The 1982 Holy Cross Crusaders football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross as an independent during the 1982 NCAA Division I-AA football season.

In their second year under head coach Rick E. Carter, the Crusaders compiled an 8–3 record. Terry Malone and Doug O'Donnell were the team captains.^[1]

This was the Crusaders' first year in Division I-AA, after having competed in the top-level Division I-A and its predecessors since 1896.

A four-game winning streak to open the campaign put Holy Cross in the weekly national rankings in its first year in Division I-AA, rising as high as No. 4. The Crusaders ended the year ranked No. 13, following a rivalry loss to Tangerine Bowl-bound Boston College of Division I-A.

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	New Hampshire		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 28–0	12,651	[2]
September 18	UMass		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 27–14	13,251	[3]
September 25	Dartmouth	No. 6	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 28–12	18,861	[4]
October 2	at Yale	No. 5	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	W 10–6	19,200	[5]
October 9	at No. 6 Colgate	No. 4	Andy Kerr Stadium Hamilton, NY	L 17–21	10,000	[6]
October 16	Connecticut	No. 9	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 10–7	11,441	[7]
October 23	at Brown	No. 9	Brown Stadium Providence, RI	W 17–6	15,100	[8]
October 30	at Boston University	No. 6	Nickerson Field Boston, MA	W 34–21	9,130	[9]
November 6	Harvard^	No. 7	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	L 17–24	20,681	[10]
November 13	Maine		Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 21–7	11,111	[11]
November 20	at Boston College	No. 14	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, MA (rivalry)	L 10–35	32,800	[12]
Homecoming ^ Family Weekend Rankings from the latest NCAA Division I-AA poll released prior to the game