The headline sounds weird with an 0-3 team, I get it.

But, Holy Cross has lost its first three games this season by a combined total of seven points.

After nearly upsetting a good MAC team in NIU, the Crusaders went up to Wildcat Stadium and narrowly missed taking down the UNH. Last week, the Crusaders took No. 5 Rhode Island to the final minute at Fitton Field before falling 9-7 in a defensive slugfest.

On Saturday, Dan Curran’s crew has another non-Patriot League test against Yale in the Bulldogs’ season opener.

“The big thing we try to focus on is every game and every week takes on a life of its own,” Curran said during his weekly Zoom call on Tuesday. “As hard as it is to not, once we meet on Sunday, we flush it. If that would have been a massive win for us beating Rhody, or it’s one of those gut-punching losses at the end of the game where you lose it at the very end…either way, the deficiencies that are there, we’ve still got to correct those and we’ve still got to improve. That’s something this group has really bought into.

“They know they’re close. I think this is a ery connected group too. I’ve told people that weren’t on the inside that weren’t on the ground floor with us, ‘the culture they have right now in that locker room is pretty special.’ You can tell they’re really supporting each other right now. They know they’re close and like I’ve told these guys, ‘once it clicks on that last side of the football, it’s going to be like riding a bike. It’ll be like going downhill.’

“These kids have done a great job buying into that. The energy level in the weight room on Sunday was awesome. You would have thought we came back and beat Rhody. It speaks volumes about the type of kids we have in this program and where the culture is in this program as well.”

Yale quarterback Dante Reno – who transferred from South Carolina – is the son of Yale head coach Tony Reno. Dante has been well-known around the New England region (and nationally) for a while now, especially by Curran.

That familiarity could be a big help with the Crusaders in desperate search of a win.

“I don’t do the thing where you offer kids when they’re freshmen or sophomores, so as you can imagine, he had some early stuff going on. Would I have? Yes, for sure.” Curran said with a smile when asked if he recruited Reno “I saw him up close and personal. Him and (Curran’s son) Ty  competed against each other a little bit in the prep school world and were at some of the same recruiting venues. So, very familiar with him.

“Obviously, any time you have an opportunity to get a coach’s kid on your roster…we have a number of those that are playing here at Holy Cross, you know those kids are going to bring a little something different to the table. So, he’s going to be a great addition to that program. He’s a guy that’s grown up around the game and I’m sure he’s going to have the ability to come in and handle stuff differently than your average sophomore quarterback.

“He’s going to be a huge test for us this week. Certainly, it’s a bonus for Coach Reno to have Dante with him for the next couple of years.”

Despite the disadvantage Holy Cross could be at this weekend with no film on the 2025 version of Yale, there’s plenty of familiarity between the programs beyond just the quarterback.

The Bulldogs and Crusaders have turned this early season rivalry into one of the best in New England over the last few years. Last season, the Yale won a wild 38-31 shootout at Fitton. This game has routinely become the opener for Yale.

“The good thing is, the head coach has been there for a while. The coordinators have both been there for a while. There are a lot of returning players and good ones too,” said Curran. “So, sure, there’s always an adjustment, we’re no different. You usually drive your offense by who your quarterback is. But, the reality is we do have some familiarity with (QB) Dante Reno as well.

“The other quarterback is there that’s on the roster that stepped in last year in our game (Brogan McCaughey) when Grant Jordan went down. We know philosophically who they want to be. We have a great deal of respect for what they do.

“They’re very sound on both sides of the football. Very well-coached and in that regard, there’s going to be some natural tendencies they carry over from year-to-year even when the personnel does change a little bit.”

The Crusaders know they’re on the cusp of breaking through, could the historic Yale Bowl be the sight of win No. 1 in 2025?

“Culture isn’t something that you achieve and take ownership over. It’s a living, breathing thing that you’ve got to work towards every single day,” Curran added. “When you do that, the ability to maintain it and sustain it is much more real. These guys know they’re close. We’re a few plays away from being a Top 12 team, but we’re not.

“We have a great opportunity in front of us Saturday, we’re close and they know it. They smell it. They sense it and they’re excited to have a huge challenge against a very good team on the road.”