WHERE: Ellis Oval/Zimman Field, Medford, Massachusetts

WHEN: 6 p.m. Saturday

STREAMING: Tufts Jumbocast

ALL-TIME SERIES: Tufts leads, 16-10; Tufts won last 8

KEY STAT: 96, the number of completions the Tufts’ defense allowed during the entire 2023 season, the lowest mark in the NESCAC. Amherst, the next best pass defense, allowed 141 completions.

OUTLOOK: After an offseason quarterback competition, Robbie Long will start at quarterback for the Polar Bears this season. As last season’s backup, the dual-threat senior appeared in all nine games and started in the final two due to injury. Long threw for 626 yards, 4 TD and 4 INT, while being the team’s second-leading rusher and adding 4 TD on the ground. Including Long, Bowdoin (4-5 in 2023) returns 16 starters. Luke Watson will get his first start at running back. The sophomore will be running behind the same offensive line from last season, which is led by second-team all-NESCAC right tackle Tal Brill. The players who scored 21 of Bowdoin’s 29 TD last season have graduated, so the offense will be looking for wide receivers Jed Hoggard, Slade Postemski and tight end James Doody to step up and replace the scoring efforts.

Eight starters return to the league’s No. 2 rush defense (90.0 yards allowed/game), including two-time all-conference hybrid Koy Price (30 tackles, 12 TFL, 3 FF). Defensive back Nick Viscusi is the top returning tackler (43) and linebackers Dan Fiore (41) and Gordon Gozdeck (27 tackles, 2 INT) will help in the middle of the field. Kanoa Young, Aidan Reidy, Axel Romell and Mike Randall (combined 12.5 sacks) will be major contributors on the defensive line.

Michael Berluti, a two-time all-NESCAC quarterback, will get the start for Tufts (6-3 in 2023). The Jumbos boasted the conference’s No. 1 rush offense (187.9 ypg) and leading rusher (Chartellis Reece, 808 yards, 8 TD), but the offensive line only has one returning starter. The key for Bowdoin, which returns five of its top seven tacklers, will be eliminating explosive ground plays and forcing dual-threat Berluti to go through his entire read progression, while having someone (Price or Gozdeck) cover him at all times. The Tufts defense led the conference in total yards (250.8) allowed and pass yards (145.2) allowed. Tw0-time all-conference cornerback Louis Timmins returns, but with a mix of new starters and the elevation of Kenn Jones and Tino Lopes to co-defensive coordinators, what gets thrown at the Bowdoin’s offense may change.

New to the NCAA but similar to the NFL, the clock will continue to run after first downs, unless in the final two minutes of the half. Bowdoin Head Coach B.J. Hammer says adapting to this change will be key. “If you’re going to miss one or two possessions a game, just by the new clock rules, we have to maximize our possessions we have with the football,” he said.

OF NOTE: The Polar Bears are looking for back-to-back-to-back season-opening wins, which was last accomplished 1979-82…Since being hired in 2019, Hammer has only played Hamilton in season openers…This is the earliest Bowdoin-Tufts matchup since 1963…Tufts scored 21 unanswered points to rally and beat Bowdoin 24-10 in last year’s rainy Week 4 matchup…Bowdoin’s last win over the Jumbos was a 33-20 home win on Oct. 4, 2014…Bowdoin has 27 players from Massachusetts…Tufts does not have a Mainer on its roster…Fifth-year senior defensive lineman Mike Randall is Bowdoin’s lone Mainer…Bowdoin team captains are WR Jed Hoggard, OL Tal Brill, LB Gordon Gozdeck and DB Chris Althoff.