Football | 10/5/2018 9:15:00 AM

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

BACK IN ACTION: Following a bye week, the Engineers return to the field to face Ithaca College in Central New York.

TOP 25 TILT: Rensselaer is off to a 4-0 start and ranked 20th in both the AFCA and D3football.com Top 25 polls ... Ithaca is 3-1 and ranked 23rd by D3football.com ... It is among the schools receiving votes in the coaches list.

LIBERTY LEAGUE MATCHUP: Saturday's contest is the first conference game for both the Engineers and the Bombers.

CO-CHAMPIONS: Rensselaer and Ithaca tied for the league title a season ago with identical 4-1 records ... RPI earned the automatic berth into the NCAA Playoffs based on its 27-14 head-to-head victory (Oct. 14).

2017 MEETING: RPI scored four touchdowns in the fourth quarter and the Engineers held Ithaca to -3 rushing yards while intercepting four passes in a 27-14 victory at East Campus Stadium ... Trailing 7-0 since the first series of the game, the Engineers put together a game-tying drive of 88 yards on 13 plays with George Marinopoulos finding Keaton Ackermann in the back of the end zone from seven yards out early in the fourth quarter ... The game remained tied until there was 3:56 left and it quickly became 21-7 for the Engineers with 3:39 remaining ... Maliek Kelly scored on a 6-yard sweep to finish a 4-play, 24-yard drive and Mike Tivinis ran up the middle immediately following a turnover for the 14-point lead ... Ithaca drove the ball 75 yards on 11 plays, capped by an 11-yard touchdown pass with just 36 seconds left to make it 21-14 ... DJ Stefonsky landed on a fumble in the end zone for the final tally. 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS: Rensselaer's defense forced five turnovers, led by senior Bryan Hayes, who made 11 tackles (4 solo) with 0.5 for lost yards (1), an interception, two pass breakups and a blocked field goal, last year against the Bombers ... George Marinopoulos, making his first career start, finished 19 for 32 for 161 yards and a touchdown ... Keaton Ackermann had five catches for 33 yards.

BY COMMITTEE: Eleven RPI players combined to rush for 112 yards last year against Ithaca.

ALL-TIME VS. ITHACA: RPI and Ithaca have played four times with each taking place in the Capital District ... The series is tied with Rensselaer having won the last two contests ... 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
Oct. 14, 2017^ Troy 27-14 W
* - NCAA Tournament Second Round
** - NCAA Tournament Regional Final
^ - Liberty League game

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 later 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 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.

SEPT. 22, 2018: In Rensselaer's most recent game, a 44-14 victory over Buffalo State in Troy, the Engineers totaled 501 yards of offense, including 343 rushing ... Senior running back Nick Cella led the Engineers with 131 yards on only 12 carries, including a 65-yard touchdown ... Freshman Joe Scaglione ran for 72 yards and a touchdown on eight carries and senior J.T. Kelly had 67 yards and a score on 11 attempts

ON DEFENSE: Jack Hoggard led all players with 13 tackles (2 unassisted), along with two pass breakups, and Luke Watanabe had eight stops (1 solo) in the win over Buffalo State ... Joey Gutowski had seven tackles with five unassisted and 2.0 for lost yards (6), as well as an interception with a 36-yard return.

NATIONAL RECOGNITION: Following RPI's win over Buffalo State, which featured 44 points on 501 yards of offense with 343 coming on the ground - all season-highs - the offensive line was recognized by being chosen to the D3football.com Team of the Week ... The unit included 11 different offensive linemen who had 22 knockdowns.

LEAGUE HONOR: The Liberty League named Joey Gutowski the Defensive Performer of the Week in football after his performance against the Bengals ... The junior defensive back had seven tackles, including five unassisted and 2.0 for lost yards (6), as well as an interception with a 36-yard return as Rensselaer defeated Buffalo State, 44-14.

NATIONAL LEADERS: The Engineers are tied for first in Division III with 12 interceptions ... Wisconsin-Oshkosh also has 12 picks. 

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Selected to the Liberty League Weekly Honor Roll following his performance against Buffalo State was senior running back Nick Cella (131 yards rushing).

HOME WINNING STREAK: RPI has won seven straight games at East Campus Stadium ... The Engineers were 4-0 last season with the most recent defeat coming to WPI (19-7) on October 22, 2016.

SCHOOL RECORD: Rensselaer's record for home winning streak is 10 games, which it accomplished from October 30, 1993 to October 7, 1995.

UNBEATEN: Rensselaer went 4-0 in its non-league slate ... It is the first time the Engineers had a perfect record since the 2013 team was 3-0.

NON-LEAGUE IN 2017: RPI's lone non-conference, regular season loss last season was at Buffalo State, 33-21, on September 23 ... The Engineers also fell at Wesley, a non-league opponent, but that was in the NCAA Playoffs (45-27).

OCTOBER 6: Rensselaer has played 16 games on October 6 and has a 7-9 record ... RPI is 6-2 at home and 1-7 on the road ... The Engineers have lost each of their last four games on October 6 with three of those being away from Troy.

TO DATE IN 2018: A 40-19 win at Allegheny on September 1 and a 25-14 win over WPI in the Transit Trophy Game put RPI's record at 2-0 ... The Engineers needed three overtimes at Utica to move to 3-0, defeating the Pioneers, 23-20, before dispatching Buffalo State, 44-14.

D3FOOTBALL.COM POLL: The Engineers are again listed 20th in the latest D3football.com Top 25 after being 25th (preseason), 24th, 21st and 20th ... Rensselaer earned 138 votes this week, which is 64 behind No. 19 Case Western Reserve and six in front of No. 21 Delaware Valley ... Ithaca has 79 points and is 45 behind No. 22 Whitworth ... It is 13 points ahead of No. 24 Muhlenberg.

HIGHEST SINCE 2008: Prior to this season, Rensselaer was last ranked as high as No. 20 in the D3football.com Poll in Week 9 of 2008 ... RPI was last inside the top 20 after Week 2 in 2004 when it was 17th.

AFCA TOP 25: RPI is ranked 20th in Division III, according to the latest American Football Coaches Association Coaches Poll ... Rensselaer is down one spot from the previous two weeks ... This season is the first that RPI has appeared in the AFCA Top 25 since 2008 when it was ranked 25th on November 11 ... It was No. 17 the week before (Nov. 4), No. 21 on October 28 and No. 22 on October 21 of that year.

ITHACA TO DATE: The Bombers began the season with a 38-14 victory over Saint Vincent College but then lost to No. 5 Brockport, 13-7 ... Ithaca has won its last two contests, defeating Alfred, 21-13, and St. John Fisher, 21-14 - both on the road.

UPCOMING: The Engineers are off next week and then host Hobart on October 20 on Family Weekend (12pm) ... Ithaca travels to Union for its next game, October 13 (1pm).

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 https://rpiathletics.com/sidearmstats/football/summary ... A free, live full production is available for the home games online at www.rpitv.org.