It has been a whirlwind for the Wesleyan football team the last two weeks, locked in high-scoring shootouts with conference foes from Maine that both came down to the very end. A week after dispatching Bates 27-24 thanks to a 7+ minute TD-scoring drive with 4:29 left, Wesleyan marched 77 yards over 15 plays most-recently against Bowdoin to go ahead 38-35 with 1:06 remaining. The Polar Bears had a chance to send the game into overtime but the potential game-tying field goal went just wide of the upright and the home faithful all celebrated yet another Cardinal win.
Wesleyan remains tied atop the NESCAC standings with fellow unbeaten Williams and Trinity as the Cardinals, Ephs and Bantams all stand at 4-0 as the season nears its midway point. The Cardinals stand 4-0 through four games for the seconds straight season and the third time since 2014. Over Wesleyan's last 13 games (since the start of 2019), the Cardinals have amassed an impressive 12-1 overall mark.
The Cardinal offense has been humming to start the season, as Wesleyan sits third in the NESCAC in scoring (29 points per game) while going north of 27 points in three straight and 30+ in two of the games in that span. Efficient play, especially at the QB position, has certainly been a huge key to the successful start to the year as QBs
David Estevez '22 and
Ashton Scott '22 have been splitting time under center with the duo combining for 1042 passing yards with 13 TD and the really important stat being 0 INT in 115 pass attempts. Estevez in particular has been stellar, completing a ridiculous 81.1% of his passes (43-for-53) for 537 yards with 8 TD and 0 INT. Prior to this year, Estevez had thrown for 155 yards in 18 career games.
As a team, Wesleyan has won the turnover battle in all four games thus far in the season and is +8 in the turnover battle against their opponents combined in 2021. Wesleyan is the only team in the NESCAC to have not thrown an INT this season.
With the unbeaten start to the year, Wesleyan heads back on the road for their week 5 matchup against Tufts which represents the 51
st all-time meeting between the two sides on Saturday. The series history couldn't be more even as the all-time record for the Cardinals against the Jumbos stands at 24-24-2. The two sides have won on their home field in the last five straight seasons as Wesleyan has dropped the last two meetings in Medford, having last beaten Tufts on the road back in 2012. Wesleyan hosted Tufts back in 2019 for a thrilling night game as the game came down to the final seconds. With the game tied 13-13, Scott drove the Cardinals 80 yards down the field in just 1:42 as he finished the drive with a 29-yard TD to WR
Matt Simco '22 that put the Cardinals up 20-13 with just six seconds remaining.
In that 2019 meeting, the stats between the two sides were near mirror images as Tufts outgained Wesleyan by a mere 13 yards (351-338) while the two sides each picked up 16 first downs while struggling on 3
rd-downs all night (Tufts went 2-for-14, Wesleyan 2-for-13). Wesleyan did manage to do some damage on the ground as the Cardinals picked up 111 rushing yards compared to 54 for the Jumbos. Wesleyan's defense wrecked havoc all night for Tufts on offense, finishing with four sacks and two INT.
The 2021 campaign marks the 138
th season of Wesleyan football with competition as the Cardinals look to conclude the fall with a ninth-straight winning season. Wesleyan went 8-1 and finished in sole possession of second place in the NESCAC standings in 2019, marking the third time in program history that the Cardinals won eight games in a season and the first time since 1969. Wesleyan posted thrilling wins against Amherst (31-28 2OT) and Williams (27-21 OT) to earn their third Little 3 title in the past seven seasons. The Cardinals saw 13 players earn a spot on the All-NESCAC Team, the most of any team in the conference.
The Cardinals (4-0) – At a Glance
Wesleyan heads into this Saturday's game with the third-ranked scoring offense (29 points per game) and the fourth-ranked scoring defense (19 points allowed per game) in the NESCAC. Wesleyan's defense was the top scoring unit in the league through the first three games of the season but allowing Bowdoin to score 35 on Saturday sent the Cardinals down the ranking list a bit. Through four games, the Cardinal defense has allowed opponents to rush for just 52.5 yards per game and a measly 2l1 yards per rush, easily the best in the NESCAC. Wesleyan's defense has forced 6 INTs through four games, snagging at least one in every game so far in the 2021 season while the Cardinal offense has yet to throw one. On offense, Wesleyan has strung together stellar QB play, as
David Estevez '22 and
Ashton Scott '22 have combined for 1042 yards with 13 TD and 0 INT through four games. Coming off his second career NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week honor heading into the Bowdoin game, the Polar Bears had trouble handing the dual-threat QB Estevez who completed 21-of-27 pass attempts for 232 yards with 3 TD while also leading the Cardinals with 81 rushing yards on 17 carries. WR
Logan Tomlinson '23 has been the primary target for both Estevez and Scott this season, heading into Saturday with 26 catches for 370 yards and 4 TD, all of which rank 3
rd-best in the NESCAC, while he is averaging 92.5 yards per game (3
rd in NESCAC). RB
Charlie McPhee '22 was productive against Bowdoin, finishing with 78 yards on 18 carries, adding two catches for 12 yards with 2 total TD including the game-winning TD from 2 yards out with 1:06 left.
The Jumbos (0-4) – At a Glance
Tufts are off to their worst start to a season since 2013 as the Jumbos dropped close games to Trinity, Williams and Amherst before suffering a 23-point home loss to Bates on Saturday. Coming in with the fourth-ranked offense in the NESCAC (22 points per game), scoring points hasn't been the problem, it's been keeping opponents out of the end zone as the Jumbos are last in the NESCAC in scoring defense (32.8 points allowed). Tufts has allowed 30+ points in three of their first four games this season. Allowing 618 rushing yards through four games, Tufts' rush defense is last in the league while the 379.3 yards allowed per game is ninth out of 10 teams in the NESCAC. A major bright spot this season has been the passing attack as Tufts is second-best in the league with 315.3 passing yards per game despite having three QBs see major playing time through four games. Freshman QB Michael Berluti took every snap at QB against Bates on Saturday and finished 31-for-52 with 307 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. Tufts has a balanced pass-catching group as three players have at least 245 receiving yards in 2021, led by WR Philip Lutz who has 21 catches for 350 yards (16.7 yards per catch) and 2 TD.
