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KICKOFF: It is the Liberty League opener for Rensselaer (2-1) as it hosts St. Lawrence (3-0) at East Campus Stadium.

RECEIVING VOTES: Both the RPI (5) and SLU (40) received votes in the latest D3football.com Top 25 poll ... The Saints have the most points of those schools that are not ranked.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS: The Engineers and Saints tied for the 2015 Liberty League Championship with identical 6-1 records ... St. Lawrence earned the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs based on its 24-21 head-to-head victory over RPI.

ALL-TIME: Rensselaer and St. Lawrence have faced each other 61 times headed into Saturday's clash ... RPI won the first ever meeting, 14-0 in Troy on October 14, 1916, but is 26-33-2 (.443) in the series history against the Saints.

IN THE RECORD BOOK: RPI's 61 games against SLU are the fourth most against any one opponent … The 26 wins and 33 losses are both fifth in those respective categories.

STREAKS: After the Engineers went unbeaten in the first five games with SLU (4-0-1), the Saints won the next eight games from 1925 to 1961 and 22 of 23 contests with RPI from 1925 to 1982 ... Rensselaer is 21-11-1 since the 1982 meeting, including losses in each of the past three meetings. 

RECENTLY: The Engineers are 5-5 (.500) in their last 10 games with the Saints, including 4-1 in Troy in that span.

ALL-TIME IN TROY: In 33 home games against St. Lawrence, the Engineers are 18-14-1 (.561) with the last loss coming two years ago (Oct. 11, 2014).

STREAK SNAPPED: With its loss to SLU in 2014 (24-10), the Engineers saw a home winning streak of 13 games against the Saints, which dated back to November 8, 1986 (17-0), come to an end.

LEAGUE PLAY: RPI is 15-6 (.714) all-time against the Saints in Liberty League games ... The two programs were previously members of the ICAC, in which St. Lawrence held an 18-4-1 (.803) advantage in head-to-head conference matchups from 1964 to 1990.

COMMON OPPONENT: Rensselaer and St. Lawrence have one common opponent to this point in the season ... Both teams defeated Norwich, with the Engineers winning 31-17 on September 3 in Northfield, Vt., and the  Saints winning 52-0 in Canton the following week.

ENGINEERS LAST WEEK: On Saturday at Steinbrenner Stadium, the Engineers defeated MIT 31-10 behind a strong running game and forcing five turnovers ... MIT got on the board with 9:52 left in the first quarter, but Christian Kapp booted a 32-yard field goal of his own to tie the game at 3-3 with 4:55 on the clock ... MIT faced a third and long to open the second quarter, but RPI's Alexander Greenidge intercepted a pass and returned the ball 66 yards for a touchdown and a 10-3 RPI lead ... RPI took advantage of a fumble recovery at midfield early in the third quarter and turned that into a touchdown as Mike Tivinis scored on a seven-yard run with 8:24 on the clock ... RPI later intercepted MIT at the goal line for one turnover ... The visitors found the end zone just under five minutes into the fourth as sophomore Maliek Kelly scored from seven yards out for a 24-3 advantage ... After MIT cut its deficit to 14 points, RPI closed out the scoring with 2:56 remaining when Johnny Ramsdell scored from nine yards out.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS: RPI held a 243-141 advantage on the ground behind a 123-yard effort from Mike Tivinis ... MIT had the advantage in the passing game, 200-83, and owned a 19-18 edge in first downs ... Defensively, three RPI players finished with six tackles each, including DJ Stefonsky and Brendan Zotti with four solo stops each ... Zotti also had an interception and a fumble recovery.

HONORED: Junior kicker Christian Kapp was named the Liberty League Special Teams Performer of the Week following his performance against the Engineers ... In Saturday's 31-10 victory at MIT, he was successful on his only field goal attempt, a 32 yard effort that tied the game in the first quarter, and he went 4-for-4 on extra points ... Kapp also kicked off six times for 374 yards, a 62.3 yard average, with four touchbacks. 

ST. LAWRENCE TO DATE: The Saints have won each of their first three games with shutouts, outscoring their opponents 118-0 ... The Saints began with a 28-0 win over Morrisville before blanking Norwich, 52-0, and Endicott, 38-0 ... SLU is led by an offense that has run for 456 yards and passed for 866, while allowing only 177 and 356, respectively.

LAST YEAR VS. SLU: RPI scored 21 points in the second half but it was not enough to overcome a 24-0 halftime deficit and the Engineers fell to St. Lawrence, 24-21 ... SLU struck quickly with its scores to take a big lead at halftime ... The Engineers came out to start the second half with an 11-play, 83-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown run by senior Nick Schlatz ... The score remained 24-7 into the fourth quarter when the Engineers took a Saints punt - their fifth of the second half - at the SLU 39 and scored two plays later ... Jeff Avery hit Johnny Ramsdell from 14 yards and then found Joey Giacone from 25 yards for a score ... Another St. Lawrence punt gave RPI the ball on its own 33 yard line but Avery again led the team down the field, accounting for all 67 yards either passing or running the ball ... He and Ramsdell hooked up from two yards out to get the Engineers to within three points, 24-21 with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter ... RPI's onside kick was recovered by St. Lawrence, which ran out the clock ... Avery finished with 348 passing yards (24 for 47), two touchdowns and an interception - his first of the season ... His favorite target was classmate Logan Gaddar, who had nine receptions for 172 yards ...  Junior Alexander Greenidge led the Engineers' tacklers with 11 stops, including nine unassisted ... Teague Florio had seven tackles (5 solo) with an interception.

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.

UPCOMING: Rensselaer is on the road next Saturday, traveling to the Rochester for a noon kick ... The Engineers then host Hobart on October 8 at 1pm.