Crusaders Picked 13th in the Nation by Phil Steele's Preview

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Holy Cross football team has been ranked as the 13th-best team in the nation by Phil Steele's 2009 College Football Preview. In addition, senior quarterback Dominic Randolph (Amelia, Ohio), was selected as a preseason second team All-American by the Sports Network. He was one of only five players from the Patriot League to be honored.

Along with the Crusaders at No. 13, two Holy Cross opponents were ranked in Phil Steele's preseason Top 40: Harvard at No. 23 and Lafayette at No. 37. Appalachian State was picked as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.

In its preseason Patriot League team rankings, Phil Steele's 2009 College Football Preview picked Holy Cross to finish first in the conference. Lafayette was predicted to finish second, followed by Colgate in third place. Fordham was picked fourth, with Lehigh, Bucknell and Georgetown rounding out the rankings.

On Phil Steele's preseason All-Patriot League teams, Randolph was joined on the first team by senior offensive lineman Aaron Jones (Springfield, Ohio), senior offensive lineman Chris Poole (Scituate, Mass.), senior linebacker Marcus Rodriguez (Peoria, Ariz.), senior offensive lineman Chris Smith (Buffalo, N.Y.) and senior defensive back Michael Wright (Fort Washington, Md.). Senior defensive lineman Alex Carson (Atlanta, Ga.), junior defensive back Anthony DiMichele (McKees Rocks, Pa.), junior kick returner Josh Jenkins (Maywood, Ill.) and senior offensive lineman Rob Petrosino (Bogata, N.J.) were all selected to the second team.

Randolph returns as the starting quarterback for Holy Cross, after placing ninth in the voting for the 2008 Walter Payton Award and earning Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year honors in each of the last two seasons. He completed 340 of 520 passes in 2008 for 3,838 yards and 34 touchdowns, while setting Holy Cross single-season records for passing yards, total offense (3,917 yards), completions and passing attempts, and tying the single-season mark for touchdown passes. Randolph led the Patriot League in total offense, passing yards and pass efficiency (142.4 rating), in addition to leading the nation in total offense, passing yards and completions.

Over the course of his career as a Crusader, he has completed 821 of 1,301 passes for 9,679 yards and 83 touchdowns. Randolph owns the Holy Cross career records for total offense (9,984 yards), touchdown passes, completions and attempts, while standing second in passing yards.

The Crusaders will open the 2009 season when they play host to Georgetown on Saturday, Sept. 5 at 1 p.m.