Keys to Victory

• Establish the running game early on in the contest

The two-headed monster of Dudek and Lamar needs to get into a rhythm to force Holy Cross to stack the box.  Rotating Dudek and Lamar often will keep the Crusaders off balance trying to adjust to the patience of Dudek or the speed and power of Lamar.  Patient runners like Dudek need stellar blocking, so the three new starting offensive linemen need to prove that they can move bodies at the line of scrimmage.

• Limit the mental mistakes on defense

Oluokun, Oplinger, Tyler,  Mullen, Carlson, Rymiszewski, Alessi, Herubin, and Chism will not be suiting up for the defense this season.  The defensive linemen and linebackers all have some level of experience, but the secondary seems to be an area of concern with two safeties making their first starts and corners that have not proven themselves to be dominant just yet.  The Bulldogs will likely give up yards in the passing game to Holy Cross, but will need to clamp down in the redzone and on third downs to win this game.  Blown coverages, misaligned fronts, and penalties could be disastrous for our young defense.

• Don’t take Holy Cross lightly

The Crusaders have already played in two games and are looking for revenge after an embarrassing 32-0 loss to the Elis last season.  On paper, this should be the easiest non-conference game, but if Yale falls behind by a couple of scores, they may not be well equipped to mount an impressive comeback at this point in the season.