HC v. Fordham

It's going to be an absolute zoo at Jack Coffey Field next week. What many thought before the season would likely be a de facto PL title game 2.0, is now a battle between two good teams hoping to stay alive in the Patriot League race. Two prolific offenses and two mediocre to bad defenses. I still like this matchup for Holy Cross and think Sluka and our O-Line should be able to name how many points we put up. (Please, STOP!!! This season has been full of upsets for some off-the-wall reasons, not just for Holy Cross but others as well. On any given day, anything can happen. We thought our offense would overwhelm Harvard, Then 5 unexpected turnovers.) BUT, you can rest assured that the Fordham O will be putting up plenty of scores of their own. If I'm Fordham, I'm looking to play incredibly aggressive on defense -- I'm blitzing almost every play, I'm swiping at the ball as Matt jukes by me, looking to jump routes, getting super physical with Coker and Shorter even at the risk of picking up a flag. (Not to sound sour grapes but it looked like the officials let Laffy get away with some interference shoudda been calls) IMO, they have no hope of containing us. They have to take the ball away from us to have a shot to flip the field, and the scoreboard. We're talking about a team with an FBS win already under their belt, and who is coming off a bye week. Fordham will be coming into this game like it's the Super Bowl (so, has almost everyone else we've played both Merrimack and then every game after BC) , and their fan base always gets jacked up for games against Holy Cross, even when we're not that good. (Agree. This is as close to a rivalry as anything we have, excepting maybe Colgate) This is a rivalry, let's enjoy it, but be prepared for a battle. Another factor -- as always seems to be the case, the Rams have a great kicker who can help them salt away a tight game.



Matt Sluka dominated on this field in 2021 (his first truly great game as a PASSER) as well as in high school as a member of the Kellenberg Firebirds. Can't wait to see him do it again. I think Fuller gets the bulk of the carries this week though, as we go with the more traditional ground and pound. (Thought with the wet field that's what we would have done against Laffy. Turns out that when we did use Fuller up the middle, they were waiting. I'm afraid that Fordham may have used their bye week more effectively than we obviously did vs. Laffy)