ROAD TRIP: Following three straight home games, the Engineers (4-1; 1-0 Liberty League) travel to Hobart College (4-1; 0-1 Liberty League) for a conference contest at Boswell Field at David J. Urick Stadium.
FIRST SINCE MID-SEPTEMBER: Rensselaer has played just one road game this season, a trip to Worcester, Mass., on September 14 ... The Engineers fell to WPI in the Transit Trophy Game, 6-3.
BACK IN NOVEMBER: RPI's next game at East Campus Stadium is November 2 when Buffalo State visits for a league game ... The Engineers have a bye on October 19 and travel to Canton to play St. Lawrence on October 26.
CONFERENCE ONLY: The Engineers have concluded with their non-league games for the 2019 regular season ... They were 3-1 in those games.
NON-LEAGUE GAMES: The Engineers are 24-8 in non-conference games in
Ralph Isernia's tenure ... Isernia is in his seventh year.
STATISTICAL LEADERS: Rensselaer is first in the league in four team categories, including rushing defense (61.6 yards per game), sacks against (3), sacks for (12) and point-after-touchdowns (22 for 22) ... Hobart is first in interceptions (10) and fewest penalties per game (37.4).
NOTHING IN COMMON: Though in the same conference, Rensselaer and Hobart do not have any common opponents to this point in the season.
ALL-TIME VS. HOBART: RPI and Hobart have played 62 times with Rensselaer leading the all-time series 31-30-1 ... The first meeting was October 15, 1910, a 6-5 Hobart victory in Troy.
RECENTLY: The Engineers defeated Hobart 31-24 on Family Weekend in Troy last season ... The Statesmen blanked Rensselaer 30-0 two years ago in Geneva ... RPI won the previous two meetings, 21-20 in 2015 and 21-17 in 2016 ... The Engineers are 5-5 in their last 10 contests with Hobart.Â
CLOSE CONTESTS: In the seven games between 2005 and 2011, Hobart outscored RPI by only 20 points (190-170) ... Six contests were decided by one score, including four games by three points or fewer ... The games in 2015 and 2016 were decided by a combined five points.
LAST 10 AT HOBART: In the last 10 meetings between RPI and Hobart in Geneva dating back to 1998, the Engineers are 4-6.
ALL-TIME ON THE ROAD: In 28 all-time meetings at Hobart, Rensselaer is 12-15-1.
IN LEAGUE PLAY: RPI is 11-13 in Liberty League play against the Statesmen ... The Engineers were 10-16-1 in ICAC games with Hobart ... They both competed in the ICAC from 1964 to 1990.
IN THE RECORDS: Rensselaer's 31 wins against the Statesmen rank third against any one school, trailing WPI (60) and Rochester (33) ... RPI has also beaten Union in 31 games.
OVERTIME: Rensselaer has played seven overtime games in school history and two have been against Hobart, both in Geneva ... The Engineers lost 36-35 in 1996 (Nov. 16) and were defeated 56-48 in 2005 (Sept. 24).
LAST SEASON: Four student-athletes scored touchdowns and the Engineers built a 24-3 second half lead on its way to defeating Hobart, 31-24 ... Rensselaer finished with 154 rushing yards, including 80 and a touchdown from
Nick Cella on 20 attempts, and 256 passing yards for 410 total ...
George Marinopoulos was 12 of 20 for 210 yards and two touchdowns with
Keaton Ackermann securing four receptions, including a TD catch, for 74 yards ...
Conor Davies caught three balls for 63 yards, while also rushing for 69 yards and a touchdown and picking up 66 return yards (59 on kickoffs) ...
Andres Guisasola and
John Sadak both had 12 tackles in the win with Guisasola collecting eight unassisted and one for a loss of one yard ... He also had a pass breakup.
IN 2018: Hobart scored 24 points in the second half while controlling the clock throughout on its way to a 30-0 win over the Engineers ... Running back
Mike Tivinis had 10 carries for 50 yards for RPI ... He was also the team's leading receiver with four catches for 33 yards ... Defensive back
Bryan Hayes made a game-high 15 tackles ... Defensive tackle Zackary Robak led the Statesmen with seven tackles, including one of the team's three sacks ... Almamy Conde added four stops, including a sack, with a fumble recovery and an interception ... Jedh Downey chipped in five tackles and an interception ... Quarterback Shane Sweeney led the offense, completing 29 of 45 passes for 297 yards and two touchdowns.
RPI LAST WEEK: The Engineers scored 24 points in the second quarter and held Rochester off the scoreboard throughout on its way to a 38-0 victory at East Campus Stadium.
DEFENSE LEADS: Rensselaer intercepted three passes and recovered two fumbles while holding the Yellowjackets to 131 yards of offense through three quarters and 210 in total on Saturday ... Junior defensive lineman
Magnus Wamble had a team-best nine tackles, including 0.5 sacks (2 yards lost) ...
Grant Tragni added six tackles, along with an interception.
BACK-TO-BACK: The Engineers posted their second straight shutout of Rochester after blanking the Yellowjackets 42-0 in 2018.
ON OFFENSE: RPI compiled 357 yards, including 238 and four touchdowns through the air from junior quarterback
George Marinopoulos ... Marinopoulos completed 25 of 37 yards for 242 yards and four touchdowns ...
Marc Meislahn had five catches for 55 yards and
Peter Lombardi had four for 46 ...
Joe Scaglione led the team's ground game with 40 yards on 10 attempts.
BALANCE: Eleven different Rensselaer players had at least one reception in last week's win over Rochester.
WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Three Engineers were named to the Liberty League Weekly Honor Roll based on their performances against the Yellowjackets ... Quarterback
George Marinopoulos, defensive lineman
Magnus Wamble and kicker
Sanjay Krishnan were all recognized ... They are all juniors.
LIBERTY LEAGUE OPENERS: Under head coach
Ralph Isernia, the Engineers are now 4-3 in their first conference games.
•38-0 win on Oct. 5, 2019 vs. Rochester
•10-9 win on Oct. 6, 2018 at Ithaca
•30-0 loss on Oct. 7, 2017 at Hobart
•20-14 loss on Sep. 24, 2016 at St. Lawrence
•28-21 win on Sep. 26, 2015 at WPI
•27-6 win on Sep. 27, 2014 vs. WPI
•27-14 loss on Sep. 28, 2013 at WPI
RARE TREND: Rensselaer posted scores of 38-0 in two consecutive weeks, having defeated Anna Maria by that score on September 28 ... Before beating the Amcats, the Engineers had never won a game 38-0.
SAME SCORE SHUTOUTS: RPI has had consecutive shutout wins by the same score three times: 11-0 vs. Stevens and at Carnegie Tech. in 1911; 12-0 vs. Union and Vermont in 1940; 38-0 vs. Anna Maria and Rochester in 2019.Â
HOBART TO DATE: The Statesmen, who are led by second-year head coach Kevin DeWall, began the year with a 33-7 win over nationally-ranked Brockport (56-7) ... They then defeated Morrisville State (38-24), Rowan (20-17) and Montclair State (16-3) before losing at Union last week (23-7) ... Three of Hobart's games have been played at home.
RECEIVING VOTES: Rensselaer and Hobart are among the schools receiving votes in the two Division III national polls ... RPI collected 14 points in the D3football.com ranking and 12 in the AFCA Poll ... The Statesmen, who were ranked No. 21 prior to a loss last week, garnered 19 and 24, respectively ... Defending national champion Mary Hardin-Baylor is first in both listings with Mount Union in second and Wisconsin Whitewater third.
SADAK HONORED: The ECAC has announced the Football Players of the Month for September 2019 and Rensselaer's
John Sadak has been chosen as the Division III North's top defensive player ... Through four games, the linebacker has helped the Engineers to three wins as the team's leading tackler ... He has 15 unassisted stops, 13 assisted tackles and 4.5 tackles for a loss of 13 yards - all first on the squad ... Sadak also has a 6-yard sack and 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 https://www.rpiathletics.com ... A free, live full production is available for the home games online at www.rpitv.org, thanks to RPI TV.