The Bowdoin Football Team hopes that long months of hard work will pay off with a win against defending NESCAC champion Middlebury tomorrow.
"Our off-season training program began the week after Thanksgiving, so we have been working hard for about 10 months now," said quad-captain Gus Spaulding '09. "We only get to play eight games, so we're eager to show that our hard work will earn us good things."
The Polar Bears will square off against a tough Middlebury squad and look to start the season on the right foot. Defending NESCAC Rookie of the Year and Middlebury sophomore quarterback Donald McKillop will challenge the Bowdoin defense.
"The key to containing any good player is to make him uncomfortable," Spaulding said. "Our defense will do everything in their power to try and get pressure on him and hopefully force him into making bad decisions. If we do that, we have a good chance to win."
The Polar Bears jumped out to a 1-0 start last season by stunning Williams in their first game and will look to duplicate their early success this season.
"Every win is important, but starting the season on a positive note is a big confidence booster," Spaulding said. "Beating Middlebury will give us momentum going into week two, and as long as we stay focused and play with enthusiasm, we have a good chance of making it happen."
After the win over Williams last season, however, the team faltered in the ensuing weeks and lost its next five games.
"Our lack of experience showed last year when we had a letdown in the middle of the year," Spaulding said. "The key this year will be to keep our emotions in check and bring the same level of enthusiasm and effort into every week."
If experience was in short supply last year, this year it will be one of the team's strengths.
"We have a good group of seniors returning for one final year," said senior quad-captain Tim Kelleher, "but we also have some juniors and sophomores who played in a couple of games for us last year."
Kelleher believes that a veteran offensive line will pace the team this season behind returning senior starters Spaulding, Ray Wang, and quad-captain Ben Larkins. The offensive line helped the team rush for an average of 96.9 yards per game last season.
"I am looking at our offensive line to make huge contributions this year," said Kelleher. "We want to throw the ball this year, so if the offensive line is looking great and giving our quarterbacks enough time to throw the ball it will be a great year."
After ending last season with wins against Bates and Colby, and a second straight CBB championship, the Polar Bears hope to run their winning streak to three games by beating Middlebury. This year, the team feels that it can compete for the conference championship.
"In a conference as competitive as the NESCAC, the biggest thing a team needs to be able to do is limit mistakes," Spaulding said. "If we can avoid turnovers, and make the other team turn the ball over, then we will be successful."
"Last year we opened at Williams, who were the defending NESCAC champions, and beat them by making the plays we had to make," said Coach David Caputi. "Anything can happen any week, last season proved that."
Bowdoin opens the season at Middlebury at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Fans can watch a live webcast of the game on D3cast.com.