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HOME OPENER: The Engineers host their first home game with the Engineers of WPI visiting ECAV Stadium for the Transit Trophy Game ... It is a non-league affair.
 
LONG-TIME RIVALS: RPI and WPI have played every year since 1947, making this season the 72nd consecutive ... The 57 games from 1947 through 2003 were non-league contests ... The games between 2004 to 2016 were Liberty League matchups.
 
RPI VS. WPI ALL-TIME: Saturday's game against the Engineers is the 112th meeting between the two schools, dating back to November 3, 1894 ... Rensselaer fell to WPI, 4-0, in that first game ... The all-time series is led by RPI, 59-47-5.
 
IN THE RECORD BOOK: Rensselaer's 111 all-time meetings with WPI are the second most against any one opponent, trailing only Union (115) ... RPI's 59 wins over the Engineers rank first against a single foe ... Rensselaer's 47 losses is second (79 to Union).
 
TRANSIT TROPHY: After the 1979 contest it was decided by the athletic directors of both schools to create a trophy for this long-standing rivalry ... A transit was chosen because both schools have engineering curriculums ... The Engineers from Troy lead the Transit Trophy series, 25-12-1.
 
LEAGUE FOES: Rensselaer and WPI were league foes for 13 seasons (2004-16) ...  RPI was 9-4 in conference games against the Engineers.
 
RECENTLY: RPI defeated the Engineers last season, 36-14 ... Rensselaer is now 6-4 in its last 10 contests with WPI, but only 2-2 in the last four in Troy, including a 19-7 loss in 2016.
 
ALL-TIME AT HOME: Rensselaer has hosted WPI 56 times and has a 34-19-3 mark for a .634 winning percentage.
 
SHUTOUTS: In the 111 times it has played WPI, RPI has blanked the Engineers in 21 games with the most recent coming in 2006 (26-0) ... Rensselaer has been blanked 19 times, but not since 1965 (13-0).
 
LAST SEASON: Rensselaer's Ed Trimpert amassed 234 yards on 11 for 17 passing and five touchdowns and Sean Egan accounted for three of six WPI turnovers as RPI reclaimed the Transit Trophy with a 36-14 victory at Alumni Stadium... Mike Tivinis ran for 88 yards on 13 chances as Trimpert connected with five different receivers ... Brandt Beck totaled 10 tackles, including two for-loss and a pick, and Paul Marinan had two stops for lost yards ... Blake Rice threw for 272 yards on 29-of-48 attempts with a pair of scores ... Connor Field led the WPI rushers with 51 yards on 13 attempts and Corey Coogan paced the receivers with 65 yards on six receptions ... Sam Casey, Nick Ostrowski and Lou Garcia each made six stops in defeat.
 
LAST WEEK: Both RPI and WPI played to victories in week one with Rensselaer defeating Allegheny, 40-19, and WPI beating Anna Maria, 54-0 ... Both teams played on the road.
 
RPI AT ALLEGHENY: Senior Rob Law scored two rushing touchdowns and another receiving, compiling 141 yards in total, and the defense forced six turnovers to lead No. 25 Rensselaer to a 40-19 victory over Allegheny ... Law, a running back, carried the ball six times for 57 yards with scores of 30 and 14 yards, and had 84 receiving yards with a 71-yard touchdown ... As a receiver, he had three catches ... Rensselaer's defense had four interceptions, including an 89-yard pick-six by senior DJ Stefonsky for a 23-10 lead with 9:24 left in the third quarter ... John Sadak, Rory McCarthy and Sean Egan had the others ... Senior Jack Hoggard led the team in tackles with 12, including seven unassisted and two for lost yards (4) ... Egan added nine stops (5 solo), a forced fumble and a pass breakup and McCarthy made seven tackles (4 solo) with an eight-yard sack, a fumble recovery and the interception.
 
HONORED: Following a 40-19 victory at Allegheny, Rensselaer's Sean Egan and Conor Davies earned weekly awards from the Liberty League ... Egan, a senior cornerback, was the co-Defensive Performer of the Week and Davies was the Special Teams Performer of the Week ... Egan finished with nine tackles, including five unassisted and 0.5 for lost yards (1), a forced fumble, an interception with a five-yard return and a pass breakup ... Davies returned five kickoffs for 169 yards with three going for more than 40 yards ... He had returns of 19 yards (to the RPI 29-yard line), 46 yards (midfield), 43 yards (Allegheny 43), 16 yards (RPI 23) and 42 yards (Allegheny 44).
 
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Named to the Liberty League Weekly Honor Roll was Rob Law, a senior running back.
 
THREE TDs: Rob Law's three touchdowns on Saturday marked the first time an Engineers player had three scores since Logan Gaddar caught three TDs against Merchant Marine on October 3, 2015.
 
NATIONALLY-RANKED: With its win on Saturday, RPI is now ranked 24th in the D3football.com Poll ... The Engineers were 25th Preseason Top 25, having received 49 votes, which was just three behind 24th-ranked Franklin and Marshall and eight ahead of Springfield ... Mount Union, the defending national champion, is first.
 
ON SEPTEMBER 8: The Engineers have played four games on September 8 in program history, winning each.

STARTING STREAK: The Engineers have now won each of their last seven season openers and 17 of their last 18 ... RPI has won its last eight season openers that have taken place in Troy, dating back to 2002.
               
UNDER COACH I: Rensselaer has won each of its six season openers under Ralph Isernia ... The Engineers have gone on to be 2-0 twice.
 
LEADING THE WAY: Selected to lead Rensselaer as captains are seniors Danny Calabro, Aaron Castillo, Sean Egan and Jack Hoggard ... Egan was a captain last season, while the others are each in their first years in the role ... Calabro (wide receiver) and Castillo (offensive line) play offense, while Egan (defensive back) and Hoggard (linebacker) play defense.
 
NEU TABBED: Senior offensive lineman Chris Neu, a tackle, has been selected to the D3football.com Preseason All-America Second Team ...  He helped the Engineers average 177.7 rushing yards, 167.7 passing yards and 29.2 points ... Rensselaer, which allowed just 20 sacks, was first in the Liberty League in rushing offense and second in scoring offense ... As a junior, Neu was All-Liberty League First Team, All-ECAC Second Team, D3football.com All-East Region Third Team and the team's Offensive Lineman of the Year.
 
WELCOME BACK: Rensselaer returns 16 starters from 2017, including eight on offense, seven on defense and the punter ... In total, 75 student-athletes return from last year's squad.
 
NEWCOMERS: The Engineers welcome 45 newcomers to the team, including three seniors ... Running back Bryce Todd, who began his career at Rensselaer before transferring to Hofstra for two years, is back ... T.J. Kelly and Quinn Fettig, both of whom are All-Liberty League lacrosse players, are playing their first seasons of college football.
 
EXTENDED SEASON: The Engineers extended their 2017 season with a bid to the NCAA Tournament following a Liberty League championship ... RPI won a tiebreak with Ithaca based on a head-to-head win over the Bombers ... Rensselaer traveled to Wesley, where it lost, 45-27.
 
FIRST SINCE 2007: The Engineers' NCAA appearance a season ago broke a 10-year drought in the national post-season ... The previous game was in 2007.
 
ANOTHER POST-SEASON: By winning the league championship last year, RPI has now played in four straight post-season contests, winning half.
 
WPI LAST WEEK: Juniors Sean McAllen and Nic Rossi both scored a pair of touchdowns as WPI defeated Anna Maria 54-0 on Friday night ... Junior quarterback Julian Nyland racked up 335 yards and three touchdowns on 20 of 23 passing, as well as 43 yards on five carries, and zero interceptions ... Senior Erik Fyrer led the receivers with 134 yards on eight receptions and a score ... Junior Brendan Chipman followed with 102 yards on a trio of catches and McAllen rushed for a game-best 59 yards ... Defensively, senior Luca Cerasani amassed six tackles, including 1.5 for lost yards and junior Stephen Lauro rolled up five solo stops ... Sophomore Aaron Whitehouse collected 45 yards on two interceptions.
 
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.