Football | 11/9/2018 8:04:00 AM

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

REGULAR SEASON FINALE: No. 14/14 Rensselaer (8-0; 4-0 Liberty League) finishes the regular season with a rivalry game against Union (6-2; 2-2 Liberty League) on Senior Day ... The Engineers will recognize 24 student-athletes who have worn the Cherry & White throughout their tenures in Troy in a pre-game ceremony.

WHAT'S AT STAKE:
•Liberty League Title: A Rensselaer victory gives the Engineers the conference's outright championship ... An RPI loss means it is co-champions with Ithaca for the second straight year ... Rensselaer's last outright conference title came in 2007 (6-1).
•Dutchman Shoes Trophy: A Rensselaer victory allows the Engineers to keep the coveted Dutchman Shoes Trophy in Troy for the sixth straight season.
•Undefeated Record: RPI has gone undefeated and untied in the regular season twice in school history: 1999 (9-0) & 2001 (8-0) ... The Engineers were 7-0-3 in 1911.
•Home Game?: With a win, RPI is likely to earn the right to host an NCAA First Round game next Saturday, November 17.
•School Record: Rensselaer has won nine straight home games dating back to 2016 ... The school record for home winning streak is 10 games, which it accomplished from October 30, 1993, to October 7, 1995.

UPCOMING: Rensselaer has clinched at least a tie for the Liberty League championship and the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs, which begin next Saturday.

SECOND STRAIGHT: The Engineers have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history ... RPI's previous appearances came in 1999, 2001, 2003 & 2007.

POST-SEASON STREAK: Rensselaer is playing in the post-season for the fifth straight season ... The Engineers played in ECAC Bowls in 2014, 2015 and 2016, going 2-1, and in the NCAA Playoffs in 2017 (0-1).

NATIONALLY-RANKED: RPI is ranked 14th in the nation according to the latest American Football Coaches Association Poll ... It is the highest the Engineers have been on that list since being 13th on October 30, 2007.

D3FOOTBALL.COM POLL: The Engineers are 14th in the latest D3football.com Top 25 ... It is the highest Rensselaer has climbed since finishing the 2003 campaign ranked fifth.

LAST HOME LOSS: The Engineers' most recent home loss was to WPI on October 22, 2016, 19-7.

SHOES FINALE: The 2018 season is the seventh straight that Rensselaer and Union play in the last week of the regular season ... The two schools played in the middle of the year between 2008 and 2012.

NEW YORK STATE'S OLDEST RIVARLY: Rensselaer and Union have been playing each other in football since 1886, which makes it the oldest college football rivalry in New York State at any level ... The Dutchmen lead the all-time series, 80-31-4 ... The last series break between Rensselaer and Union came in 1945, when the Dutchmen did not field a team due to World War II.

IN DISPUTE: RPI claims a 31-80-4 all-time record with Union, but the Dutchmen list their record as 81-30-4 against the Engineers ... Rensselaer claims an 11-4 win in 1886, while Union has a 4-0 score in their favor ... Rensselaer's books show a 5-4 RPI win in 1888 while Union has no record of that game ... Union's archives show the Dutchmen won two games in 1901 but Rensselaer's records have only one game played that season, an 18-0 Union win.

SHOES TROPHY: Since 1950, RPI and Union have played for the Dutchman Shoes Trophy with the Engineers trailing in the series, which has pitted the two teams every season since, 21-47-0 ... The trophy features a wooden base, with two clogs mounted on a small pedestal, with one painted red with a white letter "R" and the other garnet with a white letter "U".

IN THE LEAGUE: RPI is 13-10 all-time against Union as members of the Liberty League ... The Dutchmen held a 5-0 record against the Engineers while both schools competed in the ICAC.

SCHOOL RECORDS: The 115 meetings with Union are the most against any one opponent for Rensselaer ... RPI's 31 wins is tied for the third most against any one school, while its 80 losses is first.

FOUR POINTS: In the last 27 meetings between the Engineers and Dutchmen dating back to 1991, a total of four points separates the two teams with RPI winning 14 of those games with 567 points to Union's 13 victories and 563 points ... That is an average of 0.148 per game.

HIGH FIVE: RPI has won five straight games against Union, the most consecutive victories for the Engineers in the 131-year history of the rivalry. 

LAST 10: In the last 10 years, Rensselaer is 7-3 against Union ... The Engineers are 8-2 in the last 10 games in Troy.

LAST SEASON: Rensselaer's defense allowed only 245 yards of offense - just 28 rushing - and forced four turnovers as the Engineers defeated Union, 20-14, in the Dutchman Shoes Trophy Game at Frank Bailey Field ... The win gave RPI the coveted trophy for the fifth straight season as well as securing the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs ... RPI jumped out to a 10-0 first quarter lead, but fell behind 14-13 at halftime ... The Engineers scored the only points of the second half when George Marinopoulos threw the go-ahead score from 15 yards out to Keaton Ackermann with 5:19 left in the fourth quarter ... RPI's defense held Union to just 62 yards of offense - 13 rushing, 49 passing - in the final 30 minutes.

Score by Quarter 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - Total
Rensselaer 10 - 3 - 0 - 7 - 20
Union 0 - 14 - 0 - 0 - 14

LAST TIME IN TROY: Mike Tivinis rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns to lead Rensselaer to a 21-12 victory over Union ... The Engineers had 373 rushing yards, led by Tivinis, who had a three-yard touchdown run with five minutes remaining in the second quarter to cap an 11-play, 81-yard drive that put RPI ahead ... He added a 14-yard score in the third quarter for a 14-0 lead ... John Costello added 76 yards on the ground ... Delano Munoz Whatts returned the second half kickoff 52 yards to the Union 35 to set up RPI's second TD ... Rensselaer's Alexander Greenidge had a team-best 14 tackles.

Score by Quarter 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - Total
Union 0 - 0 - 6 - 6 - 12
Rensselaer 0 - 7 - 14 - 0 - 21

COMMON OPPONENTS: RPI and Union have four common opponents in Hobart, Ithaca, Rochester and St. Lawrence ... Rensselaer defeated each, while Union beat St. Lawrence and Rochester.

ENGINEERS LAST WEEK: Senior Conor Davies scored a pair of touchdowns and the RPI defense held St. Lawrence to only 19 yards rushing as the Engineers defeated the Saints, 27-20, to clinch the Liberty League title and the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Playoffs.

ALL-PURPOSE: A wide receiver, senior Conor Davies caught a team-best six passes for 67 yards, including a 13-yard TD, and rushed six times for 53 yards and a three-yard touchdown – all out of the Wildcat – while spelling quarterback George Marinopoulos in last week's win over St. Lawrence ... Davies also had 67 return yards on four kickoffs.

ON OFFENSE: George Marinopoulos threw for 386 yards and two touchdowns with passing plays of 71, 65 and 64 yards – to three different receivers in last week's win over St. Lawrence ... He finished 17 of 30 with an interception, along with his career-best in yards ... Freshman Peter Lombardi had two catches for 93 yards, sophomore Vinnie McDonald caught two passes for 82 yards and senior running back Nick Cella caught three passes for 78 yards. Cella also ran a game-best 18 times for a game-high 60 yards.

ON DEFENSE: Junior linebacker John Sadak paced a balanced attack with nine tackles, including four unassisted and 0.5 for lost yards (1), along with two pass breakups versus SLU ... Jack Hoggard had eight stops (6 solos) with two pass breakups and Andres Guisasola made seven tackles (1 solo) with a PBU. RPI finished with 10 pass breakups and four sacks, including two from sophomore Amaechi Konkwo.

KRISHNAN HONORED AGAIN: For the third consecutive week, sophomore Sanjay Krishnan has been selected as the Liberty League Special Teams Performer of the Week ... The kicker earned this week's honor after he was successful on both of his field goal attempts and each of his three point-after-touchdown tries in a 27-20 win over St. Lawrence ... Krishnan's first field goal came from 25 yards away in the second quarter, giving RPI a 17-8 lead, before he made a 31-yarder  early in the third quarter to increase the advantage to 20-8 ... While kicking off, he averaged 53.8 yards on six attempts (323 total yards).