For the fifth year in a row, the Engineers have fallen to Hobart College’s ruthless defense and precision offense. Last year RPI took them into triple overtime, looking for the elusive win. With victory so close you could smell the sweat in their last attempt, the team came in prepared with high expectations of a triumph they would not find.
It could have been a different day completely if some of the referee decisions had gone their way. “We didn’t get too many calls,” said Head Coach Joe King. Several questionable calls that broke RPI’s momentum early were the nails in the coffin for the team this week. After a Hobart player on the sideline broke up a clean pass from sophomore quarterback Jimmy Robertson, the referees refused to call a sideline infraction. “I’ve never seen that before in my life!” said an exasperated King.
It took three and a half quarters for the formerly 24th ranked Engineers to score their first touchdown in their home opener. With just over six minutes left in the game and Hobart switched over to Base defense to give their offense a break, senior Jay Bernardo forced his way across the line for the score and made this the 13th straight game he has run for a touchdown.
Just last week, the second-year captain had four touchdowns and was unstoppable in the win over Utica College. He was selected as Liberty League Offensive Performer of the Week and named to D3football.com’s National Team of the Week.
Although at one point Hobart was ahead 17-3, the Engineers still put on a good show, bringing the final score to 24-17 when Robertson sent an 11-yard pass to senior tight-end Jon Branche with 2:20 on the clock. Robertson finished the day with 228 yards and 20-of-34 passes completed. “That’s one thing, the kids won’t ever quit, they’ll always, always, always play hard, and that’s credit to the kids,” said King of RPI’s last ditch-effort.
Key mistakes proved to be fatal for the struggling Engineers, as the Hobart team capitalized on nearly everything they could get their hands on. Even the invincible Bernardo saw a football sent flying from his hands. This just proves that preseason All-Americans are human too. Anyone can make mistakes. “You gotta give credit to #38; I had two hands on the ball, he just put his helmet right on the ball and it just came out. There’s no excuse for that, you make mistakes though you strive for perfection—you can’t get it but you strive for it,” mused Bernardo.
Forced turnovers were rampant on the soggy field—in fact, a Hobart turnover led to RPI’s first score, a 37-yard field goal in the middle of the second by senior Drew Taranto. Three of Rensselaer’s four turnovers led to touchdowns.
The mistakes were insurmountable against a well-trained and aggressive Hobart. “You can’t get down like that to a good team and expect to do anything,” said a frustrated King. “Everybody’s human—over the years we’ve taken a lot of pride not turning the ball over … but you’re not going to beat anyone doing that [four turnovers].”
“That’s the worst part, they come in here and own this place,” summarized King.
Bernardo summarized, “This is not a game that was going to make or break our season, [but] it was important. We have to play catch-up now.”
Bernardo and the team host Becker College this Saturday at 1 pm on the ’86 Field, where Rensselaer will be looking for their first home win of the season.
