Holy Cross Crusaders 2026 Season Preview

A Rough Follow-Up

Dan Curran's 2025 closed at 3-9 and 2-4 in the Patriot League, a step back that leaves little cushion for slow starts in 2026. The power rating (No. 61) says this roster is not far off the pace nationally, so the losing record traces more to close-game execution in conference play than a talent gap. For 2026, tightening that 2-4 league mark is the real measuring stick, not the overall win total.

Swanson's Offense Still Stuck

Cal Swanson is back under center after a 2025 line of 1021 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions, and that uneven ratio is exactly why an offense ranked 113th in total yards and 105th in success rate needs him sharper, not just present. The defense gave Holy Cross a real foundation, sitting 41st in points allowed and 45th in passing yards allowed, and a plus-5 turnover margin kept games close despite the offense stalling on 31.9% third-down conversion. Swanson's improvement, more than any newcomer, decides whether that defensive floor translates into more than three wins in 2026.

Cal Swanson is back under center after an offense that stalled at 153 passing yards per game and 4.60 yards per play, numbers that landed Holy Cross 116th and 114th nationally in those categories a year ago. The job is his outright, and the bigger question is whether Dan Curran can build a passing game around him that does not rank near the bottom of the country in third-down conversions, where the Crusaders hit just 31.9% last fall. If Swanson can push that offense past 20.5 points a game, this Patriot debut looks a lot different than the 3-9 season that preceded it.

Jayden Clerveaux's 762 rushing yards and Nyeoti Punni's 415 walked out the door together, gutting a ground game that already ranked 89th in rushing yards per game. What is back is Joseph Williams, a pass-catching back with 217 receiving yards and 17 grabs but no real rushing résumé to lean on, alongside unproven names in Luke Foster and Naz Treadwell. Boston College transfer Datrell Jones arrives without a stat line of his own, but he is the closest thing to a fresh answer for a run game that produced 129 yards per game and a 36.0% success rate a year ago, numbers that will not hold if Dan Curran cannot find someone to actually carry the ball between the tackles.

Max Mosey's 50 catches walk out the door along with Alijah Cason and Charly Mullaly, gutting a passing game that already ranked 116th nationally in yardage. Lincoln Fisher (14-142-3) is the closest thing to a proven weapon left, with Ty Curran offering volume (22 catches) but zero touchdowns to show for it. Georgia State transfer Myles Abernathy arrives with no track record on file, which means Dan Curran is betting on unknowns to fix an offense that finished 105th in success rate and 114th in yards per play in 2025.

Mason McSweeney managed just 2 catches for 11 yards last season, and the departure of Nathan Schillinger, who paced the room with 10 catches for 85 yards, leaves Holy Cross without a single proven receiving option at tight end. That matters for an offense that ranked 116th in passing yards per game and 105th in success rate, numbers that will not improve unless someone among Keating Oliver, Luke Petitta, Mark Schoonmaker or Drae Tyme turns unknown production into an actual target. Dan Curran needs one of those names to become a real answer, because right now the tight end room is a collection of blank stat lines trying to fix a passing game that could not move the ball in 2025.

Holy Cross averaged just 4.60 yards per play and 129 rushing yards a game in 2025, numbers that trace straight back to a front that now loses Noah Eldridge, Cam Nolan and Joe Metzger. Dan Curran has to piece together a line that struggled to move anyone on third down (31.9%, 107th nationally) with essentially none of last year's starting five accounted for. Whatever combination Curran settles on, the bar is low: a 105th-ranked success rate and 116th-ranked passing attack both start with whether this rebuilt group can hold up in protection.

Dan Curran's front produced a middling stop unit last season, ranking 48th in yards per play allowed and 59th against the run, and now has to answer that without eight departed linemen, including Christian Ross and Joseph Townsend. None of the outgoing names were difference-makers by raw tackle count, so the drop-off is more about lost snaps and continuity up front than a single production hole to fill. Whoever settles into those spots inherits a group that kept opponents on schedule only 40.7% of the time, and tightening that number is the clearest path to Holy Cross climbing out of the middle of the pack defensively in 2026.

Cam Santee, Lathan Croley and Sam Boyer are all gone from a linebacker corps that helped hold Holy Cross to 365 yards allowed per game, a middling 49th nationally. Wofford transfer Jalen Rambert arrives to fill part of that void, though his 2 tackles last season came in a limited role, not as a proven every-down replacement for that lost production. The bigger question is whether an experienced back seven can keep the run defense respectable at 158 yards allowed per game (59th) without the three tacklers who anchored it in 2025.

Garrett Baldwin's 6 tackles and Donovan Comestro's 2 are the only production this secondary returns, and that thin ledger explains why Holy Cross gave up 207 passing yards per game (45th) and let opponents stay on schedule 40.7% of the time (45th) in 2025. Tommy Bestpitch, Eli Thompson and Cam Jones are all gone from that back end, so Robert Morris transfer Cam Boone steps in at corner to add experience the room otherwise lacks a track record for. Troy Bailey, Marco Coleman, Omarr Dixon and Amari Gardner are all back without a stat line to point to, meaning Baldwin and Boone are the two defensive backs Dan Curran can actually build a plan around.

Ethan Moss handled the bulk of the punting load with 64 boots at a 38.1-yard clip, and he is back to anchor that job again. The bigger question is placekicking, where Luis Palenzuela and his 10-of-14 season, including a 46-yarder and 59 points, are gone. Owen Saraceno, who went 0 of 1 on field goals last year, is the returning option there, with Alessandro Garrett and long snapper Caleb Schlater rounding out a group with no track record to lean on.

Cal Swanson's decision-making

Cal Swanson threw for 1,021 yards but matched his 5 touchdowns with 5 interceptions, and Holy Cross needs that ratio to flip after a 3-9 season with only 2-4 to show in Patriot play. Jayden Clerveaux's 762 rushing yards are gone, which puts more of the offense on Swanson's arm and on Joseph Williams and Ty Curran turning short catches into real yardage, so Swanson's turnovers become the swing between another losing year and real competitiveness.

Curran's Road Dogs Cash

Home favorites and home dates in general are where Holy Cross bettors get burned, an 0-1 mark laying points at home and a 1-3 cover rate overall at home behind an 0-4 straight-up disaster in Worcester. The action is on the road, where Dan Curran's team covers at 43% straight and hits 50% as a road underdog, the one profitable lean this roster offers. Fade any home number, back them once they leave campus.