The Tufts Daily - Friday, October 11, 2019

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Granoff colloquium series hosts expert on astronomy, music theory see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 4

FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Jumbos look to go 3–2 under the lights

Kantor, Twohey, Judd discuss ‘She Said’ at First Parish Church see ARTS&LIVING / PAGE 5

SEE SPORTS / BACK PAGE

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VOLUME LXXVIII, ISSUE 26

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T HE T UFTS DAILY Friday, October 11, 2019

MEDFORD/SOMERVILLE, MASS.

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Student finds sign for African American exhibit defaced, Bias Response Teams announced by Austin Clementi

Executive News Editor

A third incident of hatred in under a month occurred on the Medford/Somerville campus, University President Anthony Monaco and Provost and Senior Vice President Nadine Aubry announced in an email today. According to the email, this most recent incident involved the defacement of a sign in the African American Trail Project exhibit in the Aidekman Arts Center, which a student discovered last Saturday. “This act of vandalism is a shameful affront to the African American commu-

nity, and it shows a crude and insulting disregard for the long history of oppression, racism, and injustice endured by all people of color in the United States and around the world,” Monaco and Aubry wrote. This act of vandalism comes in the wake of two other acts of hate targeting marginalized groups. On Sept. 15, a Jewish student returned to their dorm room and found a swastika affixed to their door. On Oct. 2, a different student discovered a homophobic slur carved into their door. As with the other two incidents this semester, Monaco and Aubry assured that the Office of Equal Opportunity and the

Tufts University Police Department were investigating. Monaco and Aubry called the act an “incident of bias,” despite criticism from students for using such language regarding the homophobic act of vandalism last week. The administrators announced the creation of two Bias Response Teams (BRTs) for such acts of hate, one of which would cover such incidents that occur on the Medford/Somerville and SMFA campuses and one that would respond to those that occur in Boston and Grafton.

According to the email, Rob Mack, associate provost and chief diversity officer for Medford, and Joyce Sackey, who holds the same position for the Boston and Grafton campuses, as well as students, faculty and staff would form the BRTs. “[BRTs’] work will be distinct from our processes for reporting, investigating, and adjudicating incidents of bias and discrimination at Tufts, supplementing those existing University processes with a focus on community understanding, support, and engagement,” the email read.

Discontinuation of OSSA leads to integration of services into FIRST Resource Center by Sara Renkert

Assistant News Editor

In a decision made this past summer after three years of ongoing support by the organization, the Office for Student Success and Advising (OSSA) has been discontinued in order to incorporate its leadership and resources into the FIRST Resource Center, according to a Student Life email on Sept. 3. This center focuses primarily on providing resources and support for Tufts’ first-generation, low-income and undocumented students, according its website. Margot Cardamone will serve as the FIRST Center’s director. Jared Smith, now the program director for the summer preorientation program Bridge to Liberal Arts Success (BLAST), will join her in that office. According to Cardamone and Smith in an email to the Daily, the FIRST Resource Center was made to “create a community of support and to develop a network of resources” to support Tufts students with these identities. “By strengthening the bonds between our community members and bridging the gap between resources and students, FIRST aims to ensure that students are empowered in, and prepared to reach their full social, professional, and academic potentials,” they said. The FIRST Center achieves this goal through various programming, like the Building Engagement and Access for Students at Tufts peer leadership program and BLAST, Cardamone and Smith said. This helps provide “necessary financial knowledge, information about Tufts, support and access to opportunities and resources for students to be successful during their time at University,” they added.

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While these financial resources, such as helping support students with the additional hidden costs of university, were originally distributed by OSSA; Cardamone and Smith explained that these will now be distributed by the FIRST Resource Center. Dean of the the School of Arts and Sciences James Glaser explained that the move to incorporate OSSA into the FIRST Center was a practical decision for the university. “OSSA had two main reasons to be dissolved. The first one was to move its advising over to Academic Affairs and the remainder of the work fits nicely into the FIRST center. The center is going to become a part of Diversity and Inclusion, which is a separate unit we have created as a result of recent changes and additions,” Glaser said. Glaser explained in the email that these recent changes had to do with “budgetary additions and personal additions to support Diversity and Inclusion” to more fully serve the undergraduate population. Although OSSA provided academic support for first-generation, undocumented and low-income students, it was also a source of academic advising for all undergraduate students. The OSSA move into the FIRST Center will not detract from these resources, according to Glaser. According to Glaser, OSSA previously covered pre-major advising for undergraduates, but these roles will be filled by Deans of Academic Advising and Undergraduate Studies Carmen Lowe with the School of Arts and Sciences and Jennifer Stephan with the School of Engineering. “The OSSA is administratively important for pre-major advising, but now it will be For breaking news, our content archive and exclusive content, visit tuftsdaily.com @tuftsdaily

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From left to right, Margot Cardamone, FIRST Center director, Robert Mack, associate provost and chief diversity officer and Jared Smith, program director for Bridge to Liberal Arts Success, pose for a portrait outside the FIRST Center on May 1, 2018. tended to by Dean Lowe and Stephan. It will be in the same part of advising as the alpha deans. It really consolidates advising all in one place,” Glaser said. Cardamone and Smith also stated in an email to the Daily that they will continue their work as seminar leaders and serve as pre-major advisors, alongside the advising work being done by the undergraduate Academic Advising, they said. Within this consolidation, Glaser expressed no concern for communication across the centers, advising units and other student divisions. “We will make sure there is still a lot of cross-communication, cooperation and collaboration across all those units, even

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if they sit in different parts of the organization,” Glaser said. Glaser emphasized that this reorganization is a matter of ensuring that the organization of support for students is optimal. “We are just shuffling the deck a little bit in ways we think are going to help us administratively that will help both faculty and students,” Glaser explained. Cardamone and Smith reiterated this statement that the changes are helping them support the students in the most effective and efficient way possible. “We are most excited to be able to focus all of our attention on working with this vibrant and incredible community,” they said.

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THE TUFTS DAILY | News | Friday, October 11, 2019

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ResLife to replace CDAs, FYAs with RA positions by Alejandra Carrillo News Editor

The Office of Residential Life and Learning (ResLife) announced in a meeting with student staff on Sunday that it will be restructuring student roles within residence halls. The First-Year Assistant (FYA) and Community Development Assistant (CDA) positions will no longer exist and will be replaced by Resident Assistant (RA) positions beginning in the 2020–21 academic year, just two years after ResLife created the FYA and CDA positions. According to a previous Daily report, CDAs are compensated significantly less than FYAs: ResLife gives CDAs a $1,500 stipend, a partial meal plan and does not cover any housing costs. Nadia Vargas, associate director of the residential education, told the Daily in an email that the RA position will be compensated with a room credit that will cover the cost of each staff member’s housing in the residence halls in addition to the stipend and a larger meal plan, the current compensation for FYAs. Vargas indicated that the idea to get rid of FYA and CDA positions gained support over the summer. “We began to pitch and play with different ideas on how we could restructure the positions in a manner that allowed us to preserve our department’s capacity to promote community, wellness, and safety while also compensating our staff at a level that is commensurate with the effort we expect them to put in,” she said.

According to Vargas, the ORLL worked hand-in-hand with student staff members to ensure their voices were being heard and that the office prioritized their needs. The move to create RA positions was largely encouraged by the fact that, while the FYA and CDA roles are different in the context that they serve residents, the two positions ask staff to commit to similar workload levels, Vargas said. Joshua Hartman, director of ResLife, echoed Vargas’ statement in an email, adding that the terms FYA and CDA were a source of confusion. He acknowledged the different titles and discredited the belief that the roles of CDAs were not as important. “Assumptions that the CDA is a less important role … is not at all the case,” Hartman said. “Our CDAs have been outstanding these past few years, and their excellent work, commitment to their residents, and passion for developing community has really laid the groundwork for this decision.” According to the office’s website, RAs will live in the residence halls and mentor students at Tufts by introducing them to resources on campus. They will serve as a support system and aid students’ transition into the university while helping them integrate into the community. “RAs are the primary point of comprehensive support for students at Tufts … [they] work with the Office of Residential Life & Learning to shape an environment that supports intellectual and personal growth and cultivates a

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living-learning community,” the website says. RAs will also design activities for engagement and empower students to explore curricular and co-curricular offerings. In order to be considered for the RA position, a student must meet several requirements, including having a course load no less than 12 semester hour units and a cumulative 2.5 grade point average. Cara Dufresne, a sophomore CDA in Wren Hall, spoke to the Daily about the recent changes. “I liked the idea … the FYA and CDA roles are a lot closer than people think they are,” Dufresne said. “There were a few of us that during training brought up some concerns, and then we formed some groups and got some information … we looked at what other schools were doing and compared it to Tufts.” After analyzing the matter carefully, Dufresne and a group consisting of CDAs and leads, experienced CDAs and FYAs designated with greater responsibilities, set up a meeting with the ResLife. “We talked with [ResLife] and what we wanted was the exact same thing that they wanted, so it worked out well,” she said. “We had a meeting where we all aired our concerns, then we had two separate meetings and then we had the final meeting on Sunday.” Overall, Dufresne was satisfied with ResLife’s response. “ResLife was responsive to everything that we wanted,” she said.

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SPEAKER INTERVIEW

Vassar professor Motazedian presents in Granoff colloquium series by Megan Szostak Assistant Arts Editor

A decade and a half ago, Tahirih Motazedian watched HiRISE, the University of Arizona’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, hitch a ride to Mars with NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from Cape Canaveral, Fla. — a mission of which she was an integral part. Before that, Motazedian was at NASA, where she had worked on mission support for the Genesis Mission and for Apollo Missions 15, 16 and 17. Though she boasts this impressive experience in the field of planetary science, Motazedian, now an assistant professor at Vassar College, recently visited Tufts to speak not about her scientific background but her current area of study: music theory in film. Having entered school with the hopes of becoming a professional musician thanks to her violin and piano skills, Motazedian was forced to set aside her performance career after an injury. In an attempt to fulfill some general education requirements, she took a summer astronomy course at the University of Oregon, and within minutes, she was hooked. However, Motazedian expressed in an interview with the Daily that she regretted having to leave music behind, even with her established career in science. “At one point, I realized that I could come back to music by doing music theory,” Motazedian said. “I gave my resignation a week later and started preparing to enter grad school in music theory.” After her focus shifted, Motazedian completed her second bachelor’s degree, this time in music theory, at the University of Arizona. She then completed her Ph.D. in music theory at Yale University, writing her dissertation on tonal design in film music. On Oct. 7, Motazedian gave a lecture at the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center as a part of its colloquium speaker series, and gave an insightful presentation that was very well-received by the audience. Through a series of musical case studies, Motazedian explained how tonality, or the character of a piece of music as dictated by its key, plays a significant role in sonically illustrating character development, plot points and overarching themes in films. Many scholars of music theory have been captivated by the complexity of film soundtracks — which Motazedian operationally-defined as being a combination of music, musical cues and

MENGQI IRINA WANG / THE TUFTS DAILY

Vassar College Assistant Professor of Music Tahirih Motazedian poses for a portrait in Varis Lecture Hall in the Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center on Oct. 7. other sound effects — but, according to Motazedian, have not looked at film tonality as multipartite works. Some of this unique insight could be a result of Motazedian’s scientific past. “I don’t think that I would have been drawn to music theory in the same way if I didn’t come from my STEM background first,” Motazedian said. “I apply a lot of the same types of thinking and working processes that I did in science to my work in music theory. [Science] informs everything I do, even though I am working with completely different types of research and data.” Motazedian’s complex tonal analysis was, in its simplest sense, scientifically methodological. Through the use of thorough yet comprehensive graphs and charts mapping tonal progressions of soundtracks, the “easily traceable intentionality” of selected

soundtracks, as described by Motazedian in her lecture, became evident. As heard in Motazedian’s tonal analysis of “The Talented Mr. Ripley” (1999), certain keys first heard in diegetic performances of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s opera “Eugene Onegin” (1879) and J.S. Bach’s “Italian Concerto” (1735) and the associated plot points and emotions present in said performances dictated the tonal structure of the rest of the film. The murderous themes of “Eugene Onegin” are accompanied by a dark, D minor melody and, in the interest of not spoiling the film, are suggestive of the main character’s already-unstable emotional state in “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” Each moment in the film featuring his dark side is accompanied by a theme in D minor, paying homage to “Eugene Onegin.”

This analysis elicited a disbelieving murmur among the audience, many of whom were music department members, but Motazedian was not finished. She continued in arguing that “Italian Concerto,” like “Eugene Onegin,” does not only provide tonal structure but narrative structure as well. This reference to Italy is an allusion to Tom’s impending trip to Italy, an important threshold crossed in the film. This concerto was performed in the key of F major, which Motazedian said underscores nearly every fleeting moment of happiness in the film thereafter. Motazedian’s lecture was met with great praise and interest from audience members. For more on the Granoff Music Center colloquium speakers, visit the Granoff Music Center events calendar.

BOOK TALK

Kantor, Twohey, Judd in conversation about new book ‘She Said’ by Elizabeth Sander Assistant Arts Editor

Authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey gathered at the First Parish Church in Cambridge on Monday to discuss their recently published book, “She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement” (2019). This book surrounds the work that both Twohey and Kantor did as New York Times investigative reporters to break the Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct case. This story from The New York Times on Oct.

5, 2017, helped to kickstart the #MeToo movement, which saw thousands of women come forward with their own sexual harassment or assault stories. Many of the men accused were powerful ones, with careers ranging from media and business to finance and politics — and even the presidency. The book delves into President Donald Trump’s sexual harassment allegations as well as those against Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Twohey and Kantor felt that these three specific stories of powerful men and their aggressive actions were important to analyze and describe, and the tale

of their breaking the Weinstein story is one that is tragic and complex but undeniably gripping. Joining them on stage that evening was actress Ashley Judd, who was one of the first women to come forward with her story of being sexually harassed by Weinstein. Her story was critical to Twohey and Kantor’s investigation and is a large part of the novel. Her bravery has been commended and appreciated by both the authors. The event’s moderator was NPR’s Carrie Johnson who can be heard covering various stories for “Morning Edition” and

“All Things Considered,” two of NPR’s longest running radio shows. Together, these four women dove into the complexities of “She Said,” and the discussion left attendees with anecdotes and stories from this painstaking process told by the women at its forefront. Johnson began by asking Judd about the ultimate reason she came forward, to which she responded that it was a “spiritual decision”; she contacted close friends and family in an attempt to understand the full

see SHE SAID, page 5


A r t s & L i v i ng

Friday, October 11, 2019 | Arts & Living | THE TUFTS DAILY

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Journalists behind New York Times' Weinstein story discuss new book

ELIZABETH SANDER / THE TUFTS DAILY

Prize-winning investigative reporters Jodi Kantor (second to left) and Megan Twohey (second to right) discuss their co-authored book ‘She Said,’ (2019) with NPR’s justice correspondent Carrie Johnson (right) and actress Ashley Judd (left) on Oct. 7 at Harvard Book Store.

c SHE SAID continued from page 4 implications and necessity of this decision. And when her lawyer said, “If you can’t do this, Ashley, who can?” she realized that her position was such that her testimony would be vital in breaking this case, so she went to Kantor, who responded with “it was the first time I felt like this was really going to work.” Before Judd came forward, the evidence had lined up with clarity for Twohey and Kantor, but they needed one or two women to spearhead this piece. Those women were Judd and Laura Madden, a former employee of Weinstein’s Miramax film production company. These women were vital to Twohey and Kantor’s investigative reporting. But of course, everything was much more nuanced and complicated than women simply stepping forward. Twohey and Kantor had to be extremely careful with their words when calling survivors of sexual assault; they couldn’t overpromise them anything for their stories, but they had to hear them and help motivate them to shed light on their experiences. When Johnson asked what motivated women to come forward, Twohey

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explained that most survivors of sexual assault and harassment were violated two times, once by the perpetrator and then again by the system that was supposed to protect them. Another roadblock in getting these stories were the legal settlements, and although they proved difficult at times, Kantor explained that in some ways settlements were the key to this reporting. She also added that settlements may seem like the answer for most women at the time, but they enable alleged predators and perpetrators. Take Bill O’Reilly for example, who was also mentioned at the talk. He has paid about $45 million in settlements over the years, each one enabling him to continue his unimaginable behavior. These settlements were made with lawyers and legal processes under the table, but the perpetrators also used other methods, such as last-minute pleas, which Weinstein made to Twohey the night before the sexual harassment story was published. Both authors weren’t even sure if they had spoken to Judd in person about the way Weinstein barged into The New York Times office at the 11th hour with lawyers and a folder of “dirt” on Judd and actress Rose McGowan,

who also accused him of sexual assault. Accompanying Weinstein were attorneys Linda Fairestein and Lisa Bloom, who both decided to support Weinstein despite their backgrounds in representing survivors of sexual assault. They tried a last minute attempt to paint Judd as a “nut” on the basis of her psychological treatment in 2006. Perhaps the most striking thing about this story, besides Weinstein’s desperation, were the two lawyers who supported him, a strategic move on Weinstein’s part due to the backgrounds of both Bloom and Fairstein. The authors acquired a memo, which they include in its entirety in their book, from Bloom stating why she wanted to work for Weinstein. It explained how she wanted to use her experience as a sex crimes prosecutor to be able to turn against survivors of sexual assault for Weinstein’s benefit. What was her motive? That is something Kantor and Twohey don’t know, but they did mention that she got paid $895 an hour. And, even though Bloom claimed she was not aware of the extent of Weinstein’s crimes, Twohey added that through her investigation she found that Bloom had a “deep knowledge

of the allegations” and had a much darker role in the process than she led the public to believe. This discussion also brought up the eerie realization that there has been very little change to the institutions that protect women from sexual assault since the publication of this story and the expansive #MeToo movement. Even Judd herself has lost income from being so outspoken. At the event, Judd recounted the Women’s March from 2016 when she recited Nina Donovan’s poem “Nasty Woman,” which includes phrases that have been spoken by Trump. In the aftermath of reciting this poem, she lost her position as a spokesperson for the athletic gear company Copper Fit. Judd explained to the audience that “Trump says it with immunity, but I lose millions of dollars of income.” It’s infuriating to think of how so much and so little has changed in the past three years since The New York Times published the Weinstein article, but if powerful and inspiring women like Johnson, Judd, Kantor and Twohey can continue to expose the truth, there is hope that one day both comprehensive and social change will be achieved on an international scale.

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Friday, October 11, 2019 | FUN & GAMES | THE TUFTS DAILY

F &G FUN & GAMES

tuftsdaily.com LATE NIGHT AT THE DAILY Myshko: “I have five followers on Twitter. One of them is Amy Klobuchar.”

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Make an agreement with your partner and punctuate it with optimism. Determine what another wants. Consider shared goals. Discuss possibilities and review options.

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Arlo Moore-Bloom The Equalizer

MLS, Europe’s youth tug-of-war

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ajor League Soccer launched the Development Academy in 2007, a program intended to provide unprecedented access to premier coaching, facilities and professionalism to young players. The idea was to make players better so that they could compete in MLS and in Europe. In a perfect world, MLS teams would invest in their Academy, develop quality players and sell them to European teams for a tidy profit. MLS teams could then continue to invest in their academies or buy better first-team players — probably some of both. After all, that’s how the rest of the world’s selling leagues operate. Ulysses Llanez is a good example. He joined the Los Angeles Galaxy’s academy in 2014 when he was 13 years old. With the Galaxy, Llanez benefited from the extensive coaching staff and top-notch soccer environment. He even attended the Galaxy’s own high school that’s just minutes away from the stateof-the-art training facilities where he honed his skills for years. The investment paid off — for Llanez. He rejected offers to join LA Galaxy’s first team; instead, in October 2018, he signed with Wolfsburg, a Bundesliga team. He’s tearing it up for the U19 team, closer to his goal of first-team minutes and the accompanying salary. How did the investment turn out for the Galaxy? Not so well. Llanez left the Galaxy for free. U.S. labor laws restrict the employment of children under 16, and because he refused to sign for the Galaxy after he turned 16, he was free to sign with whoever he wanted. European teams love this relationship: there’s no risk involved when a team signs a player for free. If he flops, he flops — no skin off their back. In this regard, MLS teams are at a serious disadvantage to their European counterparts. MLS teams receive no return on their investment. As MLS commissioner Don Garber stated earlier this year, “I don’t know how we can justify making the kind of investments that we’ve been making [without compensation].” MLS has improved its stance on FIFA’s solidarity payments. In April of this year, Garber announced that MLS teams will begin to claim solidarity payments if players sign to foreign teams. Using Llanez as an example, if he were to leave Wolfsburg for Real Madrid for $1 million, a 5% fee would be added on and distributed to each club that developed him. The Galaxy would then receive some cash for developing Llanez. Ironically, solidarity payments may impede future players’ development in the long run. Would Wolfsburg have bought Llanez if he wasn’t free? Maybe, maybe not. The financial risk would have been higher because Wolfsburg would have had to pay the Galaxy for him. Instead, at the expense of MLS academies, European teams can take low-risk chances on Americans; thus, young players like Llanez can make it into Europe more easily — a career move that prepares him better for a future with the U.S. Men’s National Team. European teams won’t entirely lose interest if they have to pay up. That’s how it works everywhere else, anyway. MLS teams aren’t shutting down their academies, either. The leverage of these stakeholders may rise and fall as rules change, but there is one silver lining: American players are getting better. Of that, there is no doubt nd that’s exciting. Arlo Moore-Bloom is a junior studying international relations and history. Arlo can be reached at arlomck21@gmail.com.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Football aims to take down undefeated Wesleyan in annual night game by Henry Molot

Contributing Writer

The Jumbos will look to earn backto-back wins for the first time this season as they travel up to Middletown, Conn., to face the undefeated Wesleyan Cardinals. With wins over the Colby Mules, Hamilton Continentals, Bates Bobcats and Bowdoin Polar Bears to start their season, the 4–0 Cardinals will arguably face their toughest opponent of the season yet — the 2–2 Jumbos. The Jumbos are coming off a hugely important win last week against a resilient Bates team, squeezing out a 33–28 victory to stay alive in the NESCAC title race. Coach Jay Civetti praised the schemes Bates brought on Saturday. “I really like the job Bates did. They’re a formidable opponent when at full strength,” Civetti, who also serves as the team’s offensive coordinator, said. With the win, the Tufts finds itself in a deadlock with fellow 2–2 teams Trinity and Hamilton, while Middlebury and Wesleyan remain the only two undefeated teams left in the conference. The Jumbos, who appear to be hitting their stride on offense, have a fantastic opportunity to firmly reinsert themselves in the hunt for the division crown. While the team has a record of 4–0, Wesleyan has earned three of its four wins over winless teams, with Hamilton being the lone exception. The Jumbos’ two losses came against 3–1 teams, Williams and Amherst, and their win over the Bobcats required the offense to outgun Bobcats junior quarterback Brendan Costa. “Costa is obviously their heart and soul,” Civetti said about Bates. “He’s a tough kid to slow down. We tried to have the best plan to cage him, but he’s very dynamic and does a great job in his role.” Costa was effective all game, especially in the fourth quarter where he guided the Bobcats back into the contest. Jumbo senior defensive lineman Kevin Quisumbing lamented the defensive letup in the fourth quarter of the Bates game. “We have to finish if we want to win games,” Quisumbing said. In terms of Costa, Quisumbing said that the defense wasn’t finding its gaps as well as it should. “We should have been way more dominant, but we’re going to learn and improve on mistakes for Wesleyan,” he said. The Jumbo offense, which was the league’s second-least prolific entering the Bates contest, put up a season-high 33 points mostly thanks to a rampant passing attack. Senior quarterback Jacob Carroll threw for 223 yards and two scores, including a fantastic sequence in the red zone in which Carroll threw a touchdown strike to senior fullback Winton Blount after being flushed out of the pocket. The Jumbos mixed in some two-quarterback offensive looks by using firstyear quarterback Trevon Woodson as both a runner and a thrower. Woodson was the team’s second-leading rusher in the Bates game and also threw for one score. Clearly, this offense is developing an identity of having

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Junior kicker Matt Alswanger completes an extra point during Tufts’ 28–21 win over Williams on Oct. 20, 2018. constant big-play potential, and wide receivers graduate Frank Roche and junior Brendan Dolan have emerged as consistent threats on the outside. The addition of senior running back Dom Borelli also greatly benefited the cohesion of the Jumbo offense, as the all-purpose star caught a bubble screen for over 60 yards to set up a red zone opportunity. The red zone was one area of the field where the Jumbo offense was not extremely prolific on Saturday, settling for a field goal as well as turning the ball over on downs at the 1-yard line. When asked about the red zone struggles, Civetti brought up the advantage that defenses have when defending the goal line. “The defense gets an extra player, the most perfect player in football, and that’s the 12th man, the end line,” Civetti said. Once again praising the Bates scheme, Civetti said it was hard to move the pocket or run effectively in those short-gain situations. Against a Wesleyan defensive line that Civetti described as “massive,” the going will not get any easier in the red zone for the Jumbo offense. Civetti praised the Wesleyan defense for its unique ability to dominate the line of scrimmage. “Their defensive line is really aggressive, and they cover up a lot of the offensive line,” Civetti said. “That line is so good that the linebackers can kind of play free.” The immediate threat of the Wesleyan front four frees up linebackers like junior Babila Fomuteh and sophomore Isaiah Miller to become impact players on defense. Fomuteh and Miller, in addition to junior defensive back Julian Ross, are three prolific tacklers on a defense that has not allowed more than 13 points in a game all year. Additionally, they have not allowed a passing touchdown since week one against Colby, a statistic that does not bode well for this pass-heavy Jumbo offense. On offense, expect Wesleyan to use a lot of different personnel groups and work through different formations to keep the Jumbo defense on its toes.

“They do a lot with a lot of different people,” Civetti said. “They’re explosive, they use a lot of formations, and a lot of play calls.” Civetti noted the strength of the Wesleyan wildcard threat, sophomore wide receiver/quarterback David Estevez, as well as junior running back Glenn Smith. Both Estevez and Smith ran for two touchdowns versus Bates. Quisumbing acknowledged the problems the Wesleyan offense presents but remains confident in his defensive unit. “Once they get into certain formations, their play-list gets really limited,” Quisumbing said. “When they go into bunch, or other formations tight to the line, they’re probably going to run it or do one of three pass plays.” Pre-play recognition will be hugely important for this Jumbo defense to stay ahead of the curve. Wesleyan’s balanced attack on offense has been especially dominant in the red zone, scoring nine times on 13 trips, including eight touchdowns. When asked about how to staunch this red-zone threat, Quisumbing gave an answer characteristic of the Jumbos team-first approach. “The biggest thing is to not even let them into the red zone. We can’t give them a short field on offense, and we have to pin them deep on special teams,” Quisumbing said. Limiting the Cardinals’ ability to score touchdowns in the red zone, in combination with neutralizing their dominant defensive line, will be keys to the game on defense for the Jumbos. Offensively, the Jumbos will continue to rely on the passing ability of Carroll and his trident of wideouts: Dolan, Roche and junior O.J. Armstrong. The Wesleyan game is unique in that it is the Jumbos’ only night game of the season, which provides some additional motivation, as well as nerves, for both teams. “This game has always been super fun … it’s a different environment,” Quisumbing said. “We’re ready to go, and I’m confident we can get a win.” Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday in Middletown, Conn.


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