A couple important plays early in the game jump-started the team and it never looked back. Junior quarterback Jimmy Robertson first found freshman receiver Eren Savasli on a 50-yard pass in the midst of a risky double fake reverse. The play was set up when senior Tom Rayhill forced a fumble. “I was glad I was able to force the fumble in the first quarter to give the team some momentum,” he said. “We started off kind of slow and I think that helped get things rolling.”

“A few big pass plays on offense, especially the first TD to my man E [Savasli], and great defense all game helped us come away with a big win,” said Robertson.

Next was RPI’s first punt return for a touchdown since November 10, 1973. In a school record 85-yard punt return, sophomore Tim Acker returned the punt to put RPI up 13-0 at 13:15 in the second quarter. Acker also returned a second punt return for an 82-yard touchdown later in the quarter and he finished with four returns for 195 total yards. He was tabbed as Special Teams Performer of the Week by the Liberty League for his outstanding game. “Big plays were key to this game. Tim’s two punt returns really ignited our team,” said Robertson. “Tim Acker is such a special player—he can do it all. One week he has three sacks and two interceptions and then he does this—two punt returns for TD’s. Not many people can say they have that in a career. He is one of the most complete players I have ever played with.”

“Big plays. Big plays are what got us started on Saturday and we continued to make them all game,” said Savasli. The long touchdown off the fake reverse gave us some momentum and then Tim Acker followed with two big punt returns.”

“When you return a punt for a touchdown for the first time in 34 years, you really get going,” he continued. “Every player and coach was ecstatic after those two returns and you could see that there was no way we were going to let up.”

A 30-yard field goal by the Mariners put them on the board but it hardly mattered as Robertson and Savasli connected again to put RPI up 20-3 moments before Acker returned the punt and made it 27-3.

“Obviously our special teams played a huge role in this game. We dominated them in all aspects of special teams and it really helped us shut them down,” said Rayhill. “Tim Acker had a terrific game. Having someone return two punts for touchdowns in a game is really something special. It was a combination of Tim’s athleticism, great coaching and great blocking that made those two returns possible.”

Sophomore Mike Fil pulled in a 31-yard pass in the third quarter; Robertson’s third of the day to make it 34-3. Robertson finished with 304 yards before senior Josh Chiaponne took over. “Jimmy did a great job finding the open receivers throughout the game,” said Savasli. “He allowed us to make big plays all game and two of us finished with over 100 yards for the first time this season. The receivers slogan since the year began has been ‘Ballin’. We lived up to that phrase on Saturday with the big catches and blocks we made all game.”

Freshman Patrick McCarthy caught a 23-yard pass in the end zone for the final score of the day.

On the defensive side, the Engineers made seven sacks for a loss of 35 yards. The squad held the visitors to just 210 yards on 75 plays for a measly 2.8 average yards per play. Both sophomore Tom Montano and senior Anthony Casale each recorded a team-leading nine tackles. The Liberty League rewarded Casale by naming him Defensive Performer of the Week, making his second league award. He has helped the defensive unit hold its opponents for an average of 51.0 yards rushing this season.

As the team continues its run at the Liberty League Championship, it still has a lot of work to put in. “Many teams would love to be in our position,” said Robertson. “[But] we have to continue to work hard and improve in order to keep it going.”

“I think that our team needs to play more consistently if we want to continue our undefeated season,” said Rayhill.

The next weekend will see the Engineers travel to Worcester, Mass. for a game against Worcester Polytechnic Institute. “At 6-0, 4-0 in the Liberty League we are right where we want to be,” said Brendan McGowan. “The defense played excellently again Saturday just as they have all season. We are still trying to get better and WPI poses a new challenge. We hope to return to Troy with the Transit Trophy.”

“The Transit Trophy game is going to be a dogfight,” said Rayhill. It’s always tough to play at WPI. This is the biggest game of the year for them. Being ranked nationally, we have a bulls eye on our backs and teams are going to have extra motivation to try and knock us off. We need to have a great week of preparation in order to play well against them this weekend.”

“WPI is a tough team, especially at their place. Keeping the Transit Trophy in Troy is important to us and if we play our game then we feel that will happen,” said Robertson.

“The word this week will be ‘Transit’. You get excited to play anytime you have a chance of going 7-0 but doing that while winning a trophy game is