With 13 returning starters and now fully settled into their new home – the East Campus Athletic Village – there is optimism for yet another successful football season on the campus of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Head coach Joe King, entering his 22nd season, looks to guide the Engineers into the post-season for the eighth time in the last 10 years.
Offensively Rensselaer welcomes back a large number of veterans, including eight starters. Among them are the quarterback, a multitude of receivers and four starting linemen. There are three starters back on defense and both the punter and kicker return from the 2009 team that transitioned into the ECAV with a 5-4 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the Liberty League.
![<dfn><div class=]()
(Hardeesville, SC/Avon Old Farms) returns under center after playing eight games as a freshman, including seven as a starter. The 6-6, 240-pound signal caller, who was the Liberty League Rookie of the Week four times and the team's Offensive Rookie of the Year, completed 106 of 207 passes (51.2%) for 1,276 yards and nine touchdowns. He was intercepted nine times. Hermann also ran the ball 94 times for 376 yards and a team-high six touchdowns in his first year with the Engineers.
Junior
Julian Schnopp (Dalton, MA/Wahconah Regional), who played in two games last season, plays behind Hermann.
Once again this year RPI also has talent and depth at the other skill positions as well. The top returner at wideout is senior
Pat McCarthy (Strafford, NH/Spaulding), who looks to put an injury-plagued junior season behind him. A captain, he expects to return to the form that earned him All-League and All-Region honors in 2008 when he had 79 receptions for 755 yards and six touchdowns. Despite his ailments last year, McCarthy, an outstanding athlete who has excellent hands and tremendous quickness, still led the Engineers with 39 catches for 532 yards and four touchdowns – all team-highs. He also rushed 14 times for 64 yards.
In addition to McCarthy, classmate
Ray Davis (Worcester, MA/South High Community School) brings
experience to the field. Over the past two seasons he has 62 receptions for 943 yards and three touchdowns. He was second on the team last year with 26 catches and 294 yards. Expected to play an even bigger role than he did as a freshman is sophomore Austin Caswell (Round Rock, TX/Stony Point), who broke onto the scene late in the campaign. Yet another solid athlete who earns yards after the catch, he finished with 21 receptions for 211 yards and a touchdown. Nineteen of his grabs and 158 of his yards came in the last four games.
Junior Bryan Carmody (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena), who was injured for much of last year, looks to fight back from a sophomore year in which he had six receptions for 60 yards. Other returners who can be impact players while also providing necessary depth are seniors Dan Olimpio (Yonkers, NY/Iona Prep.) and Bob Munier (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo), a converted running back, along with sophomore Steven Burpoe (Saranac Lake, NY/Saranac Lake).
Other receiving threats – who are also strong blockers coming off the line of scrimmage – is the trio of junior Josh Brown (Cohoes, NY/LaSalle Institute) and sophomores Mike Blais (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) and Nick Weber (Winchester, MA/Winchester). All three gained valuable game experience on the junior varsity and each one stands over six feet tall.
Joining that group on the line is a solid core of offensive linemen who helped the Engineers average 18.3 points and 317.3 yards per game, including 155.0 on the ground. Among them are four returning starters and three others who have spent time with the first unit in their careers. The seven of them – who have combined to earn 13 letters – are all either juniors or seniors and they average a height over 6-feet (6-1.5) and 240 pounds (242.5).
At left tackle is senior Brian Jones (Syracuse, NY/G.W. Fowler), a second-year starter, while classmate Eric Dinarello (Topsfield, MA/Masconomet), a third-year starter and captain, is at left guard. In the middle is second-year starting center Joe Stenz (Gulfstream, FL/Cardinal Newman), a junior who earned the team's Most Improved Offensive Player Award last season.
The right guard position will be held down by a pair of seniors and two-time letter winners in Dan Koerner (Kingwood, TX/Kingwood), who has started the last two years, and Ed Manning (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo). At right tackle is Sal Altieri (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea), a junior who stands the tallest of the group at 6-4, and senior Brandon Marshall (Boca Raton, FL/North Broward Prep.), a three-year letter winner.
Nick Bell (Cambridge, NY/Cambridge), a 6-1, 240-pound senior, adds to the trenches as he is able to play several positions.
Behind the offensive line and finding holes to open is a talented group of running backs, led by senior captain
Nick Costa (Yonkers, NY/Iona Prep.). The team's leading rusher the last three seasons, the diminutive tailback with first-class speed has run for 1,619 yards with 22 touchdowns on 410 career carries. In eight games as a junior, he averaged 4.2 yards per attempt, collecting 608 yards on 145 carries with four TDs.
Sophomore
Matt Wood (Skaneateles, NY/Skaneateles), a power runner, averaged 6.8 yards per carry (18 carries for 123 yards) and provides another element for the Engineers. Others who will see valuable time are junior
Eric Marciano (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa), who ran for 89 yards on 17 carries in 2009, and sophomore
TJ Strunk (Palm Beach Gardens, FL/The Benjamin School), a record-setting high school runner who transferred from Northeastern University.
Another important part of the backfield is sophomore
Matthew Day (Claremont, NH/Stevens), a bruising fullback who earned a letter for his efforts opening holes and protecting the quarterback as a freshman.
Rensselaer's defense features three returning starters along with several others who played critical minutes for the Engineers, who rely heavily on depth for their success. Last season the unit allowed just over 300 yards per game (304.3), including less than 140 yards per contest on the ground (138.1).
The front four has two returning starters in defensive end
Darryl Brown (Hollis, NY/Bayside), a captain, and nose tackle
Pat Harris (Riverhead, NY/Riverhead). Brown, a 6-4, 265-pound senior, led the team with 6.0 sacks for a loss of 36 yards. A powerful athlete, he finished with 37 total tackles, including 22 unassisted and 7.5 for lost yards (42). The three-year letter winner also forced a fumble, recovered two loose balls, broke up two passes and blocked a kick on his way to earning All-Liberty League recognition. Harris, a two-time letter winner, also played all nine games, totaling 24 tackles with an interception and two pass breakups.
Expected to move into starting roles are sophomore
Matthew Lauro (Longmeadow, MA/Avon Old Farms) at defensive tackle and junior
Patrick Gilreath (Baltimore, MD/Western Tech.) at defensive end. Lauro had a very good freshman season, making 23 tackles, including 11 unassisted. The team's Defensive Rookie of the Year collected three tackles for lost yards (18), including 2.0 sacks (16 yards lost). Gilreath, who is 6-4, 240 pounds, had eight tackles, including one for a 6-yard loss, a fumble recovery and three pass breakups.
Sophomore
Corey White (Taberg, NY/Rome Free Academy), who had 2.5 sacks (11 yards lost) among his five tackles as a freshman, will also see action at end, while
Ryan Scott (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck), who had four tackles, will line up at tackle.
Cody Hinrichs (Islip, NY/Islip), a sophomore, and
Mike Bonavita (Jacksonville, FL/Bolles), a senior who made seven tackles last season, will relieve Harris and Brown, respectively.
Senior captain
Colin King (Glenmont, NY/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk), an All-Liberty League honoree
last year, anchors the linebackers. The team's top returning tackler, he was third overall with 65 stops while starting all nine games. A heady player who has earned three letters, he had 33 solo tackles, which was second on the team, 4.0 for lost yards (21), a 3-yard sack and two pass breakups.
In the middle for the Engineers is senior
Jeff McCormick (Castleton, NY/Columbia), who made 22 tackles (9 solos) with a pair of pass breakups a season ago. Expected to round out the starting unit is junior
Ray Pasco (Fort Edward, NY/Hudson Falls), who had eight tackles with the varsity as a sophomore.
Among those to challenge for key linebacker roles – if not starting jobs – are senior
Will Gottschalk (Calabasas, CA/Crespi Carmelite), junior
Ben Fil (Wynantskill, NY/Averill Park) and sophomore
Christian Tiberia (Glenmont, NY/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk). Gottschalk played in the secondary last season, Fil played in eight games and Tiberia started on the junior varsity.
The Engineers feature a brand new starting four in the secondary as the entire first unit graduated. Senior
Ryan Hunziker (Troy, NY/LaSalle Institute) and junior
Nick Herrera (Miami, FL/Belen Jesuit Prep.) are expected to cover the cornerback positions, while senior
Mike Kukesh (Exeter, NH/Exeter) and junior
Josh Keller (Cobleskill, NY/Cobleskill-Richmondville) are the safeties. Herrera led that group in tackles, tallying 12 (7 solos), along with an interception he returned 77 yards.
Others who will play in the defensive backfield are safeties
Justin Hasselkus (Rochester, NY/Churchville-Chili),
Joe Tedder (Stamford, CT/St. Luke's School) and
Kevin Frame (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville). Hasselkus, a senior, is a two-time letter winner who played in seven games a season ago. Tedder, a sophomore, started on the JV, and Frame, a junior, had eight tackles in seven games. Junior
Zach Scruggs (Auburn, GA/Dacula), a converted running back, adds depth – and athleticism – at cornerback.
Special teams is another strong area for Rensselaer as both the starting kicker –
Peter Nilson (Appleton, WI/Kimberly) – and punter –
Mike Grubbs (Hampton, NJ/North Hunterden) – return, along with the snappers, holder and return men.
Nilson, a senior, led the Engineers in scoring with 37 points last season. He made six of 10 field goal attempts, including a career-long 38-yarder, and was 19 of 20 on point-after-touchdowns en route to earning All-Liberty League recognition. Grubbs, a junior, averaged 35.6 yards per punt (50 attempts for 1,781 yards), including a long of 61 yards. The team's Special Teams Player of the Year, he landed 10 inside the 20-yard line with seven fair caught.
Senior Chris O'Neill (Foxboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) handles the long snapping duties, while Scott, the defensive lineman, short snaps. Keller serves as the primary holder.
Rensselaer has the luxury of using any combination of five student-athletes to bring back punts and kicks. McCarthy led the team with 11 kick returns for 193 yards, while Wood brought back five for 115 yards. Herrera returned one kickoff for 16 yards. Herrera, Caswell and
Chris Perry (Staten Island, NY/St. Joseph by the Sea) will settle under punts.
In addition to 35 newcomers to the roster, the Engineers also feature a new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in
Brian Surace. He comes back to Rensselaer after spending the last six years at Northeastern. He spent his whole stint with the Huskies as the offensive line coach and added the offensive coordinator responsibilities last season. Surace worked as both the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator at RPI from 1999 to 2003, helping the Engineers to the 2003 NCAA Semifinals.
Once again in 2010, Rensselaer has a challenging schedule as it plays five games on the road – including the first two – and only four at home. The home games are against longtime rival WPI in the Transit Trophy Game on September 25 (2pm), a non-league game against Alfred University on October 16 (1pm), the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game versus Union College on October 30 in the first night game in the East Campus Stadium (6pm) and the home finale against Hobart College on November 6 (2pm).
