Weekly Notes | Holy Cross Football at Syracuse

Holy Cross (1-3) at Syracuse (2-1)
Saturday, Sept. 28
12 p.m. Kickoff
JMA Wireless Dome | Syracuse, N.Y.

TV: ACCNX / ESPN+

The Holy Cross football team travels this weekend to face Syracuse in an FBS showdown on Saturday, Sept. 28. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome.

Holy Cross comes off of a heartbreaking loss after Yale scored a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining to defeat the Crusaders, 38-31, on Saturday, Sept. 21 at Fitton Field during a Family Weekend matchup.

Senior quarterback Joe Pesansky passed for 279 yards, while sophomore running back Jayden Clerveaux scored three rushing touchdowns and totaled 49 rushing yards. Junior receiver Max Mosey reeled in five catches for a career-best 129 yards, the most by a Crusader this year. Sophomore receiver Maxwell Warren scored his first career touchdown on a 74-yard reception.

Senior linebacker Frankie Monte had a career-best 17 tackles — the most by a Patriot League player this season — with a quarterback hurry, and earned Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors. So far this year, Monte ranks second in the Patriot League and tied for seventh among all FCS players with 40 total tackles. Sophomore linebacker Cam Santee had a career-high seven tackles in the setback against Yale while recording 1.5 tackles for loss.

SERIES HISTORY

This will be the 30th meeting all-time between the Crusaders and the Orange on the gridiron. Syracuse has won the last 13 games played in the series, with the teams’ matchup in 2019 marking the first game between the two programs since 1973. Holy Cross’ last win over the Orange came in 1958 (14-13 at Fitton Field).

SERIES QUICK FACTS:
Overall | Syracuse leads, 24-5
In Syracuse | Syracuse leads, 13-2
At JMA Wireless Dome | Syracuse leads, 1-0
Current Win Streak | Syracuse, 13 games
First Matchup | 1905 (Syracuse won, 15-4)
Dan Curran vs. Syracuse | 0-0
Fran Brown vs. Holy Cross | 0-0
In Overtime | n/a

LAST TIME THEY MET: Syracuse’s Tommy DeVito passed for 269 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Orange to a 41-3 victory over the Holy Cross football team at the Carrier Dome on Sept. 28, 2019.  The Orange opened the scoring at the 11:46-mark of the first quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from DeVito to Aaron Hackett. Syracuse added a 17-yard scoring strike from DeVito to Trishton Jackson and a 52-yard field goal by Sterling Hofrichter to make the score 17-0 after the first quarter. Early in the second quarter, placekicker Derek Ng booted a 48-yard field goal to put the Crusaders on the board. The Orange responded with a 19-yard touchdown run by Abdul Adams and led 24-3 at the break. In the third quarter, Syracuse used a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Szmyt and a 47-yard scoring strike from DeVito to Taj Harris to go in front 34-3. The Orange then concluded the scoring with a 70-yard touchdown pass from DeVito to Luke Benson early in the fourth quarter. Syracuse finished the day with 429 yards of total offense while picking up 10 first downs. Holy Cross was able to total just 138 yards and 10 first downs. Wide out Tenio Ayeni led the Crusaders with four receptions for 64 yards, while running back Peter Oliver added 41 yards on 15 carries. Defensive back Joe Lang posted a game-high 12 tackles with one tackle for loss.

WITH A WIN, HOLY CROSS WOULD…

Earn its third win over an FBS opponent since 2021
Defeat Syracuse for the first time since 1958
Give Dan Curran his first head coaching win over an FBS opponent

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