Early in the afternoon on Thursday, with most of the campus enjoying the day off and some students likely still in their beds, juniors Nick Falk and Pat Cassidy were situated on the Memorial Steps.
As members of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps, Falk and Cassidy were in attendance at Tufts' annual Veterans Day flag−passing ceremony. Also in attendance was football coach Bill Samko, decked out in full suit and tie, showing solidarity with men in uniform on the football team.
And while Thursday was solely about honoring veterans, Saturday will be all about honoring the seniors.
At noon tomorrow, the football team will take the field for the last time this season, looking to salvage a 1−6 record and send its 13 seniors out on a high note on the road against Middlebury.
In the NESCAC, a league that doesn't participate in the NCAA Div. III playoffs, the ultimate goal is a conference championship. But for a Jumbos squad whose dreams of finishing atop the standings evaporated long ago, dignity still remains on the line against the Panthers.
"What's at stake is our pride," senior defensive end Donnie Simmons said. "The season hasn't gone the way we wanted it to, but Middlebury is a great team and to end it with a win against them is great. We've become used to adversity, but when adversity comes you just got to overcome and make adjustments and get better."
The Jumbos have become fast friends with adversity throughout the season. Last week, Tufts allowed 600−plus yards for the second consecutive game and lost a 13−point, second−half lead to Colby in a contest that ended in a 1−yard, game−winning touchdown as the clock expired for the Mules.
"Colby made two fourth−down plays in that last drive, and if we make a play on either one of those then the game's over," Samko said. "There were a couple of mental breakdowns, and those things will always come back to haunt you. We're not that far away, and that's the frustrating part."
Saturday's game will feature the NESCAC's two most pass−happy offenses, led by a pair of the most prolific quarterbacks in conference history. As the kinks in its new spread system finally get worked out, Tufts — top in the NESCAC with 335.3 passing yards per game — has looked nearly unstoppable through the air over the past two weeks. Senior quarterback Anthony Fucillo has an aggregate 862 yards and seven touchdowns in the Jumbos' losses to Colby and Amherst, and sophomore Dylan Haas' 205 receiving yards versus the Lord Jeffs nearly set the Tufts single−game record, falling 14 short of the current mark.
Lining up five receivers on each play ultimately poses difficulties for any defense looking to key in on one player, and the bevy of talent at the wideout position has helped Fucillo find open targets. Seniors Pat Bailey (first), Billy Mahler (seventh) and Greg Stewart (ninth), as well as Haas (10th), are all in the top 10 in the NESCAC in receptions per game.
Tufts' offensive line has been similarly stellar recently. Though the unit ranks sixth in the conference with 13 sacks allowed, the Jumbos have ceded just six in their past five games.
While the Jumbos' passing success is the result of a no−huddle offense installed just before the season, the Panthers are no strangers to airing it out. Senior quarterback Donald McKillop already holds the NESCAC single−season records for passing yardage (2,873), completions (262) and attempts (405), and heads into Saturday just 22 yards behind Fucillo for the conference lead, albeit with 30 more completions.
"We can beat anybody in the league and we can lose to anyone in the league, so you better show up and you better play your best," Samko said. "I wish we could've had some of the earlier ones back because the offense is new and we're a lot different now than we were in weeks one, two and three. We'll have to play well but I don't think we'll have to play over our heads."
Tufts' pass defense, once ranked first in the conference, has tumbled to sixth after allowing Colby junior Nick Kmetz to throw for 392 yards this past week. Whether directly correlated to the fact that the Jumbos' offense is last in the NESCAC in time of possession per game or that the secondary has recently succumbed to injuries — Bailey, who played cornerback his sophomore year, will likely see time in the secondary on Saturday — Tufts will undoubtedly have to stop McKillop in order to stop Middlebury.
Regardless of the outcome, Samko will remain nostalgic about the season, fondly reflecting on the effort that, unfortunately for the Jumbos, has hardly turned into success in the win column.
"Sometimes the Fates seem to conspire, and there's a little bit of that going on," he said. "It's not because of effort level or preparation. Generally, when you're struggling like this, you want the season to be over, but I don't want it to be over. I wish we had another six weeks left, to be honest."
But a win to honor the 13 seniors? That would be the ultimate ending.
"It would be epic," Simmons said. "The last time we won was against Hamilton, and that was back in September. It's November now, dude. When the seniors came into the season, if someone told them that the only game they would've won going into Middlebury was Hamilton, they would've all said, ‘No, that's not true. That's a lie.' Unfortunately it didn't work out the way they wanted it to, but this is huge for those guys to end their career on a great note."
