Crusaders' undefeated run gets high praise from Holy Cross legend Gordie Lockbaum
Gordie Lockbaum was one of the distinguished members of the search committee when Holy Cross hired Bob Chesney as its football coach five years ago.
Lockbaum, a Crusaders legend and two-time Heisman Trophy finalist, said it was evident during the interview process that Chesney had what it took to rebuild the HC program to prominence.
“You could sense it right from the beginning,” Lockbaum said during an interview Tuesday. “The impression he left on the committee when he came in here, not just in what he was able to say and how he chartered a direction for the program, but what he had done at the other schools he was at (Salve Regina, Assumption). He’s a winner.”
This fall, Chesney guided Holy Cross to an unprecedented fourth straight outright Patriot League championship, No. 8 seed and first-round bye in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, and, like Lockbaum’s 1987 senior year team, an 11-0 regular-season record.
“He has a passion for the game,” Lockbaum, who is very close to the program, said, “and he creates an environment in which the players can enjoy the game, be accountable to one another, to the school and to themselves, and stay on a path where they can have success. You can’t win as many crazy games over the last five years as they have without instilling a belief in one’s self, and he just has the ability to do that.”
'Crazy games'
Among those “crazy games” Lockbaum referred to were this year’s victories at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent Buffalo on a Hail Mary and the overtime win against Fordham at Fitton Field.
“One of the things you can count on,” Lockbaum said, “is they don’t quit on each other or themselves, and they have that sense of belief that they can get it done at crunch time.”
During the Crusaders’ regular-season home finale against Bryant, Holy Cross recognized Lockbaum and members of the outstanding 1987 team, including offensive lineman Ron George, who, that night, entered the Holy Cross Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
“It was special,” Lockbaum said, “to be able to get together as a team and the added bonus was Ronnie George getting into the hall of fame. He is a very deserving teammate and player, and someone who gave everything he had for the goals we were seeking to accomplish.”
The 1986 team, coping with the death of coach Rick Carter in February of that year, was a determined group that won 10 straight before falling to Boston College in its season finale.
“We had very high expectations going into the 1987 season,” Lockbaum said. “We had a lot of talent coming back and the expectation was we were going to go undefeated, and we were able to do it.”
As Mark Duffner, who succeeded Carter as HC coach, pointed out in an interview with the T&G last week, the ’87 team trailed once all season — 3-0 at Army early in its opener. The Crusaders’ average margin of victory was 36.5 points.
“I think when you’re frontrunners you can have a letdown in any given week,” Lockbaum said. “You can have injuries that could creep in or distractions that could come into play. We were able to guard ourselves against all those factors and win most games pretty convincingly.”
No postseason in '87
In the 1987 finale, Lockbaum, in his last game for HC, caught 15 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns to lift Holy Cross to a 39-6 win at Villanova before a national ESPN audience.
The ’87 Crusaders made history as the first HC team to go 11-0, and they finished atop the NCAA Division 1-AA poll.
Unlike this year’s team, though, the ’87 squad didn’t advance to the postseason. The Colonial League, of which Holy Cross was a member, didn’t participate in the playoffs.
“That was a historic night and there was so much excitement,” Lockbaum said, “but also an emotional purging, I guess, because it was hard to believe it was over and we weren’t going to be able to go to the playoffs. It was disappointing the college had decided to go in that direction for that period of time. There was a lot of excitement and celebration, but also disappointment we couldn’t continue.”
Lockbaum wasn’t at this year’s Fordham game, but he was watching on TV, and was thrilled to see the crowd of 17,592, the largest at Fitton Field since 1990, in attendance.
HC regularly packed Fitton during Lockbaum’s era.
“The team right now,” Lockbaum said, “and what they’ve built in terms of a coaching staff and their approach to recruiting and game prep and practicing, they are creating a very high level of excitement and energy during games and with the community. You’re starting to see some of the fruits of (Chesney’s) labor. Him being a Worcester person and a Worcester family now, people are getting behind it.”
The Crusaders averaged close to 13,000 fans for four regular-season home games at Fitton Field – plus 7,658 at their game against Bucknell at Polar Park – and Holy Cross is hoping for another great crowd at its second-round FCS playoff game Dec. 3.
“Seeing those crowds with just a ton of energy in that stadium,” Lockbaum said, “it’s just buzzing. I’m very grateful the Worcester community is getting back on board because that was sorely missed for many years.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Crusaders' undefeated run gets high praise from Holy Cross legend Gordie Lockbaum
