2017 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

The 2017 Holy Cross Crusaders football team represented the College of the Holy Cross as a member of the Patriot League during the 2017 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Holy Cross was led by 14th-year head coach Tom Gilmore for the first seven games of the season before he was fired following a 2–5 start. Offensive coordinator Brian Rock was named interim head coach for the final four games. The team finished the season with an overall record of 4–7 and a mark of 3–3 in Patriot League play to place three-way tie for third. The Crusaders played their home games at Fitton Field in Worcester, Massachusetts.

2017 Holy Cross Crusaders football
Conference	Patriot League
Record	4–7 (3–3 Patriot)
Head coach	Tom Gilmore (14th season; first 7 games) Brian Rock (interim, final 4 games)
Offensive coordinator	Brian Rock (3rd season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Kashurba (4th season)
Home stadium	Fitton Field
Seasons ← 2016 2018 →

2017 Patriot League football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Colgate +		5	–	1					7	–	4
Lehigh +^		5	–	1					5	–	7
Holy Cross		3	–	3					4	–	7
Fordham		3	–	3					4	–	7
Lafayette		3	–	3					3	–	8
Bucknell		2	–	4					5	–	6
Georgetown		0	–	6					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant

Schedule

The 2017 schedule consisted of five home and six away games. The Crusaders hosted Patriot League foes Lafayette, Colgate, and Georgetown. They traveled to Bucknell, Fordham, and Lehigh.

In 2017, Holy Cross played non-conference opponents UConn of the American Athletic Conference, New Hampshire of the Colonial Athletic Association, Dartmouth and Yale of the Ivy League, and Monmouth of the Big South Conference.^[1]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:30 p.m.	at UConn*		Rentschler Field East Hartford, CT	SNY	L 20–27	24,435
September 9	Noon	at Bucknell		Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	STADIUM	W 20–0	1,987
September 16	1:00 p.m.	No. 9 New Hampshire*		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Charter TV3	W 51–26	7,906
September 23	7:00 p.m.	at Dartmouth*	No. 25	Memorial Field Hanover, NH	ILN	L 26–27 OT	7,094
September 30	1:00 p.m.	Lafayette		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Charter TV3	L 7–10	7,764
October 7	1:00 p.m.	Monmouth*		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Charter TV3	L 36–48	4,484
October 14	1:00 p.m.	at Yale*		Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	ILN	L 0–32	8,709
October 21	Noon	Colgate		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	STADIUM	L 7–45	6,784
October 28	1:00 p.m.	Georgetown		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Charter TV3	W 24–10	9,063
November 4	1:00 p.m.	at Fordham		Coffey Field Bronx, NY (Ram–Crusader Cup)	STADIUM	W 42–20	5,467
November 11	12:30 p.m.	at Lehigh		Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	STADIUM	L 21–34	7,247
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

At UConn

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	3	17	0	0	20
Huskies	7	0	7	13	27

See also: 2017 UConn Huskies football team

At Bucknell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	10	3	7	0	20
Bison	0	0	0	0	0

See also: 2017 Bucknell Bison football team

New Hampshire

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 9 Wildcats	7	0	12	7	26
Crusaders	3	13	21	14	51

See also: 2017 New Hampshire Wildcats football team

At Dartmouth

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 25 Crusaders	0	14	0	6	6	26
Big Green	7	6	7	0	7	27

See also: 2017 Dartmouth Big Green football team

Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Leopards	0	0	7	3	10
Crusaders	0	7	0	0	7

See also: 2017 Lafayette Leopards football team

Monmouth

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawks	0	21	20	7	48
Crusaders	3	14	0	19	36

See also: 2017 Monmouth Hawks football team

At Yale

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	0	0	0	0	0
Bulldogs	3	22	7	0	32

See also: 2017 Yale Bulldogs football team

Colgate

	1	2	3	4	Total
Raiders	7	10	21	7	45
Crusaders	7	0	0	0	7

See also: 2017 Colgate Raiders football team

Georgetown

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoyas	3	0	7	0	10
Crusaders	0	13	0	11	24

See also: 2017 Georgetown Hoyas football team

At Fordham

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	0	7	0	14	21
Mountain Hawks	14	0	10	10	34

See also: 2017 Fordham Rams football team

At Lehigh

	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders	0	7	0	14	21
Mountain Hawks	14	0	10	10	34

See also: 2017 Lehigh Mountain Hawks football team

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	—	—	—	25	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	25	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—