SEASON OPENER: The Engineers begin the 2019 campaign with a non-league home game against Allegheny College of the NCAC.

SECOND MEETING: Rensselaer and the Gators faced each other for the first time to start the 2018 season ... RPI won 40-19 in Meadville, Pa.

SEPTEMBER 1, 2018: 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 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 ... He finished with 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 ... Alex Victor (9 receptions for 245 yards) had touchdown receptions of 65 and 70 yards to pace the Gators.

FIRST OF 6 & 10: The Engineers are scheduled to play 10 regular season games ... Six of those will take place at East Campus Stadium. 

RECENT SEASON OPENERS: The Engineers have won nine of their last 10 season starters, including seven straight ... They are 18-2 in their last 20 with a 9-1 mark in 10 at home ... RPI's last loss in its first game when it was played in Troy came in 2000 against Plymouth State (24-10).

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

STINGY: Of RPI's last 20 openers, the defense has allowed 10 or fewer points in 16, including four shutouts.

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.

NEWCOMER: This is the first season in the Liberty League for Buffalo State ... The Bengals are an affiliate member and compete only in football.

NATIONALLY-RANKED: RPI is ranked 19th in the D3football.com Preseason Top 25 ... RPI received 152 votes, which is 10 behind 18th-ranked Wittenberg and 15 ahead of Centre ... 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.

TWO-DEEP BREAKDOWN: RPI has 50 unique individuals on the two-deep ... They include 16 juniors, 14 seniors, 14 sophomores and six freshmen.

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.

ALLEGHENY LAST SEASON: After losing the first game of the season to the Engineers in 2018, the Gators won three of their next four and eventually finished with a 6-4 mark ... Three of their losses came to nationally-ranked teams ... Allegheny, which has a new head coach in Rich Nagy, has nine offensive starters back, including the entire line, and seven defensive starters returning.