At Rhode Island Game

I need to go back and watch his highlight reel- you have me excited about him

How to watch / keys to the game:

When URI has the ball - Clearly much has been made of the 3 stud WRs for URI and rightfully so. The biggest athletic match-up advantage on the entire field on paper is Gains and Buchanan’s FBS size/speed and Harris’ 5 years of production v the youth across the Holy Cross secondary. Even Jarmo in his 3 full games last year (Merrimack, BC and Army) mostly flashed in run support and hasn’t really been repeatably tested over the top in a single game as a starting FS. However, I expect URI to try to establish the run game with their stable of 3-4 very capable RBs to allow both QBs to settle in. 

HC is starting 8 sophomores on Defense including Christian Ross as a Medical Redshirt Soph. E I G H T! How big a jump did these 8 make in the offseason? LB Drew Spins and CB Cam Jones will see their first ever action not just starting but playing the position. The young Holy Cross DL has the highest ceiling of any position group w/ Robinson, Stevenson, George and Ross (and include Reynolds rotating as a RS-SO) Are they a year or even a mid season away from being able to play with Top 25 Offensive talent (which I believe URI has) or do the reps as frosh have these guys looking a year ahead of where they would otherwise be as Sophomores. 

Biggest question for URI is obviously at QB - Was playing against some of the best athletes in the country every day for 4 years enough for Helms to start unfazed? Farrell as a dual-threat likely relies on his legs to settle himself down. The URI O-Line also returns only one starter from last year’s team (LT Bethea) BUT brought in 2 Guards with plenty of starting experience at other programs (Mercer and Stonehill). Can HC take advantage of an OL that has solid individual pieces but hasn’t worked together in a game yet?

When HC has the ball - Similar to URIs OL, HC returns only 1 starter in Center Kelly but 2 5th years with valuable experience as multi-year reserves (Declan and Daddona). URI runs a 3-4 base Defense and their front is the strength of their D. URI will attempt to likely keep all 7 in the box to not allow HC to get its run game going. New staff or not, “run the damn ball” has been the identity of Holy Cross football for 5 years. This likely will create opportunities for HC WR’s in man coverage. Can anyone create separation besides Shorter? Can the OL give Joe P time to go through his progressions? 

Special teams - Clear advantage to URI as noted in the scouting report above. They return their very capable starting Kicker, Punter, Long Snapper and KR Silas. Big unknowns for HC across the board here. Field position is always a deciding factor but especially week 1. 

Prediction - URI 38 HC 28 - Tough to see HC getting this one unless some of those questions above are answered in the affirmative. HC has talent, but might just be a year away with so many new pieces both outside and inside the lines. 

Bingo. Not all scores are created equal. 

We could have been trailing SDSU 42-7 in the 4th quarter, they sub out their 1s, and we tack on a couple of cheapy touchdowns to make the score competitive looking. 

Pretty different game than Derek Ng attempting a field goal early in the 4th to put us up 24-21. 

Chesney might want that 4th and 3 decision back......

Probably. 

Wasn't Ng not 100% that day, too?

The real killer that day was Asante not catching the ball at the end of the first half, and then SDSU getting a pick six out of it. 

Who knows how that game goes if we got into the half tied at 14, while getting the ball to start the second half. 

Completely agree........And, Ng was not 100 % and was inconsistent at the end of the season.......they were nearly in the red zone, and on the 1st play of the 4th quarter, I would have gone for it on 4th down

...and had that situation come up in 2023 versus 2022, I'd triple down on going for it.   A less-than-100% Ng was better than what Chesney had to go with last year.