Image courtesy of Holy Cross Athletics
It feels like we were just talking about the prospect of Holy Cross having a special season during training camp.
Well, ranked in the top five in the country and sitting at 10-0, it’s hard to believe that the regular season will be over after this weekend for every FCS school. The Crusaders are one win away from having the program’s first unbeaten regular season in 31 years and they can also lock up a bye and one, maybe two home playoff games if they’re able to beat Georgetown this weekend.
The Hoyas are 2-8 and don’t seem to pose much of a threat to finishing off the perfect season, but Chesney isn’t taking the cheese.
“I think we’re going to get everybody’s best, as you’ve seen every single week going into it,” said head coach Bob Chesney during his weekly availability on Tuesday. “Starting with Lehigh, going into Bryant and now this week, but we got that the whole year anyway. We have to prepare like we’re in the Super Bowl every single week as we speak right now. There’s enough bright spots on this team (Georgetown). They are third in scoring offense, their defense is one of the statistical leaders in sacks…there’s enough bright spots in there offensively, defensively and on special teams that this is a huge test for us.”
This weekend in particular will require quite a balancing act from coach Chesney and the staff. With a bunch of injuries piling up, does Holy Cross go all-in on the undefeated season and make sure they clinch the bye? Or, does Chesney play it safe, rest some guys and see where the chips fall? If you know anything about this program, you know they want to finish as strong as possible, but in the end, a long playoff run and health for it are the only things that truly matter.
“That’s the balance you get into in this moment, right? What’s the goal? You know you’re in the playoffs, is it to enter into the playoffs as healthy as you possibly can be? Or, is it to try and finish this season in a way we’d like to finish it, without any blemishes on your record…which one is it? Where do you want to put the premium?
“I remember this a few years ago when the (Indianapolis) Colts were already in, they were talking about Peyton Manning, they should rest him, why would they play him at this point? I think they were going for a perfect season too and it was one of those things, what do you want to put the premium on? With it, there’s risk and reward obviously on both ends. For us, we want to play this game the same way every week, we don’t want to take our foot off the gas…we’ve just got to figure out how everybody gets back.”
Whatever Holy Cross chooses to do, the Crusaders have shown they can win big, win ugly, and everything in between. Even if there are a bunch of guys sitting, the standard of excellence now set can be reached even when Holy Cross isn’t at full strength, which is a testament to just how good this program is as the playoffs creep closer.