The Bulldogs travel to Worcester, Massachusetts to face the Holy Cross Crusaders on Saturday at 2 PM ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Spectrum News 1.
Holy Cross is a historically tough opponent for Yale in Week 1 and this Holy Cross squad might be the most talented that the Bulldogs have faced over the last decade. The Crusaders enter the contest with an unblemished 2-0 record following a 37-31 upset over FBS opponent Buffalo last week. Holy Cross’ improbable last-second hail mary to edge the Bulls was a top highlight on ESPN last weekend.
Junior dual-threat QB Matthew Sluka (6’3”, 215 lbs.) is the centerpiece of Holy Cross’ offense. Sluka completed 13 of 21 passes for 238 yards, 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. In the running game, Sluka rushed 25 times for 146 yards or 5.8 yards per carry. Combining his passing and rushing totals for the Buffalo contest, Sluka accounted for roughly 84% of the total offensive yardage. Sophomore RB Jordan Fuller (6’0”, 229 lbs.) rushed 10 times for 51 yards or 5.1 yards per carry, while senior RB Peter Oliver (6’0”, 222 lbs.) added 18 yards on 8 carries last week. Fuller and Oliver are both large, physical backs that will test our early season tackling skills. Junior WR Jalen Coker (6’3”, 207 lbs.) is the star of the Crusaders’ receiving corps and gained national notoriety last week after hauling in the hail mary versus Buffalo. Coker could be one of the most dangerous receiving threats that we will face all season coming off a sophomore campaign in which he was named 2nd Team All-Patriot League and a Sophomore All-American. Holy Cross has tremendous depth at the wide receiver position with another two 2nd Team All-Patriot League honorees in sophomore Justin Shorter (5’11”, 174 lbs.) and senior Ayir Asante (6’0”, 174 lbs.). Senior TE Sean Morris (6’4”, 249 lbs.) is another 2nd Team All-Patriot League honoree and is a very skilled blocker who will occasionally get involved in the passing game. Holy Cross’ offensive line (301 lb. average) returns 4 starters from last season and is a very polished unit. Senior C Nick Olsofka (6’4”, 294 lbs.) and junior T Luke Newman (6’5”, 301 lbs.) were both 1st Team All-Patriot League honorees, while senior G CJ Hanson (6’6”, 305 lbs.) and senior T Pat McMurtrie (6’6”, 294 lbs.) were named to the 2nd Team All-Patriot League list. While our defensive line is the strength of our team, squaring off against a veteran unit with two games under their belt will be a challenge.
The Crusaders are just as loaded on defense as on offense. Reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, senior LB Jacob Dobbs (6’0”, 237 lbs.), is the heart of the Crusaders’ defense. Senior LB Liam Anderson (6’3”, 230 lbs.) is a returning 1st Team All-Patriot League member who has racked up 11 tackles over the first two contests. Holy Cross’ defensive line returns three veterans including senior DE Dan Kuznetsov (6’3”, 253 lbs.), a 1st Team All-Patriot League selection, and senior DT Jake Reichwein (6’3”, 255 lbs.), a 2nd Team All-Patriot League selection. Senior CB John Smith (6’0”, 191 lbs.) is a lockdown corner and two-time 1st Team All-Patriot League selection. Smith’s fellow senior CB Devin Haskins (6’3”, 209 lbs.) was a 2nd Team All-Patriot League member a year ago and broke up an eye-popping 5 passes last week versus Buffalo. Senior FS Walter Reynolds (6’0”, 190 lbs.) is a big-hitter out of the secondary with three years of starting experience under his belt.
Senior P Patrick Haughney (6’3”, 227 lbs.) is averaging 43.0 yards per punt this season with a long of 55 yards. Senior K Derek Ng (5’10”, 187 lbs.) is a two-time 1st Team All-Patriot League kicker who buried Yale with a 47-yard go-ahead field goal in last season’s contest.
Go Bulldogs!
41 replies on “Holy Cross Preview”
Tough first game. Excited to see how Yale shows and if they can make the necessary in-game adjustments
Bet you’re not excited now
DEPTH CHART?
Call the Yale athletic office. That’s their function, not the responsibility of this blog.
Give me a break , SID is a joke.
YOU are the joke
I wish we could switch dates and play Howard this Saturday and HC in mid October. Those two games HC has already played can make a difference.
H.C. 31, Yale 13. After reading the above, it is more like H.C. 41! Let’s face it, they have a terrific coach!
The voice of doom 🙂
The Yale Athletic Office is more likely to respond to the requests/demands of the luminaries running this blog than it is to the whining of an impecunious fan.
O KAY!!! DUH you are right
Some people that comment on this blog are complete A-holes. *Anonymous people. As a new Yale fan just chill and add to the conversation instead of constant criticism. Let’s find a way to get information out rather just laying into folks doing this blog. Grow up.
Hey new Yale fan, with the imperative being new. Check yourself. A lot of people here are frustrated by the administrations lack of consideration for The Fans of Yale Football. Some of these gentlemen have over 60 years in.
It’s like a desert on the Yale athletics , this blog, no coverage on our local Newspaper. UConn womens basketball 366 days a year.!! WTH.!! So any shred is welcome but give it to us .
Reno, shut down practice. So you even speculate on what the assignments maybe. (FRUSTRATION) is the key word. We all want to see the 2 deep depth chart.. is that so hard.
But is this the place to be an A hole. I have been following this blog for over four years. It’s a blog! Not a Yale Football website. And yet some seem to vent relentlessly on those that host this blog why this blog sucks. Only shows your foolishness. Congratulations on being Aholes gentlemen. We’ll done.
You’re the only Ahole
It is not the responsibility of this BLOG to give you a depth chart. You and the anonymous whine-bags. Stop it and go somewhere else.
Yo! GIVEIT. why don’t you talk to Anonymous and work your issues out. You both seem to agree on the same thing. You love to be trolls and whine. Go start your own blog and name it “giveit and anonymous and why we whine.”
Said the Yale fan whose been on the board for , what was it the past 4 years. Football wasn’t happening for 2 1/2 of those years so yah.
I’d rather be an Ahole than a stupid self entitled AHOLE. Like you.
When does football season start?
I can’t believe that Yale still has not produced any game notes for this game! Does this administration have any pride for this once proud football program?! Very disheartening!!
Chesney is a great coach. But Reno tends to rise to the occasion when people underestimate him. Yale will prevail.
I still can’t get that Harvard Game outta my head. I still can’t watch it. The OT against Dartmouth another one, Last years Holy Cross game as well.
Thanks for the breakdown. Much appreciated!
Thank you Dumb A++
Let’s agree that we want the Bulldogs to win. I know the Harvard game ending was horrible, There have been far too many endings like that since 1968. But it’s a new year. We lost 4 games last year by an average of 5 points. Learning to finish these games means we should do better this year.
I didn’t realize that Tate Goodyear and Josh De St Jean are off the roster.? That’s disheartening .
That was a lot of experience gone
SO IS JACK TWYFORD, OL..
Get that degree and get on with life. Good Luck to them
Sullivan is out for the season per Reno in Worcester Telegram article. A poster on the Voy forums claimed to have insider information on a number of crucial injuries on the defensive and offensive lines. Who else is out?
How could this happen? Not in the Bown scrimmage.
Yale has no chance against Holy Cross turn the bus around and wait for Howard.
Another voice of doom :))
Flipping through the channels before the game starts I saw that Texas State, who is playing Baylor, has a running back name Calvin Hill
Doesn’t look like much has changed with the secondary since last season
No pass defense and the usual pass interference penalty in a crucial situation. The offense looks decent, but the pressure is on now to score every time the have the ball.
History. Yale had a chance to get back in it but two INT’s ruined those chances.
Not just the pass defense is bad, the run defense, usually a strength is not good.
Embarrassing. The first game excuse is BS. Yale would not have beat this team if it was the 10th game.
Does this coaching staff ruin QB’s. O’Connor looked wonderful as a freshman, yet was terrible last year. Grooms was mostly great last year, terrible today.
Opposing defenses make adjustments. Our coaches/players don’t seem to have the same ability.
Yale’s offense in the 3rd quarter when they really needed to control the ball. 34 yards.
And they had 201 yards at halftime. One of these teams knows how to make halftime adjustments.