Notes | Live Video (RPI TV) | Live Audio (WRPI) | Live Stats | Tickets

THE KICKOFF: The Engineers return to East Campus Stadium for the second time this season, hosting the Engineers of MIT in a non-conference matchup.

FIRST MEETING: Today's game is the first ever meeting in football between RPI and MIT ... This is the second time in four games the Engineers are facing a new opponent ... They met Framingham State for the first time in the ECAC Championship Bowl a season ago.

POST-SEASON IN 2014: Both RPI and MIT played in the post-season a year ago ... The Engineers from Troy played in the ECAC North Atlantic Bowl, while their counterparts qualified for the NCAA Playoffs for the first time in program history, advancing to the second round.

SEASON TO DATE: RPI is off to a 1-1 start after opening with a 37-0 over Norwich and losing at Alfred 32-20 last Saturday ... MIT is 0-2 with losses to WPI (31-28) and Becker (37-26) ... Both of the Engineers' games were road contests.

RPI VS. NORWICH: The Engineers scored 35 first half points, while the defense held Norwich to just 14 yards and one first down in the opening two quarters, and the Engineers went on to defeat the Cadets, 37-0 ... RPI scored three touchdowns on the ground and two through the air as five different student-athletes found paydirt ... Rensselaer's attack featured 120 rushing yards on seven carries for sophomore Mike Tivinis ... Eleven others also carried the ball out of the backfield ... Jeff Avery completed 14 of 19 passes for 208 yards and the two scores ... Defensively, the Engineers held the Cadets to under 100 yards in both rushing (62) and receiving (92) ... They had three sacks (21 yards lost), seven tackles for lost yards (31) and six pass breakups ... Mark Grimes finished with five stops including three unassisted, a six yard sack and a forced fumble.

RPI AT ALFRED: Rensselaer 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 and defeated the Engineers, 32-20 ... Trailing by 22 points a minute into the second half at a rainy Yunevich Stadium, RPI eventually pulled to within six points with 6:23 to play ... Rensselaer got the ball at their own 43 yard line, drove to the Alfred 25 but was pushed back to the Alfred 37 before having to punt on fourth and 22 ... The Saxons took over and ended up scoring a touchdown ... Jeff Avery finished with 111 yards and two touchdowns on 14 of 34 passing for RPI ... Mike Tivinis ran for a team-high 64 yards ... Defensive lineman Malik Joseph led all tacklers with 11 stops including seven unassisted and 0.5 for lost yards (1) ... Alexander Greenidge had 10 tackles with five unassisted and one for a loss of 18 yards.

SAFETY FIRST: Last week's game at Alfred had four safeties including three on the Saxons that resulted in six points for RPI.

TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS: RPI has forced at least one safety in each of the first two weeks.

RPI OFFENSIVE STAT LEADERS: Senior quarterback Jeff Avery has thrown for 319 yards, completing 28 of 53 passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions ... Sophomore Mike Tivinis is first on the team in rushing with 184 yards on 28 attempts, while RPI is led in catches by senior Logan Gaddar, who has six receptions for 77 yards with one touchdown ... Junior Joey Giacone has four catches for 71 yards and a score.

DEFENSIVE STAT LEADERS: Junior defensive lineman Malik Joseph has a team-high 16 tackles with nine unassisted ... Classmate Alexander Greenidge, a linebacker, has 13 stops (6 solo) ... Junior Ryan Buss leads the Engineers with four tackles for lost yards (8), while senior Anthony Pilla has 1.5 sacks (10 yards lost) ... Senior Teague Florio has a team-best three PBUs. 

FAMILIAR FACE: MIT is led by seventh-year head coach Chad Martinovich ... He was an assistant coach and coordinator at RPI prior to heading east to Cambridge ... Martinovich joined the RPI staff in 2004 as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach ... He then became defensive coordinator, helping the Engineers rank first in the Liberty League for three straight years while the team qualified for the NCAA Playoffs in 2007 ... RPI also won an ECAC Bowl Championship three times.

MIT STAT LEADERS: Senior quarterback Danny Callahan has taken all the snaps for the Engineers ... He has completed 32 of 60 passes for 388 yards and four touchdowns ... He has been intercepted four times ... Adis Ojeda is the top rusher with 239 yards and two touchdowns on 41 attempts ... Seve Esparrago is the leading receiver with nine catches (95 yards), while Karson Ota has 140 receiving yards (4 catches) ... Ota has two touchdowns and Esparrago has one ... Tremaan Robbins has a team-best 18 tackles (12 solo).

UPCOMING: RPI is on the road next week, traveling to WPI to face the Engineers in the Liberty League opener and Transit Trophy Game ... Kickoff is at 1pm in Worcester.

FOLLOW THE ACTION: All Rensselaer football games are aired live on WRPI, 91.5 FM, and on the Internet at www.wrpi.org ... All home games feature live statistics at http://www.sidearmstats.com/rpi/football/ ... A free, live full production is available for the home games online at www.rpitv.org.