdoin. Falk, the team's leading returning tackler from 2010, had one tackle for a 2-yard loss in sparse playing time.
Junior Mike Howell, meanwhile, caught a 27-yard touchdown pass — the Jumbos' only score of the afternoon — from Lindquist on a post pattern in the fourth quarter. Howell missed the season-opener versus Hamilton and had one catch for 20 yards against Bates last week, but made his presence felt versus Bowdoin.
"Mike, he just got back after ... an injury, caught a great pass, but that's the expectation from that position," Tufts interim head coach Jay Civetti said. "Your job is to catch passes and score touchdowns. I was happy that we scored. He did a nice job."
On the flip side, senior defensive end Nick Croteau went down with what appeared to be an elbow injury and was put into a sling for the rest of the game. He finished the game with six tackles, including one for a loss of 11 yards. Croteau, whose status was uncertain as of press time, leads the team with 3.5 tackles for a loss and is the only Tufts player to record a sack.
Quick hits
JumboCast founder Steve Clay (A '90) made his return to the broadcast booth, calling the game for Tufts' sports webcasting group. Clay founded JumboCast in 2001, but he hadn't called a Tufts game since he traveled to Trinity in 2007 for the football team's 1,000th contest.
Cleary and Cardew wound up on ESPN's "SportsCenter" top-10 plays at No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, for their historic interception returns.
