Tomorrow's Homecoming game is not exactly a marquee match-up for the football team.
Tufts hasn't lost to Bates in over two decades — most of this year's team hadn't yet been born in 1985 when the Bobcats last got the best of the Jumbos.
As for more recent history, the squad hailing from Lewiston, Maine has seen some bloodbaths. In the last three years, the combined score of the teams' three games is 90-39. Last year, the Jumbos rushed for four touchdowns and waltzed to a 35-20 win.
Yet none of that means much to junior Anthony Fucillo, the Jumbos' quarterback, for whom history is just beginning. The only relevant numbers for him are 11-for-22, 178 yards, one touchdown, no interceptions. That was his stat line in his first career Div. III game, a 20-14 win over Wesleyan last Saturday. Not a bad start for a new quarterback learning a new system.
"I'm happy with how I've come so far," said Fucillo, who transferred in from Div. I Colgate. "The fact of the matter is I've only been here for a little over a month. The coaches and the players have all done a really good job of helping me to fit in."
The toughest adjustment period for Fucillo came after the opening kickoff, when he had to learn in real time how to lead the Tufts offense.
The stat line shows a trend: Fucillo was 4-for-14 in the first half, overthrowing his receivers by a step or two each time. But they fell into sync in the second, with Fucillo going 7-for-8. Part of the credit for that, he admitted, goes to the Wesleyan defense.
"To be honest with you, I got hit pretty hard," Fucillo said. "But overall, our offense was able to wear them down. Come the third and the fourth quarter, they were tired and we weren't, so we were able to win the game."
This week, Tufts is matched with a Bates team that has had to rebuild an already struggling defense. The Bobcats were the worst team in the NESCAC last season defensively, and they may be even worse this season after the graduation of their top four tacklers.
"They're still going to play hard," Fucillo said. "I know that they're coming off a tough season, but we have to take them like any other opponent."
