Lehigh Football Nation

Today's "Know Your 2016 Opponents" series continues with the team that is predicted by College Sports Journal  to finish 3th in the Patriot League : Holy Cross. Scared of the Purple People eaters this year?  I am. They're a veteran-laden offense, with a four year letterman at quarterback, hosting Lehigh this year at their home in "Woostah".  Defensively, conventional football scholarships have the Crusaders with a quickly built defense that got better as the season went along. They're a team that hasn't made the jump - yet - but could, playing Lehigh at home, poach the Mountain Hawks. It's a game I have circled on the calendar.

Perhaps it should be called the curse of QB Dominic Randolph . With Dom as the leader on offense, in 2009 Holy Cross won their first Patriot League football championship in the FCS Playoff era. From there they proceeded to give Villanova all they could handle in a 38-28 thriller.  The Wildcats would go on and win the FCS National Championship, beating Montana 23-21, and had the purpliest or Purple fans wondering about how and when the Crusaders were going to take the next step. Unfortunately for Holy Cross fans, they've been waiting ever since. Sure, injuries have played a part in Holy Cross' struggles over the seasons.  They also, certainly, have had more than their fail share of agonizing, close losses over the last four years.  And even the rest of the league hasn't paid Tom Gilmore's team much mind, either, ranking them sixth out of seven Patriot League teams in the preseason poll. Yet this team doesn't seem like they should be picked sixth.  No...

We break down the Holy Cross game - and we give our fearless prediction, below the flip. The 3-6 Crusaders, like 2-6 Lehigh, are a young team who is looking to show that they are ready to move forward and become a force in the Patriot Leaugue title race in the future. Critically, in their win over Lafayette two weekends ago, they've shown that they can indeed hunker down and figure out how to stomp on a team to win a football game. Holy Cross' schedule shows a lot of close games, with losses by a field goal to Brown, Albany, Colgate, and Dartmouth this season.  It's awful easy to see this team, in an alternate universe, winning all four of these games and heading towards "senior day" with a 6-2 record.