The 2001 Holy Cross Crusaders football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross during the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Holy Cross finished fifth in the Patriot League.

In their sixth year under head coach Dan Allen, the Crusaders compiled a 4–6 record. Brian Hall, James Jenkins and Vernell Shaw were the team captains.^[1]

The Crusaders outscored opponents 247 to 179. Holy Cross' 3–4 conference record placed fifth out of eight in the Patriot League standings.^[2]

Like most of the Patriot League, Holy Cross played just 10 of its 11 scheduled games, after its September 15 matchup, against Ivy League opponent Harvard, was canceled following the September 11 attacks.^[3] It was the first year in more than two decades without a Crimson-Crusader football game, and the only year between 1981 and 2015 without the intrastate matchup.

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	Georgetown	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 33–7	8,176	[4]
September 15	Harvard*	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	Canceled		[3]
September 22	at Towson	Minnegan Stadium Towson, MD	W 17–9	2,095	[5]
September 29	Yale*	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	L 22–23	8,547	[6]
October 6	at Penn*	Franklin Field Philadelphia, PA	L 7–43	11,722	[7]
October 13	Dartmouth*	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 49–17	8,817	[8]
October 20	Lafayette^	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	W 63–53	13,219	[9]
October 27	at No. 8 Lehigh	Goodman Stadium Bethlehem, PA	L 14–47	14,232	[10]
November 3	at Bucknell	Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium Lewisburg, PA	L 14–21	2,743	[11]
November 10	Colgate	Fitton Field Worcester, MA	L 7–35	9,135	[12]
November 17	at Fordham	Coffey Field Bronx, NY (rivalry)	L 21–24	6,537	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming ^ Family Weekend Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game