Football | 10/13/2017 7:12:00 AM

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

GAMEDAY: The Engineers return to East Campus Stadium for the first time since September 16 with a Liberty League contest against Ithaca College ... It is Reunion & Homecoming Weekend on campus.

SILVER ANNIVERSARY: Among the celebrations for Reunion & Homecoming is the 25th anniversary of the first Rensselaer football team to qualify for the post-season, the 1992 squad ... That team played in the ECAC Northeast Bowl, defeating Bridgewater State, 28-25, behind Brandon Grabowski ... The quarterback, Grabowski was the Most Outstanding Player after throwing for a touchdown and rushing for two others.

1992 GAME-BY-GAME:
Sept. 19 at Coast Guard 14-12 W
Sept. 26 Upsala 31-8 W
Oct. 3 WPI 28-14 L
Oct. 10 at Siena 26-6 W
Oct. 17 at Union 23-8 W
Oct. 24 Marist 26-17 W
Oct. 31 at Rochester 38-21 L
Nov. 7 St. Lawrence 33-7 W
Nov. 14 at Hobart 28-0 W
Nov. 21 at Bridgewater State 28-25 W

TEN YEARS AGO: The 2007 RPI football team, which played in the NCAA Tournament, is being celebrated on its 10th anniversary.

2007 GAME-BY-GAME:
Sept. 8 Endicott 34-10 W
Sept. 15 Utica 24-0 W
Sept. 22 at Hobart 35-31 W
Sept. 29 at Susquehanna 37-14 W
Oct. 6 St. Lawrence 28-10 W
Oct. 20 Merchant Marine 41-3 W
Oct. 27 at WPI 21-14 OTW
Nov. 3 Rochester 25-21 L
Nov. 10 at Union 20-14 W
Nov. 17 TCNJ 17-14 L

SINCE LAST IN TROY: The 2017 Engineers have played two road games while also having its bye week since its last home game.

HOME SUCCESS: Rensselaer is 2-0 at home this season, having outscored its opponents, 76-14. 

NEW LEAGUE FOE: Ithaca is in its first season as a member of the Liberty League ... The Bombers have never played at East Campus Stadium.

ALL-TIME SERIES: RPI and Ithaca have played three times with each of them taking place in the Capital District ... The Bombers lead the all-time series, 2-1 ... Two of the meetings were NCAA Playoff contests.
Oct. 26, 1946 Menands 17-6 L
Nov. 24, 2001* Troy 27-10 L
Dec. 6, 2003** Troy 21-16 W
* - NCAA Tournament Second Round
** - NCAA Tournament Regional Final

OCT. 26, 1946: Ithaca scored two touchdowns and added a safety for a 17-6 win ... Art Beard, a captain, put RPI in front with an 88-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, but the visitors tied it in the third ... Ithaca scored again in the fourth with an interception returned for a touchdown while also adding a safety.

NOV. 24, 2001: Following a Rensselaer field goal, Ithaca scored three straight touchdowns and controlled the clock on its way to victory ... RPI, which was playing its first-ever NCAA Second Round game after earning the top seed and a first round bye, saw running back Flynn Cochran rush for 34 yards and a touchdown while his brother, Evan, a wide receiver, made nine catches for 147 yards ... Marc Blevins had 16 tackles (9 solos) and an interception and Ed Petkovsek added 12 tackles (5 solos) and a forced fumble.

DEC. 6, 2003: Playing for the first time ever in the month of December, Rensselaer scored on long pass plays on its first two possessions and held off the visiting Bombers in a game played in blizzard-like conditions ... Quarterback Dan Cole recorded 268 yards passing and three touchdowns while wide receiver Pat Hughes had 12 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown ... Jon Branche added four receptions for 82 yards and two scores ... Dylan Cooper led the defense with a game-high 11 tackles.

RPI TO DATE: Rensselaer got off to a 3-0 start, but has dropped its last two games ... The Engineers have four more games after facing Ithaca with three being on the road.

LAST WEEK: Hobart scored 24 points in the second half while controlling the clock throughout on its way to a 30-0 win over the Engineers ... Senior running back Mike Tivins had 10 carries for 50 yards for RPI ... He was also the team's leading receiver with four catches for 33 yards ... Senior defensive back Bryan Hayes made a game-high 15 tackles.

GAME 4: Buffalo State scored 24 unanswered points and limited Rensselaer to register a 33-21 come-from-behind victory ... After trailing 21-9 after the first half, Buffalo State forced a turnover on RPI's opening possession and took control of the game from there ... The Engineers jumped out to an early 14-0 lead, taking advantage of a pair of big plays to set up touchdowns ... Ed Trimpert finished 7 of 20 for 151 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions ... Keaton Ackermann caught three passes for 67 yards with a pair of touchdowns ... Nick Cella was the leading rusher with 38 yards on seven carries with a touchdown ... Bryan Hayes led the defense with 11 tackles.

GAME 3: Junior Nick Cella ran for 98 yards and a touchdown and two others had rushing touchdowns for RPI, which defeated Western New England, 31-14, in Troy ... Cella had game-highs of 20 carries and 98 yards to lead Rensselaer, which had 242 yards and three scores out of the backfield ... Nine different players had positive rushing yards, including senior Ethan Wells, who contributed 57 yards and a 9-yard touchdown on 17 carries. ... Maliek Kelly added nine yards with a 6-yard score ... Bryan Hayes led all players with 13 tackles (6 solo) and a pass breakup ... Jack Hoggard had nine stops (4 solo) and a fumble recovery and defensive lineman Diego Cuitino made seven tackles (2 solo).

GAME 2: Junior Ed Trimpert amassed 234 yards on 11 for 17 passing and five touchdowns and senior Sean Egan accounted for three of six WPI turnovers as RPI reclaimed the Transit Trophy with a 36-14 victory in Alumni Stadium ... Senior Mike Tivinis ran for 88 yards on 13 chances as Trimpert connected with five different receivers ... Senior linebacker Brandt Beck totaled 10 tackles, including two for loss and an interception ... Paul Marinan also had two stops for loss.

GAME 1: RPI gained 493 yards of offense while holding William Paterson to 51 yards, including only seven through the air, in defeating the Pioneers, 45-0, in the season opener for both teams ... Rensselaer jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first possession when Tivinis scored at 11:50 of the first quarter ... Following a Rory McCarthy interception, Ed  Trimpert hit Rob Law from four yards out just over two minutes later for a 14-0 edge ... Ethan Wells scored his first of two touchdowns with 3:14 to play in the first quarter and Christian Kapp kicked a 23-yard field goal as time expired in the first half ... RPI added 14 points in the third quarter, including a 45-yard touchdown pass from Trimpert to Pat Etter, and one in the fourth.

OPTIONS: The Engineers have had 14 different players carry the ball out of the backfield and seven of them average at least four yards per carry ... Eleven players have at least one pass reception and seven have at least one receiving touchdown.

DEFENSIVE DEPTH: A dozen Rensselaer players have double-digit tackles and half of them have at least 20 stops ... A total of 32 players have one tackle or more.

SCOREBOARD: Senior kicker Christian Kapp leads the team with 25 points, followed by Ethan Wells (18), Johnny Ramsdell, Nick Cella and Rob Law (12 each).

RETURN RECORD: Junior Conor Davies has 14 punt returns for 185 yards this season and now has a school-record 592 punt return yards in his career ... He set the school single season mark in 2016 (407).

ITHACA TO DATE: The Bombers began the season against No. 21 Alfred and lost to the Saxons - who RPI plays next week in Western New York - 20-17 ... Ithaca then traveled to No. 25 Brockport and fell, 31-0 ... The Bombers have since won three straight games, all in the Liberty League ... They beat St. Lawrence, 24-13 on the road, Hobart, 24-21 at home, and Rochester, 46-6 on the road.