YALE at HOLY CROSS
Sat., Sept. 21 – 2 p.m.
Fitton Field
Worcester, Mass.
ESPN+ Video | Live Stats | Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Team 151 will kick off the 2024 season against a familiar and challenging opponent. The Bulldogs head to Worcester, Mass., to face a Holy Cross team that is playing its fourth game of 2024. Kickoff at Fitton Field is slated for 2 p.m., and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
 
• Yale and Holy Cross have been two of the most successful FCS programs in New England in recent years. The Bulldogs have won or shared the Ivy League title in each of the last two seasons and in four of the last six years. The Crusaders have won or shared the Patriot League championship in five consecutive seasons.
 
• Yale has played its first game against Holy Cross in each of the last five seasons. The Crusaders, who open their season earlier, have won four of the games, including last year at Yale Bowl, Class of 1954 Field. The Bulldogs' win came in 2019, a 23-10 victory at the Bowl. Yale went on to finish 9-1 that season and capture the Ivy League championship.
 
• The Bulldogs are coming off a memorable 2023 season. After dropping its first two games – to Holy Cross and Cornell - Yale won seven of its final eight games, including a 23-18 victory over Harvard in the finale that secured an Ivy championship. The Bulldogs, who finished 7-3 overall and 5-2 in Ivy play, shared the crown with Harvard and Dartmouth.
 
• Yale is the preseason favorite to earn a third straight Ivy title but by a narrow margin. In the official league preseason media poll, the Bulldogs received six of the 16 first-place votes and finished with 114 points, six more than second-place Harvard, which got seven first-place votes. Penn (2 first-place votes, 88 points) is picked third, while Princeton (1 first-place vote) and Dartmouth both had 80 points. Brown (56 points), Cornell (26) and Columbia (24) round out the poll.
 
• Yale is looking to win three straight Ivy titles for the first time since 1979-81.
 
• The Bulldogs return four All-Ivy selections from a year ago. Running back Josh Pitsenberger was a second team selection, while offensive lineman Michael Bennett, defensive lineman Alvin Gulley, Jr. and defensive back Sean Guyton were honorable mention selections. Pitsenberger, Gulley, Guyton, kick returner Joey Felton, tight end Ry Yates, and defensive lineman Dylan Yang were named preseason All-Ivy by college football analyst Phil Steele.
 
• Senior Grant Jordan was named Yale's starting quarterback earlier this week. Jordan, who is from New Orleans, has not thrown a pass in his time at Yale. He made a brief appearance against Brown in 2022 and also played in the Morgan State game last year.
 
• Tony Reno, The Joel E. Smilow '54 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, is beginning his 12th season at the helm. He has guided the Bulldogs to 67 victories, tied with Walter Camp for the third most coaching victories in school history.
 
• The game in Worcester is a homecoming for Reno, who is from nearby Oxford, Mass., and is a 1997 Worcester State graduate.
 
• Offensive lineman Sean Sullivan also will be playing near his hometown (Westborough, Mass.). Sullivan, who is slated to start at left tackle, was a three-sport athlete at Saint John's High School in Shrewsbury, playing football, basketball and lacrosse. Sullivan played at Fitton Field with St. John's on Thanksgiving during his high school career.
 
• The Bulldogs are seeking their first season-opening win since 2019 (23-10 over Holy Cross).
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Saturday is the 38th all-time meeting between the Bulldogs and the Crusaders. Yale leads the series 29-8, but the Crusaders have won the last three games. Last year at Yale Bowl, Holy Cross scored 28 unanswered points after halftime on its way to a 49-24 victory. Tre Peterson rushed for 95 yards on 17 carries to lead Yale. The Bulldogs' last win in the series came in 2019 when Yale opened its Ivy League championship season with a 23-10 victory at the Bowl.
 
SCOUTING HOLY CROSS
 
The Crusaders (1-2) are already playing their fourth game of the season. Holy Cross dropped a pair of close games – 20-17 at Rhode Island and 21-20 vs. New Hampshire – before cruising to a 43-22 victory at Bryant last Saturday. The Crusaders play at Syracuse on Sept. 28. Quarterback Joe Pesansky has thrown for 627 yards and three touchdowns in three games. He was 13-of-16 last week against Bryant. Jacob Petersen has been Pesansky's favorite target with 12 catches for 202 yards and one touchdown. Jordan Fuller, who had a touchdown run in last year's win over Yale, has rushed for 283 yards this season with an average of 4.2 yards per carry. Dan Curran is in his first season as the head coach at Holy Cross after spending 11 seasons at Merrimack.