1988 Holy Cross Crusaders football team

The 1988 Holy Cross Crusaders football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross during the 1988 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Holy Cross finished third in the Colonial League, its first non-championship year since league play began in 1986.

In their third year under head coach Mark Duffner, the Crusaders compiled a 9–2 record. Dennis Golden, Rob McGovern, Tom Smith and Jeff Wiley were the team captains.^[1]

The Crusaders outscored opponents 334 to 182. Their 3–1 conference record placed second in the six-team Colonial League standings.^[2]

The Crusaders were ranked No. 1 in the preseason national Division I-AA rankings, but a 1–2 start dropped them out of the top 20 in the first round of in-season rankings. They remained unranked as they compiled an eight-game win streak to finish the season, but were recognized as No. 19 in the final poll, released after their last game.

Holy Cross played its home games at Fitton Field on the college campus in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	Rhode Island*	No. 1	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 49–7	12,441	[3]
September 10	at Army*	No. 1	Michie Stadium West Point, NY	L 3–23	33,136	[4]
September 17	at Lafayette	No. 1	Fisher Field Easton, PA	L 20–28	6,200	[5]
September 24	at Princeton*		Palmer Stadium Princeton, NJ	W 30–26	10,200	[6]
October 1	Harvard*		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 35–20	12,441	[7]
October 8	Dartmouth*		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 17–3	850	[8]
October 15	Lehigh^		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 48–24	16,441	[9]
October 22	at Brown*		Brown Stadium Providence, RI	W 35–14	5,500	[10]
October 29	at Colgate		Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	W 7–0	4,500	[11]
November 12	Bucknell		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 38–7	9,111	[12]
November 19	Northeastern*		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 52–30	7,881	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming ^ Family Weekend Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game