For a fleeting moment on Saturday, the football team looked like a team capable of ending its nine−game losing streak, which dates back to last season's homecoming loss to Bates.
With 8:34 remaining in the fourth quarter, junior Dylan Haas returned a Bowdoin kickoff back to the Polar Bears' 27. On the first snap of the drive, senior quarterback Johnny Lindquist — in only his third collegiate start and with just one touchdown pass in his career — confidently planted and hit junior receiver Mike Howell in stride on a deep post in the end zone.
If a spectator had walked in at just that moment, they would have been forgiven for believing that Saturday was the day when Tufts football finally flipped the script, the day things clicked for a team with inexperienced players at many key positions.
But then they would have looked at the scoreboard, and seen an all−too−familiar line for fans of the brown and blue: Bowdoin 20, Tufts 6.
"I think it's hard when you put in as much work as these guys have, and it's just, the outcome of the game isn't what they want, isn't what we want. We want to win games," interim head coach Jay Civetti said after the loss.
"Part of it is understanding, hey, we have a lot of work to do as a team," he said. "We just aren't a great team yet, in terms of executing and making the outcome fortuitous for us. But in terms of staying together, in terms of rallying each other, in terms of keeping pushing, there wasn't a kid on that field who didn't give it his all. You would have thought it was a tie game, or we were ahead — it didn't matter."
Tufts last won a football game one year and two weeks ago. But even as the losses pile up, the Jumbos are doing their best to stay positive after starting a season 0−3 for the first time in the NESCAC era. The only choice, echoed players and coaches after Saturday's 27−6 loss, is to keep working and keep growing.
"[The mood in the locker room was] I guess somber, [but] you can't really dwell on s−−t like that too much, because every game is its own entity. It's not like we play playoffs," senior linebacker Zack Skarzynski said. "I mean, everybody's pissed off that we lost the game. If a couple plays go different ways we're at least in it, or gonna win it."
For much of the first half Saturday, Tufts was more than just in the game; the Jumbos were arguably outplaying the Polar Bears. Tufts had 113 yards of total offense in the first two quarters to Bowdoin's 104, including 81 yards through the air.
With 10:43 remaining in the half and the game still scoreless, Tufts was on an eight−play, 46−yard drive down the field to the Bowdoin five−yard line when the tides turned. Lindquist, whose greatest asset as a quarterback might be his ability to keep plays alive with his legs, scrambled to his right and was hit as he threw.
Polar Bears sophomore linebacker Joey Cleary snagged the interception and took it 99 yards the other way for a touchdown. Bowdoin never looked back.
"I'm not sure exactly how many times we've been down there in the red zone as a team this season, but that's exactly how many times he's been down there as our quarterback," Civetti said.
Lindquist had a chance to redeem himself in the red zone in the fourth quarter, as Tufts put together another impressive drive inside the Bowdoin 10, this time down 20−6 and looking to make it a one−possession game. On third−and−goal and under pressure again, Lindquist showed a bit of savvy by throwing the ball away. But on the next snap, his desperation throw ended in yet another interception return for a score, marking the first time in Div. III history that two interceptions have been run back at least 99 yards for touchdowns.
"He understands that anytime we get into the red zone, that's a feat in itself against a good defense," Civetti said. "That's a great thing and the last thing we want to do is have turnovers or take a sack, because that's points. At the end of the game, we had to throw it. If we ran, the clock would have kept running and we wanted a chance to score, get the ball back and do it again."
Civetti brought in Lindquist's backup, junior John Dodds, for the final drive of the game, which ended in a three−and−out. The interim head coach downplayed the possibility of the battle for the starting job reopening.
"He gets a shot every day," Civetti said of Dodds. "Johnny's done a nice job. I'm not pulling any fire alarms. We're going to keep doing the same thing that we're doing."
On defense, Skarzynski led the way with 16 tackles as Tufts let up 190 rushing yards to a Polar Bears team that thrives on its ground game. Bowdoin was able to put together a couple of long drives in the second half to close the game out, but more than anything else it was Lindquist's two costly interceptions that turned the game in the Polar Bears' favor.
"We knew that they would be prepared; they had us very well scouted," Bowdoin starting quarterback Grant White said. "Throughout the game, they were yelling out the plays we were running, from the sideline and from the players. They were very well coached and had us well−scouted, but we just executed a little bit better than they did today."
Tufts will have to improve quickly to compete in its next two games, which are against 3−0 Trinity on Homecoming Weekend, and perennial conference power Williams in two weeks.
The team plans to stick with its game plan, and keep working hard in practice toward getting that elusive first win.
"You've got guys here that fight for each other — and I'm not just saying that because we're O−and−three — you have to recognize that stuff in order to get better," Civetti said. "We'll put the film on, see where we need to make corrections. We've got a great opponent next week, we'll be back home again and get another chance at it. It's been only three games, and my mentality isn't changing."
