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Post by hc87 on Jul 18, 2017 21:24:16 GMT -5
I stand by what I said above. Not predicting a win but a much more competitive game than the blowout loss to Fordham. I would and do feel better about our chances in years going forward. We are starting to recruit and get players who have offers at the next level and with the enhanced schedule and the draw of the LAC, I believe the level of play on the field will improve significantly. You can only have 11 players on the field at a time. Having 2 deep talent should be plenty against I-A teams in an early season game. P.S. to UNH: How did your team win 5 in a row against the more powerful I-A teams? Honestly 70 it was the offense that Chip Kelly established at UNH. No one had really seen it before and we caught teams by surprise. Now we also had a kid named Ricky Santos who is probably the greatest QB in UNH history running the offense at the time. Once a lot of teams started running the open spread offense the UNH advantage went down hill and the depth of FBS teams and size proved to be too much. For example we got blown out by a bad San Jose State team the other year. Ricky Santos was a Massachusetts kid....he couldn't have been that good.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 18, 2017 21:46:40 GMT -5
Top D-IAA teams can beat many D-IA teams (I prefer that to FCS, FBS), not just the weaker D-IA teams. Recall Michigan being shocked by Appalachian State? Holy Cross is not a top 10 D-IAA team but neither is UConn going to be a top tier D-IA team. HCPride: Although labelled an alltime upset ten years ago, Appalachian State - the two point winner - was essentially coming off two national championships, had some real speedsters, and had two starters drafted (2nd and 6th rounds) into the NFL. The problem we'll have v UCONN (and it's the same problem we had when we pulled the plug on BC) is that very very few of our guys could crack their starting lineup.
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Post by unhfan on Jul 18, 2017 21:53:36 GMT -5
Honestly 70 it was the offense that Chip Kelly established at UNH. No one had really seen it before and we caught teams by surprise. Now we also had a kid named Ricky Santos who is probably the greatest QB in UNH history running the offense at the time. Once a lot of teams started running the open spread offense the UNH advantage went down hill and the depth of FBS teams and size proved to be too much. For example we got blown out by a bad San Jose State team the other year. Ricky Santos was a Massachusetts kid....he couldn't have been that good. No one thought he was when he arrived in Durham! He was the 4 th string QB and ended up in the history books.
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Post by hchoops on Jul 18, 2017 21:58:53 GMT -5
Top D-IAA teams can beat many D-IA teams (I prefer that to FCS, FBS), not just the weaker D-IA teams. Recall Michigan being shocked by Appalachian State? Holy Cross is not a top 10 D-IAA team but neither is UConn going to be a top tier D-IA team. Here is an interesting link: www.footballgeography.com/history-of-fbs-i-a-vs-fcs-i-aa/Did you see the Fordham game ?
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Post by HC92 on Jul 18, 2017 22:10:12 GMT -5
Hope springs eternal. I plan to take the boys and hope for the best. Not sure about sitting in the HC allotment. UConn used to give the visitors seats in the corner of the end zone (probably standard guest treatment at most schools. I suspect good tickets will be easy to find. Crossports should pick a random section on the 35 yard line and buy up all of the available seats in that section on the secondary market.
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Post by ncaam on Jul 19, 2017 5:28:35 GMT -5
HC defeating UConn will be akin to the Cocanut Grove fire win over BC. There's a chance.....but.....
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 19, 2017 5:45:58 GMT -5
hoops:
Yes. In person. How 'bout you?
ncaam:
Wouldn't be even close to that upset. BC was #1 in the country and HC destroyed them. While we are in a different division, UConn is not the #1 football juggernaut in the country.
Look, I will repeat. I am not predicting Holy Cross will win. I did see the Fordham game which was a debacle. We will not lose to UConn like that. With some lucky bounces, we have a 10%-20% chance of pulling off an upset.
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Post by hchoops on Jul 19, 2017 5:53:33 GMT -5
hoops: Yes. In person. How 'bout you? Yes. In person through the last second. One of the worst HC losses of many I have endured.. a total embarrassment . I was amazed that Gilmore survived it. i think you may be seeing this Uconn game through Purple lenses.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 19, 2017 5:59:07 GMT -5
And I recognize that you are one of many here who feel TG should have been fired a long time ago. This is probably the do-or-die year for him and a win or very close loss to UConn are essential to getting the season off to a good start.
Would you want to wager that the Crusaders will lose by more than the 40 points they lost to Fordham by at Yankee Stadium?
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Post by hchoops on Jul 19, 2017 6:09:38 GMT -5
1-I never wager 2-if I did, ,I would never bet against HC I am insulted Losing by 30-39 will not save his job, hopefully
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Post by alum on Jul 19, 2017 6:49:37 GMT -5
Raise your hand if you were at the last HC-UConn football game. I was there, miserable day, rainy....went down on a student bus....lost 22-2 I believe.. the ill-fated 1985 season. We had fun anyway....probably not one of our bettah WCHC broadcasts Hand raised. I was there as a young alum with my then new girlfriend, now wife of almost 30 years, I remember tailgating (well, drinking beer) under the roof of the then outdoor hockey rink. Did not buy tickets. I think we briefly sat on the hill outside Memorial Stadium where all the UCONN students sat and watched the game from there before returning to cover. The hill was approximately where the indoor football facility is today. The new basketball practice facility is where the stadium once was. Miserable day, miserable game but for some reason I still remember it.
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Post by alum on Jul 19, 2017 6:56:38 GMT -5
Hope springs eternal. I plan to take the boys and hope for the best. Not sure about sitting in the HC allotment. UConn used to give the visitors seats in the corner of the end zone (probably standard guest treatment at most schools. I suspect good tickets will be easy to find. Crossports should pick a random section on the 35 yard line and buy up all of the available seats in that section on the secondary market. I went to the Villanova vs. UCONN weeknight opening game two years ago. There will be large sections of empty seats. If people want to meet, it will be as simple as looking about the stadium and picking an empty section and posting it here on Crossports. I wouldn't be able to join you, of course, because my secret identity would be uncovered.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 19, 2017 7:24:48 GMT -5
hoops, I don't wager either, so I am glad you didn't take me up on it and call my bluff. (I would have said whoever loses makes a contribution to the Gridiron Club) I certainly didn't intend to insult you and I am also happy that you would never bet against the Crusaders. For any offense, I apologize. If the team loses by 30-39 points to UConn but goes on to win 7 or 8 games (unlikely, I believe), TG's job will be secure for at least another year, IMHO. This is a tough schedule with games against Yale (away?! how did that happen, he said rhetorically) and UNH, always tough but presumably not as good as the teams that won 5 in a row against D-IA teams. Here's why I think the Cross has a puncher's chance vs. the Huskies. I was also at West Point on 9/7/02 for the first game of the season coming off a 4-6 prior season record and having lost the last 4 games of that season. We were playing Army, a D-IA school and didn't figure to have a chance. As you know, we won 30-21 and totally outplayed them. As it turned out, Army stunk that year and our big win didn't look so great with hindsight. UConn is not a good D-IA football team. Maybe we beat them and later find out they stink as badly as the West Point team, of '02. It's the first game of the season. I expect both teams to make mistakes. My hope is that UConn makes most/all of them.
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Post by breezy on Jul 19, 2017 7:48:04 GMT -5
My thoughts --
HC will be a significant underdog in the game against UConn. The idea that scholarships will permit HC (or any PL team) to play at the level of even the worst FCS school is misguided; there is a significant difference in the athleticism. As with basketball, most of the most-talented players want to play at a higher level, and scholarships alone does not mean that PL teams can compete with Power 5 schools for the best players. Take the check, stay healthy and move forward.
The Fordham game was a disaster, but it was just one game. Every team, at every level, has a stinker game every so often. Fordham played well; HC didn't. Maybe that situation will be reversed next time they play. Remember that HC also beat Harvard last year (without Pujals) and Harvard was a top-20 FCS team.
I remember the 2002 game against Army quite well. I was not there but I listened to the game on radio. As I recall, Army lost 5 or 6 fumbles in that game, and that was a huge factor in the outcome.
I tend to agree that this year could be a make-or-break season for Tom Gilmore. If the season is not successful and he is replaced, it would be understandable. But I do hope that HC fans will remember that he has given much to HC over the years, and his sincere and complete dedication to HC deserves some recognition.
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Post by hchoops on Jul 19, 2017 8:29:35 GMT -5
Breezy, i very respectfully disagree. The Fordham loss was far from an aberration. We lost to:1- Lehigh by 32 2- Dartmouth by 25 at our homecoming 3- Colgate by 18 4- Albany by 17 a 1 point win over Georgetown is not something to be proud of, but with Gilmore's losses to them, I guess it was an improvement We were 2-4 in a weak PL Gilmore' season record and HC career record would have gotten almost any coach fired, no matter how good a representative of the College.
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Post by sarasota on Jul 19, 2017 8:38:18 GMT -5
The retention of CTG shows that TPTB's #1 priority is not WINNING.
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 19, 2017 8:49:19 GMT -5
You are probably right. The schools whose #1 priority are those that skirt the rules and care little for the "student" part of the term "student-athlete." Those schools have coaches like Rick Pitino, Calipari and the like.
To say that winning is not Holy Cross' "#1 priority" is almost certainly true but you are implying that winning is not important. That may have been true in the last few administrations. It is not true now. The multi-million dollar Luth is a prime example of putting money where their mouths are. The emphasis on the Crusader Athletic Fund is another. Firing Milan Brown and hiring Bill Carmody as well as a bunch of turnovers in other sports is yet another example.
That Tom Gilmore has not been fired yet does not mean Holy Cross doesn't want to win. There are things that we, as fans, don't see. Let's see how things play out on the field this season.
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Post by hcpride on Jul 19, 2017 8:51:40 GMT -5
The fact we have beaten Army (FBS) in the past and I say this with the greatest respect for West Point- is not a great FCS accomplishment as they frequently lose v FCS opposition. Fordham and Yale very recently. I use 'frequently' in a relative sense of course. I recall watching Stony Brook smack them around (and beat them) a few years ago.
(I do think Army is on the rise at this point).
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Post by hcgrad94 on Jul 19, 2017 8:58:41 GMT -5
The retention of CTG shows that TPTB's #1 priority is not WINNING. Correct it is to recruit and develop priests.
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Post by ncaam on Jul 19, 2017 9:00:12 GMT -5
hoops: Yes. In person. How 'bout you? ncaam: Wouldn't be even close to that upset. BC was #1 in the country and HC destroyed them. While we are in a different division, UConn is not the #1 football juggernaut in the country. Look, I will repeat. I am not predicting Holy Cross will win. I did see the Fordham game which was a debacle. We will not lose to UConn like that. With some lucky bounces, we have a 10%-20% chance of pulling off an upset. The 1942 game HC 55 BC 12 was actually a lesser upset than a UConn win would be. That 1942 win was the beginning of a 5 game win streak for the good guys over the bad guys. We were Div 1 back then like BC. UConn is a low FBS; we are a low FCS team. The 55 12 game was prolly where the chant, "overrated" comes from. 😁
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Post by sader1970 on Jul 19, 2017 9:16:03 GMT -5
OK, classmate. Honestly answer this question. The HC upset over BC in '42 was considered by most football fans for decades to be "the greatest upset in college football history." Do you honestly believe if HC beats UConn that it would supplant that title? Forget, college football history, just HC football history? OK, I've said my piece and starting to get redundant. Subject closed for me other than what started this thread . . . . . when can we get our tickets?
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Post by ncaam on Jul 19, 2017 9:40:13 GMT -5
OK, classmate. Honestly answer this question. The HC upset over BC in '42 was considered by most football fans for decades to be "the greatest upset in college football history." Do you honestly believe if HC beats UConn that it would supplant that title? Forget, college football history, just HC football history? OK, I've said my piece and starting to get redundant. Subject closed for me other than what started this thread . . . . . when can we get our tickets? Upset it was. But we were a power too back then. In a couple years we would be in the Orange Bowl. We are now low FCS and probably will be for awhile. 😭
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Post by sarasota on Jul 19, 2017 10:28:01 GMT -5
hcgrad94- You are so clever. I wanna be just like you.
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Post by sarasota on Jul 19, 2017 10:35:59 GMT -5
You are probably right. The schools whose #1 priority are those that skirt the rules and care little for the "student" part of the term "student-athlete." Those schools have coaches like Rick Pitino, Calipari and the like. To say that winning is not Holy Cross' "#1 priority" is almost certainly true but you are implying that winning is not important. That may have been true in the last few administrations. It is not true now. The multi-million dollar Luth is a prime example of putting money where their mouths are. The emphasis on the Crusader Athletic Fund is another. Firing Milan Brown and hiring Bill Carmody as well as a bunch of turnovers in other sports is yet another example. That Tom Gilmore has not been fired yet does not mean Holy Cross doesn't want to win. There are things that we, as fans, don't see. Let's see how things play out on the field this season. Further proof of his competence level is not needed. If this season is to be his last, TPTB have put the program in a very problematic position given our upcoming schedule upgrade (new coaches, new QB, recruits reluctant to commit to a new coach, not knowing the identity of the new coach, etc.).
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Jul 19, 2017 10:36:12 GMT -5
In the Sagarin Ratings we can see that UConn, of course, should be heavily favored. Using last year's ratings (we know that teams change from year to year) UConn (51.87) would be a 24 point favorite over HC (31.29) when you add in the three points for home field advantage. UConn went 3-9 last season and finished at #154 in Sagarin. Its wins came against FCS U Maine (6-5 and ranked # 157), Virginia (2-10 and ranked # 107) and Cincinnati (4-8 and ranked #117). UConn wore down , or had injuries, as the season progressed because the Huskies were pummeled in their final 4 games:
Lost 41-3 versus #118 East Carolina Lost 21-0 versus #43 Temple Lost 30-0 versus #62 bc Lost 38-13 versus #109 Tulane
outscored 130-16 in final four games
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