The Syracuse Orange have added the Holy Cross Crusaders to their 2019 football schedule, both schools announced today.
Syracuse will host Holy Cross at the Carrier Dome on Aug. 31, 2019. The game will be the season-opener for both schools.
Syracuse and Holy Cross have played a total of 28 games and the Orange lead the series 23-5. However, the two haven’t squared off since Nov. 10, 1973 in Worcester.
Holy Cross is a member of the Patriot League in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Crusaders have not played an FBS opponent since beating Army 30-21 back in 2002.
But the Crusaders are back in the business of scheduling FBS programs. Last year, Holy Cross announced two games against Boston College in 2018 and 2020 and a trip to face UConn in 2017.
“I am pleased to announce that our football team will have the opportunity to play at Syracuse in the 2019 football season,” said Holy Cross director of athletics Nathan Pine. “This will be another important game for our program and our institution to play against a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent on a big stage with a national audience. It is even better that we can do this against a traditional rival that our fan base can travel to and support the Crusaders. Holy Cross now has games with FBS opponents under contract starting in 2017 at UConn, 2018 at Boston College, 2019 at Syracuse and 2020 again at Boston College. We will continue to explore opportunities to showcase our outstanding student-athletes and extend the Holy Cross brand in 2021 and beyond.”
With the addition of Holy Cross, Syracuse now has two of their four non-conference games for the 2019 season. The Orange are also scheduled to visit Maryland on Sept. 21, and that game will fulfill the ACC’s strength of schedule requirement for that season.
Football Schedules