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ASA S. BUSHNELL BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP
The Engineers close out the 2015 season with a post-season game against Buffalo State as part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) 2015 Division III Football Bowl Championships at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Conn. Kickoff is scheduled for 5pm.

FIRST MEETING
Rensselaer and Buffalo State have never played in football. Interestingly this matchup comes a week after RPI played Union, a school it has faced a school-record 114 times.

IN POST-SEASON
Saturday marks the 15th time in the past 24 years the Engineers play in the post-season and its 11th ECAC appearance. RPI, which lost an ECAC Bowl at Framingham State in overtime (42-36) last season, is 8-2 all-time in ECAC games. Rensselaer has played seven NCAA playoff games over five years, including a national semifinal appearance in 2003.

CO-CHAMPIONS
Rensselaer finished atop the Liberty League standings with a 6-1 record, tied with St. Lawrence. The Saints earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Playoffs based on their 24-21 win over the Engineers.

CO-OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The Liberty League has announced its year-end football award winners and numerous Engineers have been recognized. They include senior quarterback Jeff Avery, who was the co-Offensive Performer of the Year as well as a First Team choice. He shared both with St. Lawrence quarterback Mike Lefflebine. 

ALL-LIBERTY LEAGUE
Joining Jeff Avery on the All-Liberty First Team was wide receiver Logan Gaddar, center Steve Mills, defensive end Anthony Pilla and cornerback Philip Lanieri III. Rensselaer placed four on the Second Team in running back Nick Schlatz, offensive lineman Seth Stauble, defensive tackle Malik Joseph and linebacker Alexander Greenidge. Safety Ryan Buss and linebacker Mark Grimes were Honorable Mention choices. 

WEEKLY AWARDS
Coming off a 23-10 win at Union in the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game, three Rensselaer student-athletes were recognized with weekly awards. Junior Ryan Buss has been named Defensive Performer of the Week, senior Logan Gaddar has earned Special Teams Performer of the Week and senior Nick Schlatz has been tabbed for the Honor Roll.

ELEVENTH GAME 
This season marks just the third in school history that Rensselaer has played 11 or more games. The 2003 team that advanced to the NCAA Semifinals played 13 contests, finishing 11-2. Last year's Engineers were 6-4 before playing in the ECAC North Atlantic Bowl, an overtime loss at Framingham State.

HOT TEAMS
RPI enters Saturday's game on a four-game winning streak, while Buffalo State has won four of its last five contests.

ENGINEERS LAST WEEK
Renssleaer's defense allowed zero second half rushing yards and only 94 yards on the ground in total in leading the Engineers to a 23-10 victory over Union in the 65th Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game. Following a first half in which Rensselaer held a 16-10 lead on the scoreboard, including an interception return for a touchdown, but the Dutchmen had a 152-113 edge in total yards, the Engineers controlled a large majority of the second half. Union opened the second half by driving 59 yards on 11 plays, ultimately missing a 33-yard field goal. From that point on, RPI allowed only 47 passing yards and minus-8 rushing yards over the final 25:08. The Dutchmen had only six total first downs, two by penalty.

FOUR STRAIGHT
RPI's current four-game winning streak is its longest since the last contest of the 2008 season and the first three games of 2009. The Engineers last five-game streak was in 2008 when they won their first seven games to start the season.

RENSSELAER IN NON-CONFERENCE
The Engineers were 2-1 in non-league games, having defeated Norwich (37-0 on Sept. 5) and MIT (42-7 on Sept. 19) and losing at Alfred (32-20 on Sept. 12). Against the Saxons, RPI climbed back from a 26-4 deficit to pull to within 26-20 with the ball on the Alfred 25 yard line, but in the end the Saxons got the game's final score. 

COMMON OPPONENT
Rensselaer and Buffalo State have only one common opponent: Alfred. The Engineers lost to the Saxons 32-20 in Western New York in mid-September. The Bengals also lost at Alfred, 29-26 on September 19.

NCAA TEAMS
Both RPI and Buffalo State defeated a team that qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Engineers beat NEFC champion Norwich 37-0 in the first week of the season. The Bengals knocked off Empire 8 champion SUNY Cortland 29-21 in mid-October.

EIGHT WINS
With its win over Union last week, RPI now has eight wins, marking the first time since 2008 they have had as many. Rensselaer has now won eight games in a season 10 times, including four straight years from 1992 to 1995. The Engineers have won nine games twice (9-1 in 1997 and 1999) and 11 once (11-2 in 2003).

RPI IN ECAC BOWL GAMES
•1992: 28-25 Win at Bridgewater State (Most Outstanding Player: B. Grabowski)
•1993: 13-0 Win vs. Plymouth State (J.P. Peterson)
•1995: 69-12 Win vs. Worcester State (D. McGovern)
•1997: 14-13 Win at Worcester State (M. Robbens)
•2002: 55-29 Win at Worcester State (D. Cole)
•2005: 26-22 Win at St. John Fisher (J. Bernardo)
•2006: 26-7 Win at Cortland State (T. Rayhill)
•2008: 34-31 Win vs. Alfred (R. Davis)
•2010: 56-13 Loss at St. John Fisher (T. Bailey)
•2014: 42-36 OT Loss at Framingham State (K. Donahue)

YEAR-END HONOREES
In the past five years, Rensselaer has now had six major year-end award winners. Quarterbacks Jeff Avery (2015) and Mike Hermann (2011, 2012) were Offensive Performers of the Year and Andrew Franks (2013, 2014) and Austin Caswell (2012) were Special Teams Performers of the Year. Hermann had an extended free agent tryout with the San Diego Chargers and Franks is now the kicker for the Miami Dolphins.

ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT
Seven Rensselaer student-athletes have been selected to the 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Football Academic All-District™ 3 Division III Team. Those recognized were Johnny Ramsdell, Matt Lane, Jim Krecek, Seth Stauble, Teague Florio, Diego Cuitino and Connor McCrum. They are all now on the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Team ballot, from which first-, second- and third team National Academic All-America honorees will be selected later this month. The seven honorees are the fourth most of any school in all of college football.

LIBERTY LEAGUE WEEKLY AWARDS
Jeff Avery: Offensive Performer (Sept. 28 & Oct. 5)
Ryan Buss: Defensive Performer (Nov. 16)
Logan Gaddar: Special Teams Performer (Nov. 16)
Bryan Hayes: Defensive Performer (Oct. 19)
Philip Lanieri III: Defensive Performer (Oct. 26)
Johnny Ramsdell: Special Teams Performer (Oct. 19)
Nick Schlatz: Offensive Performer (Oct. 19)