GAMEDAY: The Engineers' final regular season game includes a trip to Schenectady to play Union in a Liberty League contest with the winner being presented the Dutchman Shoes Trophy.

FINALE FOR SHOES: The 2019 season is the eighth 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, 81-31-4 ... The last series break came in 1945, when the Dutchmen did not field a team due to World War II.

IN DISPUTE: RPI claims a 31-81-4 all-time record with Union, but the Dutchmen list their record as 82-30-4 against the Engineers ... Rensselaer claims an 11-4 win in 1886, while Union has a 4-0 score in its 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.

70TH EDITION: Rensselaer and Union have played for the Dutchman Shoes Trophy every year since 1950 ... The Engineers trail the series 21-48-0 ... 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 13-11 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 116 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 81 losses is first.

TWENTY POINTS: In the last 28 meetings between the Engineers and Dutchmen dating back to 1991, a total of 20 points separates the two teams with RPI winning 14 of those games with 577 points to Union's 14 victories and 597 points ... That is an average difference of 0.714 points per game.

HIGH OF FIVE: RPI had won five straight games against Union, the most consecutive victories for the Engineers in the 131-year history of the rivalry, prior to last season's game, which Union won 34-10. 

LAST 10: In the last 10 years, Rensselaer is 6-4 against Union ... The Engineers are 4-6 in the last 10 games in Schenectady, though they have won three straight contests at Frank Bailey Field.

LAST TIME IN SCHENECTADY: 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 secured 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 SEASON: Freshman Ike Irabor scored three touchdowns and the Union defense forced five turnovers as the Dutchmen defeated No. 14/14 Rensselaer 34-10 to gain possession of the Dutchman Shoes Trophy for the first time in six years ... After a Nick Cella touchdown run, Union answered immediately with Irabor scoring from a yard out and then took advantage of consecutive Engineers turnovers for a 13-point lead ... Cella carried 23 times for 115 yards and the touchdown and George Marinopoulos completed 18 of 38 passes for 193 yards ... Jack Hoggard finished with 11 tackles, including six unassisted and 1.5 for lost yards (2) ... He also had a 17-yard fumble return.

Score by Quarter 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - Total
Union 0 - 20 - 0 - 14 - 34
Rensselaer 7 - 0 - 3 - 0 - 21

COMMON OPPONENTS: RPI and Union have seven common opponents in Anna Maria, Hobart, Ithaca, Rochester, St. Lawrence, Buffalo State and Utica ... Union defeated each, while Rensselaer beat Anna Maria, Utica, Buffalo State, Ithaca and Rochester.

ENGINEERS LAST WEEK: Rensselaer scored on each of its first three possessions for a 21-0 lead and the Engineers were never challenged as they defeated No. 17/19 Ithaca at East Campus Stadium ... Quarterback George Marinopoulos was 16 of 18 for 175 yards and three touchdowns ... Marc Meislahn had five receptions for 90 yards and two scores, while Vinnie McDonald finished with 40 yards and a touchdown on two catches ... Senior linebacker John Sadak led RPI's defense with eight stops (3 solo), while classmate Grant Tragni, also a linebacker, made seven (4 unassisted).

SPREAD OUT: Nine different receivers caught passes and eight individuals carried the ball for the Engineers against Ithaca last week ... RPI had a 345-294 advantage in total offense ... The defense held the Bombers to only 46 yards rushing on 29 attempts.

LEAGUE AWARD: Amaechi Konkwo was named the Liberty League Defensive Performer of the Week after his performance against Ithaca ... The  junior defensive end had five tackles, including one unassisted and 0.5 for a 4-yard sack ... Two of his tackles went for a loss of 20 yards, he forced a fumble and had two pass breakups.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Junior quarterback George Marinopoulos (16 of 18 for 175 yards and 3 TDs) and classmate Sanjay Krishnan, a kicker (5 for 5 PATs, 33-yard FG), were both named to the Liberty League Weekly Honor Roll following their efforts against Ithaca.

HOME COOKING: With its win over the Bombers on Saturday, Rensselaer improved to 6-0 at East Campus Stadium this season ... The Engineers are 15-1 in their last 16 games in Troy over the past three years.

50 WINS AT RPI: Saturday's win was the 50th as head coach of the Engineers for Ralph Isernia ... He is now 50-25 through nearly seven seasons ... Rensselaer's all-time leader in coaching victories is Joe King, who retired with a 152-59-2 record ... King won his 50th game in his eighth season (50-22-2), though in one less game than Isernia.

SENIOR DAY: Prior to RPI's game against Ithaca, 16 members of the senior class were recognized, along with their families ... They were Maliek Kelly (SR), Joey Gutowski (S), Bryce Todd (SR), Marc Meislahn (SR), Tommy Avery (SR), Andres Guisasola (CB), John Sadak (LB), Jack Fallon (LB), Grant Tragni (LB), Alec Hazard (ROV), Isaiah Hall (LB), Jakob Grant (OL), Angelo Aita (WR), Sam Lednyak (DL), Damien Hall (DL) and Andrew Banaitis (DL) ... Six are offensive players and 10 play on defense ... Meislahn, Sadak and Tragni are the team's captains.

POST-SEASON ELIGIBLE: With its win over Buffalo State two weeks ago, RPI is once again eligible to compete in the post-season ... Rensselaer has played at least one game after the regular season ended every year since 2013 ... There have been three ECAC Playoff appearances (2014, 2015, 2016) and two NCAA Tournament trips (2017, 2018) ... RPI is 4-3 in that span.

GAME AFTER: The Engineers are 3-2 in games after a win in the previous game ... They are 2-1 following losses.

DUTCHMEN TO DATE: Union has won each of its games beginning with non-conference victories over Westfield State (42-7), Anna Maria (54-7) and Springfield (27-17) ... Five straight Liberty League wins over Hobart (23-7), Rochester (47-19), St. Lawrence (38-17), Buffalo State (28-14) and Ithaca (31-21) was followed by non-league win over Utica (13-7).

UNION LAST WEEK: Nationally-ranked Union got two field goals from Will Halpin and a three-yard touchdown run by Joe Ferreira in defeating Utica 13-7 at home ... The 13 points are the fewest Union has scored this season, while the seven points allowed marked the fourth time the Dutchmen held its opponent to a single touchdown.