Defense carried the Engineers; Fisher was forced to punt the ball nine times, including their first six possessions, and a last-minute drive by the Cardinals was stopped in its tracks, sealing the victory. The offense was less productive, despite excellent field position. Four times over the course of the game the Engineers cracked the Cardinals’ red zone but failed to come away with any points.

The first quarter was very quiet, with the teams exchanging punts most of the way. The only scoring threat came on a nine-play drive by the Engineers that started at their own 32. Dan Cole strung together a series of completions that set up a 33-yard run by Fullback Joe Prymas, taking RPI to the Cardinals’ 10-yard line. Three plays moved the ball seven yards, but RPI could not find the end zone on fourth down.

The Engineers fared better on their first drive of the second quarter, reverting to a ball-control offense that ground out yardage against a fairly porous Fisher defense. RPI took 14 plays to move 61 yards, finally reaching the end zone on a three-yard pass to Evan Cochran.

The Cardinals picked up a score after a botched fourth-down play by RPI put them in possession on the 50-yard line—their best field position of the day—with 2:24 left in the half. The Engineers forced a fourth-and-seven, but Fisher’s Greg Roland hit Dave Moyer with a 17-yard pass. The pair connected again two plays later from 23 yards out to put the Cardinals on the board with 12 seconds left in the half. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved the extra point attempt back 15 yards, and kick went wide, leaving the Engineers with a one-point lead at halftime.

The Engineers forced Fisher to go three-and-out to start the second half, and then picked up a 29-yard field goal by Matt Verenini on their possession to push their lead to 10-6. The Cardinals came right back with their best drive of the game, going 76 yards in 13 plays for another touchdown that gave them a 12-10 lead.

RPI provided Verenini with opportunities on the next three possessions as well, and he converted two of them, from 30 and 24 yards, to give RPI a 16-12 lead early in the fourth quarter.

The next two possessions for both sides resulted in interceptions—Cole’s were especially painful, as he was picked off in the end zone and on the Fisher three-yard line.

The Cardinals took control at their own two-yard line and fought out to the 11. With under five minutes remaining in the contest and no timeouts remaining, Paul Vosburgh, head coach for Fisher, decided to go for it. The run by Jason Meyers was stuffed by Jai Echols and John Menjik, and the Engineers took over at the opponents’ 11-yard line. The offense failed to pick up the touchdown in three tries, and Verenini’s 23-yard field goal attempt was wide left, giving the Cardinals one more chance with 1:38 left to play.

Roland hit Ricky Fauth with a 37-yard pass to get the Cardinals into Engineer territory, but the defense then hit receiver Matt Davis short of the first down on fourth-and-seven, putting an end to Fisher’s hopes of a comeback.

Menjik was the defensive star of the day, picking up 17 tackles, including four for a loss. Linebacker Marc Blevins was close behind him, racking up 16 stops and a sack, and Tim Westcott contributed three sacks to the defensive effort.