RPI held Ithaca off in the first quarter and had the chance to get out to a big lead. After stuffing the Bombers on fourth-and-one to end a long drive, the Engineers moved the ball 51 yards to the Ithaca 11. The Bomber defense stiffened at that point, and Rensselaer had to settle for a field goal.

Mike Pawlowski intercepted Ithaca’s Greg Sheeler on the next play from scrimmage, once again putting RPI on the Bomber 11-yard line. RPI Quarterback Dan Cole was sacked on first down and followed that up with a couple of bad passes to bring out the kicking squad again. The kick went wide after a bad snap, leaving RPI with only three points to show for two trips into the red zone.

RPI’s next possession was another disappointment, with the Engineers keeping the ball for six and a half minutes but again failing to score. Furthermore, they left the Bombers with decent field position, and they immediately took advantage, reaching the end zone in six plays to take a 7-3 lead with five minutes remaining in the half.

The touchdown sparked the Bombers and they scored touchdowns on their next two possessions as well to go up 21-3 to start off the third quarter. The Ithaca run also brought their fans to life—though the game was held in Troy, Bomber fans outnumbered the home crowd, and taunts of “Overrated!” and “Bring on Rowan!” echoed throughout ’86 Field.

RPI nearly struck back on their next possession, stringing together three consecutive first downs. Wide Receiver Evan Cochran then came up with a beautiful 25-yard reception, but he was hit while trying to bull his way into the end zone and he coughed up the ball. Ithaca’s Mark McDonough recovered, ending the RPI threat.

The Engineers did score on the following drive—two long passes by Cole set up a three-yard run by Flynn Cochran. The extra point bounced through the uprights, pulling RPI within 11.

Ithaca retaliated quickly, marching the ball within three yards of the end zone before they were stopped. RPI had a chance to keep Ithaca off the board entirely when Jai Echols nearly picked off Sheeler in the end zone, but the ball slipped through his hands. Chris Pride made the chip-shot field goal for the Bombers, increasing Ithaca’s lead to 24-10 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.

The Engineers had to punt on their next possession, but caught a big break when Jim Sears downed the kick inside the Bomber one-yard line.

It did them no good, though, as the defense suddenly lost any ability to stop the Ithaca ground attack. The Bombers put together a staggering 17-play, 90-yard drive that ate up over seven minutes of clock time—12 of those plays were runs by Tommy Giorgio, who became the first player in Bomber history to have 100-yard rushing games in four different seasons.

In the end, the Engineers were able to hold Ithaca to a field goal, but that still left RPI down by three scores with 8:34 left in the game, and this proved to be too much to overcome.