The commuter rail rumbled past on the nearby train tracks, the filming tower's motor simultaneously emitting a deafening whir. Moments later on the football team's adjacent practice field, a roar went up from the baby−blue−and−white−clad players, an audible sign that football season is near.
With last season's 2−6 record all but erased from their collective memory, the Jumbos will hit the field tonight against Bowdoin in their first scrimmage of the year. It will be their first time facing another team and an important step to forgetting about 2009.
"You kind of see that change where people aren't getting sick of practice but are getting more excited for a game," senior quarterback Anthony Fucillo, who broke his leg during the first series in last season's scrimmage against the Polar Bears, said. "It's a new year. We put 2−6 behind us."
Throughout the past week, the team has been all business, treating the days leading up to Bowdoin as if they came during the regular season. In their minds, this one counts.
"We haven't hit anyone in a long time, so it's good that we can get out there and do that against someone else," junior defensive lineman Donnie Simmons said.
An injury−depleted defensive unit provided much of the backdrop for last year's disappointing season, as the Jumbos ended the year with some of their most experienced players — including safety Tom Tassinari (E '10) — on the sidelines. The upside, however, was that young players — members of the team who this season will assume starting roles — got the opportunity to step into game situations.
"Especially the young guys are very excited," Fucillo said. "They can't wait to put pads on in a college atmosphere. I think we have some really good young players, kids who know how to play the game of football and kids who are confident and have proved themselves in practice."
With the Sept. 25 season opener at home against Hamilton looming, the scrimmage against the Polar Bears will, above all else, allow the Jumbos to prove how far they've come in camp and in the offseason.
"We want to set the tempo from the beginning, beat them to the spot and start a trend," Simmons said. "We just want to let [Bowdoin and the NESCAC] know who we are and that we're here."
