ROAD TRIP: Rensselaer makes its first (of 4) road trips on Saturday when it travels to Worcester, Mass., for the Transit Trophy Game against long-time foe WPI ... Kickoff is 2:30pm at Alumni Stadium.

LONG-TIME RIVALS: RPI and WPI have played every year since 1947, making this season the 73rd consecutive meetings ... The 57 games from 1947 through 2003 were non-league contests ... The games from 2004 to 2016 were Liberty League matchups.

LEAGUE FOES: Rensselaer and WPI were league foes for 13 seasons (2004-16) ...  RPI was 9-4 in conference games against the Engineers.

RPI VS. WPI ALL-TIME: Saturday's game against the Engineers is the 113th 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, 60-47-5.

IN THE RECORD BOOK: Rensselaer's 112 all-time meetings with WPI are the second most against any one opponent, trailing only Union (116) ... RPI's 60 wins over the Engineers rank first against a single foe ... Rensselaer's 47 losses is second (80 to Union).

IN WORCESTER: In 55 all-time meetings in Worcester, Rensselaer is 25-28-2 versus WPI ... In the last 10 meetings in Massachusetts, dating back to 1999, the Engineers are 8-2.

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, 26-12-1.

RECENTLY: RPI defeated the Engineers last season 25-14 and is now 60-47-5 all-time against WPI ... RPI is 6-4 in its last 10 contests with WPI, including 4-1 in the last five ... WPI won the 2016 meeting 19-7 in Troy ... RPI last lost in Worcester in 2013 (27-14).

LAST SEASON: George Marinopoulos threw three touchdown passes, two to Nick Smith, and the defense intercepted four passes as Rensselaer retained the Transit Trophy with a 25-14 victory over WPI on September 8.

EARLY LEAD: Rensselaer jumped out to a 19-0 lead against the Engineers ... WPI battled to within one score (19-14) before RPI got back on the board.

PICK SIX: John Sadak had an interception with a 28-yard return for a touchdown to put Rensselaer ahead by 11 (25-14) in last season's meeting.

DEE-FENSE: In addition to its four interceptions against WPI, the Engineers added a pair of sacks (8 yards lost) and six tackles-for-lost yards (16) ... Jack Fallon had a team-high 10 tackles, including five unassisted, 0.5 for lost yards (1) and a pass breakup.

LAST WEEK: Rensselaer began the 2019 campaign with a 52-14 win over Allegheny in Troy, while WPI defeated Worcester State at home, 51-0.

RPI VS. ALLEGHENY: Senior Marc Meislahn scored two 1-yard touchdowns and junior George Marinopoulos threw two touchdowns and ran for one as No. 19 Rensselaer defeated Allegheny 52-14 in a non-league game ... Meislahn, a slot receiver who missed nearly all of 2018 due to an injury, helped RPI to leads of 7-0 and 38-7 ... He finished with seven yards rushing along with 46 receiving yards on three catches ... Of Rensselaer's 502 yards of total offense, 356 came through the air with Marinopoulos connecting for 276 yards and two scores (1 & 19 yards) on 23 of 35 passing ... He had a 1-yard touchdown on the ground. 

DISTRIBUTION: RPI had 11 different pass catchers and 10 different rushers against the Gators ... Defensively, 29 Engineers had a hand in at least one tackle.

ON DEFENSE: Senior John Sadak led the Engineers in tackles with eight, along with an interception, while classmate Joey Gutowski had seven stops.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL: Chosen to the Liberty League's Weekly Honor Roll for their performances against Allegheny were George Marinopoulos, John Sadak and junior kicker Sanjay Krishnan (7 for 7 PATs, 34-yard FG).

RECENT SEASON OPENERS: The Engineers have now won nine of their last 10 season starters, including eight straight.

UNDER COACH I: Rensselaer has won each of its seven season openers under head coach Ralph Isernia.

WPI VS. WORCESTER STATE: The backfield of Sean McAllen (78 yards, 1 TD) and Connor Field (117, 2 TDs) accumulated nearly 200 rushing yards and three touchdowns as host WPI opened with a 51-0 win over city-rival Worcester State ... McCann led the receivers with 42 yards on three catches ... Austin Pesce chipped in with an 89-yard punt return for a score for the Engineers, who led 34-0 at halftime ... WPI amassed 460 yards to WSU's 147 with the largest margin on the ground (294-43).

ANOTHER SHUTOUT: With its blanking of the Lancers, WPI has now posted shutouts in seven of its last 22 games dating back to the 2017 season opener.

EXTENDED SEASON: The Engineers extended their 2018 season with a bid to the NCAA Tournament following a Liberty League championship ... For the second straight season, RPI won a tiebreak with Ithaca based on a head-to-head win over the Bombers.

SECOND MOST: Rensselaer finished 2018 with a 10-2 mark after advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals ... The 10 wins are the second most in school history and the third round of the playoffs is the second farthest the program has advanced ... The 2003 team was 11-2 and played in the NCAA Semifinals.

IN THE RECORD BOOKS: The 357 pass attempts by George Marinopoulos in 2018 is tied for second in school single season history ... His 2513 yards is fifth ... RPI's 4300 yards of total offense is third ... Sanjay Krishnan's 12 field goals and Zac Montrief's 2275 punting yards are also third ... Senior Conor Davies set the program record for kick return attempts (34) and kick return yards (735) in a season ... Davies extended his career punt return yardage record to 822.

ANOTHER POST-SEASON: RPI has played in the post-season in five straight years ... It is 4-3 in seven contests.

ON OFFENSE IN 2018: The Engineers averaged 145.1 rushing yards, 214.7 passing yards and 27.0 points ... They scored at least 40 points three times and had 500-or-more yards of offense twice.

RUNNING THE BALL: RPI rushed for 1741 yards in 2018 with 404 of those coming from returners ... Sophomore Joe Scaglione had 263 yards and is the top back back.

THROUGH THE AIR: Of Rensselaer's 2559 passing yards last season, junior George Marinopoulos had all but 46 of them.

DEFENSIVELY IN 2018: RPI held the opposition to 105.2 rushing yards and 18.2 points per contest last year.

ALL-LEAGUE RETURNERS: RPI has five student-athletes on its roster who were All-Liberty League a season ago ... Amaechi Konkwo (DL), John Sadak (LB) and Zac Montrief (P) were on the First Team ... Kicker Sanjay Krishnan was on the Second Team and defensive lineman Antonio Rogliano was an Honorable Mention.

COACHING STAFF OF THE YEAR: Head coach Ralph Isernia led the Liberty League Coaching Staff of the Year in 2018, a repeat honor after earning the same recognition in 2017.

POST-SEASON TEAM REOGNITION: RPI was named the ECAC Division III Team of the Year after being ranked 11th in the final 2018 D3football.com Poll and 12th by the American Football Coaches Association.

FAVORITES: Rensselaer sits atop the Liberty League Preseason Coaches Poll after collecting 32 points, including four first-place votes ... The Engineers are a point ahead of Ithaca, which garnered one first-place vote and 31 total ... Hobart (26) is third, followed by Union (25), St. Lawrence (15), Buffalo State (12) and Rochester (6) ... The Statesmen and Dutchmen both received one first-place vote.

NATIONALLY-RANKED: RPI is ranked 19th in the D3football.com Top 25 ... RPI received 173 points, which is four behind 18th-ranked Centre and 11 ahead of Wheaton (Ill.) ... Fellow league member Ithaca (24th) is also ranked ... Mary Hardin-Baylor, the defending national champion, is first with 624 points.

LEADING THE WAY: Selected to lead Rensselaer as captains are seniors Marc Meislahn, John Sadak and Grant Tragni ... Meislahn is a slot receiver, while Sadak and Tragni are both linebackers ... Tragni also plays extensively on special teams, including as the team's long snapper.

WELCOME BACK: Rensselaer returns 11 starters from 2018, including four on offense, five on defense, the kicker and the punter ... In total, 65 student-athletes return from last year's squad.

NEWCOMERS: The Engineers welcome 50 newcomers to the team ... In addition, four seniors return after missing either all or most of 2018 due to injury ... Receivers Maliek Kelly, Marc Meislahn and Delano Munoz Whatts are back, along with offensive lineman Jakob Grant ... Meislahn and Grant both played one game as season ago, while Kelly and Munoz Whatts have not suited up since 2017.

OFFENSIVE UNITS: Of the 11 offensive starters, four are seniors, two are juniors, three are sophomores and two are freshmen ... The second unit includes three freshmen, each on the offensive line, three sophomores, three juniors and two seniors.

DEFENSIVE UNITS: The 11 defensive starters are seven seniors and four juniors ... The second unit features a freshman, four sophomores, five juniors and a senior.

ON SPECIAL TEAMS: Both the starting kicker and the starting punter are juniors ... Punter Zac Montrief has started the past two seasons, while kicker Sanjay Krishnan is in his second year as a starter.