Randolph cooks despite pressure

WORCESTER - En route to becoming one of the most prolific passers in school history, Holy Cross senior Dominic Randolph has developed quite a reputation for poise under pressure.

Last season, Randolph guided the Crusaders on a six-play, 77-yard touchdown drive against Harvard, connecting with Thomas Harrison on a 40-yard scoring pass with 19 seconds remaining to give Holy Cross its first win over the Crimson in seven years.

And that poise has been there time and time again this season, as Randolph has led the Crusaders to a 6-3 record, and their first 4-0 mark in the Patriot League since 1991.

"I like to play with my back against the wall," Randolph said. "You just get in that zone where you don't think about anything - you're just reacting on your instincts - and when you do that, you're playing out of your mind, as the saying goes."

With two games left in the regular season, against Lafayette (7-2, 3-1) tomorrow and Colgate (8-2, 4-0) Nov. 22, the other two teams challenging for the league title, Randolph and the Crusaders will need that poise if they hope to make the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Meanwhile, Randolph has been moving up on the school passing lists. Randolph has already established Holy Cross standards for career touchdown passes (77), pass attempts (1,225), completions (777), and completion percentage (63.4), and is closing in on the records for career passing yards and yards of total offense.

It's a level of success that was not expected out of the 22-year-old native of Amelia, Ohio. After all, Randolph wasn't even the starting signal-caller at his high school, St. Xavier in Cincinnati. That honor went to Rob Schoenhoft, who was courted by a number of Division 1 schools before settling on Ohio State. (Schoenhoft transferred to Delaware.)

Randolph started just two games at quarterback in high school, instead playing mostly wide receiver. Fast forward, and Randolph is again a candidate for the Walter Payton Award (given to the best offensive player in the FCS).

"I really didn't know . . . if I was going to get a chance," Randolph said, noting that not seeing playing time his freshman season at Holy Cross because of a high ankle sprain played into that doubt. "Sometimes the window of opportunity is so small you've got to take every chance that you get. I took a chance with Holy Cross and they took a chance with me."

"I'm not going to tell you that we evaluated and said he's the next Johnny Unitas," said Crusaders coach Tom Gilmore. "But even the opposing coaches . . . that had seen Dom said, 'Listen, as good as that kid that's starting in front of him is, Dom is the better quarterback, the better pure quarterback.' "

The spring after Randolph's freshman season, Gilmore and his staff installed a spread offense and saw just how capable Randolph could be, attributing his success to extreme preparation and an uncanny ability to read defenses.

"Sometimes we have to get on him," Gilmore said. "The ball's not even in his hands sometimes and he's already off his primary read - on to his second, to his third, to his fourth. It's just unbelievable. That's why we've had countless drives where, in one possession, he's hitting seven, eight, nine receivers - different people - in one possession. People brag about that when their quarterback does that in a game; he's doing it in one possession."

Randolph flourished in the pass-happy offense. He also established himself as a prospect for the 2009 NFL draft, a possibility Gilmore called "very real," comparing Randolph to former NFL veteran Jay Fiedler, who played at Dartmouth.

"I think Dom has the physical part of it and he has the mental and the intangibles, he has all three," Gilmore said. "I'd be surprised if he's not on an NFL roster."

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-3-inch, 223-pound accounting major continues to pile up accolades. He has been named ECAC Offensive Player of the Week three times and Patriot League Player of the Week four times this season.

And yet, Randolph will be the first to heap praise on his offensive line - which has allowed only 11 sacks this season - and on his other teammates and the coaches for a chance at a Patriot League championship, before mentioning himself.

"I'd rather have a ring around my finger afterwards," Randolph said. "That's what our goal is as a team and that's what I want."

"Our players have a tremendous amount of respect for Dom," Gilmore said. "They joke around and call him the franchise player, and he is. A big part of the reason we're successful is Dom, but Dom also understands that our team has allowed him to have this success as well."