Robertson threw for all 259 passing yards the offense accumulated, and engineered five scoring drives, finishing with three touchdown passes, as RPI dismantled Utica 41-10. He was given the nod as Rookie of the Week in the Liberty League for his accomplishments.

“The coaches came out on Monday and said there would be open competition,” the rookie quarterback said. Robertson won the job, at least for this week, over junior Frank Catellier and Troy native Josh Chiappone, and was ready to prove he earned it. “I wanted to come out here and try to play my best.”

Utica, who defeated the Engineers last year 9-7, got on the board first with a field goal halfway through the first quarter. The Pioneers received great field position after a poor punt by Greg Goehle, and the defense made a good stand to hold Utica to three points.

But RPI would answer with a touchdown on their next drive, which gave them the lead for good. On a first-and-ten at midfield, Robertson hit receiver Brendan McGowan for his first varsity collegiate completion. Three minutes later, Robertson found McGowan again, this time in the end zone, putting the Engineers up 7-3.

“I’m surrounded by playmakers,” said a modest Robertson. “All I had to do was execute the game plan.”

After a quick three-and-out from the Pioneers, and a 26-yard punt return by Adam LoGiudice, Robertson picked up where he left off on the last drive. As time expired, Robertson completed his second touchdown pass, this one to tight end Jon Branche, for 34 yards.

“I got some confidence after that,” the freshman admitted. “It made me realize it’s just football out here.”

On the other side of the ball, the Engineers were just as efficient. On the Pioneers’ first play in the second quarter, Tom Rayhill forced and recovered a fumble on the Utica 30. Rayhill led the way defensively with seven tackles and two forced fumbles.

Bernardo, who had his coming-out party last week against Endicott College, punched the ball in from four yards out to increase the lead to 20-3. The senior running back was named to the D3football.com National Team of the Week last week, was the Liberty League co-Offensive Performer of this week, and added three more touchdowns to his season total on 132 yards during the contest.

“Having Jay makes my life so much easier,” Robertson stated. McGowan agreed. The sophomore wideout explained that Utica gave the receivers more cushion on the outsides this weekend as they tried to stop Bernardo from dominating like he did last week.

“We tried to take advantage of that.”

RPI came out with guns blazing in the second half, and started with an 81-yard drive en route to scoring 21 points in the third quarter. Penalties slowed the drive down deep in Pioneer territory, but Robertson maintained his posture, and on a third and eleven, hit McGowan on a crossing route inside the five. McGowan made a nice spin move and dove into the end zone for his second touchdown of the day.

“I thought he made good decisions, and showed good poise,” commented Head Coach Joe King about Robertson’s play. The rookie threw the ball away when he had to, didn’t force bad passes, and walked away with no turnovers on the game.

Bernardo ran for two more touchdowns in the third, the first coming off an option run from the 25-yard line. He had solid blocking ahead of him, and ran over a few defenders as he had done all day to get the ball across the plane.

The second was a two yard run set up by a great defensive play. Rayhill forced his second fumble of the day when he sacked Pioneer quarterback Nick Martin on Utica’s next drive. Lineman Honorio Borba picked up the ball at the 21-yardline and chugged his way to the two, coming up just short of the pylon.

The Engineer defense held Utica to 170 yards, including only 40 on the ground. The Pioneers never got a long passing play either, something that plagued the RPI secondary last season.

“Chad [Martinovich] has done a great job as defensive coordinator,” King said. “There is only one starter in the secondary from last year.” King also gave credit to offensive coordinator Pat DelMonaco for the Engineers’ success with such a young squad and young coaches.

The one lapse the Engineers experienced on Saturday was on special teams. Utica deep man Anwaar Muhammad broke free for an 86-yard return on a kickoff in the third quarter. Doug Teator caught him and brought him down at the one yard line, but the Pioneers punched in for their only touchdown of the day.

The Engineers (2-0) hope to carry some of the momentum they’ve gathered into next week’s league opener against Hobart (2-0), a team that King admits his squad has struggled against.

“Last year,” he simply put, “they embarrassed us.”