It's tough to envision a better start to the 2024 campaign for the Wesleyan football team, as the Cardinals opened the new season with a 43-7 throttling of Middlebury on the road last week. That 36-point win is the largest road win for the Cardinals over Middlebury in team history and the second-largest overall in the series history, second only to a 39-0 Wesleyan win over the Panthers in Middletown back in 1967. Perhaps more impressive is the last time Middlebury lost by more than 36 points at home to any opponent came all the way back in 1986.
 
Facing the defending NESCAC Co-Champion on their home turf, Wesleyan piled up 454 total yards of offense on just 16 first downs as the Cardinals hit on explosive plays of 25, 31, 41, 45, 48, and 66 yards throughout the course of the lobsided win. The Cardinal defense, meanwhile, looked the part in Week 1 as the unit forced three turnovers, totaled three sacks, and had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, playing a huge role in the outcome. Middlebury's offense went 2-for-14 on third downs and were just 1-of-3 on their red zone chances.
 
QB Niko Candido '25 finished 10-for-19 for 268 yards with 2 TD and 0 INT while the senior signal caller was only sacked once against a vaunted Panther defensive front that featured 2023 NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year Tomas Kenary. All but six of his passing yards went to two receivers as 2023 All-NESCAC First Team WR Chase Wilson '25 totaled five receptions for 168 yards and 1 TD while WR Rickey Eng '25 had a career day with four catches for 94 yards and 1 TD.
 
The ground game generated 186 rushing yards as RB Tyler Flynn '26 carried 14 times for 80 yards and 2 TD. Candido rushed 12 times for 48 yards while RB James McHugh '26 went for 29 yards on nine carries and Angelo LaRose '27 also finished with 29 yards on nine carries. As a team, Wesleyan averaged four yards per rush in the season opener.
 
Defensively, Ben Carbeau '25 led the way with eight tackles (five solo) while the 2023 All-NESCAC First Team selection added one sack, and one pass breakup. Wesley Abraham '25, who become the first-ever defensive back in team history to earn All-American honors last season, was back at it again to open the 2024 season, intercepting Middlebury QB Brian Moran once while adding four tackles in the Week 1 win.
 
 In his first career game as a Cardinal, grad transfer DB Nick Donatio recorded six tackles (four solo) with three pass breakups. Donatio, a Colby transfer, was an All-NESCAC First Team selection in 2022 playing for the Mules and had 144 tackles with 14 pass breakups and two interceptions in 23 career games playing for Colby. DB Dylan Connor '26 was all over the field in the win over Middlebury, as the junior finished with six tackles, two tackles for loss, and he had the blocked punt and return for touchdown that made it 21-0 Wesleyan late in the first quarter.
 
Wesleyan looks to keep the momentum going in Week 2 as the Cardinals take on Tufts in their home opener, under the lights on Andrus Field. Tufts are coming off a 6-3 season in 2023 and are 1-0 to start 2024 after defeating Bowdoin 23-21 on the Jumbos' Homecoming under the lights in Medford. Tufts' sophomore cornerback Ty Richardson picked off his second pass of the night late in the fourth quarter to seal a tight win over the Polar Bears last week.
 
The Tufts offense features the return of two-time All-NESCAC honoree QB Michael Berluti, who earned First Team honors as a sophomore in 2022 and a Second Team distinction as a junior in 2023. In 26 career games, Berluti has 6925 passing yards with 58 TD and just 12 INT. He threw for 2749 yards with 26 TD and 3 INT in 2022, hitting on 69 percent of his passes. In Week 1 against Bowdoin, Berluti threw for 321 yards but had 0 TD and was intercepted twice.
 
WR Cade Moore is Berluti's top target, as the 2023 All-NESCAC Second Team pick had six catches for 82 yards against Bowdoin last week. He made 41 catches for 501 yards and 5 TD as a junior last year. Sophomore WR Matt Rios added five catches for 78 yards and senior WR Henry Fleckner had five receptions for 66 yards against the Polar Bears. In his first career game, sophomore RB Christian Shapiro led the Tufts backfield with 23 carries for 61 yards and 2 TD in Week 1.
 
Defensively, Tufts returns two-time All-NESCAC First Team selection Louis Timmins who has eight career interceptions and 19 pass breakups in 21 career games for the Jumbos. Richardson starred for the Jumbos with two interceptions in Week 1 while DB Jaylen Callendar had two pass breakups and LB Johnny Ferrelli tied for the team-lead with seven tackles while recording the lone sack for Tufts against Bowdoin.