5-0. In a big day for the Engineer offense, the RPI football team scored four first-half touchdowns en route to a 35-14 Homecoming win to remain perfect on the year. That victory—the team’s fifth straight to open the season—over the Susquehanna University Crusaders on the ’86 Field leaves the Engineers atop the Liberty League and nationally ranked at number 25.
“Susquehanna is a good team and we had to play a good, solid game to beat them,” said Head Coach Joe King. The contest was also the only time that the Engineers and Crusaders will meet on the ’86 Field. “For me, that was motivation enough to not let them get a win in the only game they get to play on that field,” said graduate student Nick Casale.
Senior quarterback Jimmy Robertson connected with senior wideout Eren Savasli on a pair of touchdown passes midway through the first quarter to give the Engineers a lead that they would not relinquish for the entirety of the game. First, Savasli reeled in a deep ball from Robertson and ran down the right sideline for a 61-yard score. After the Crusaders fumbled the following kickoff, the Engineers needed just five plays for Savasli to find the end zone on a slant route from five yards out.
“They left me in single coverage … it was just a simple slant that Jimmy put the ball right on the money, right where it needed to be. Pretty simple catch,” said Savasli.
Susquehanna responded on the first play of the second quarter: Dave Paveletz capped off a 92-yard drive by breaking free for a 12-yard rushing score on fourth down, cutting the score to 14-7.
That was as close as Susquehanna would get. On the next Engineer drive, sophomore runningback Nick Costa scored up the middle on a five-yard run to restore RPI’s lead to 14 points. Costa scored his second on the day with just 22 seconds to play in the half from one yard out to cap off a big first half for the Engineer offense and leave the team with a 28-7 lead.
The Engineers scored touchdowns on four of six first-half drives, as Robertson led RPI with 277 passing yards in the first 30 minutes. Both Savasli and junior wide receiver Patrick McCarthy topped the 100-yard mark in receiving in the half, and the Engineers put up 350 yards of total offense to the Crusaders’ 145.
“When you have protection like that from the O-line, it makes it easy to sit back there and pick apart the defense …” said Robertson. He pointed out that the offensive line did not give up a sack in the game.
“Everyone has the ability to make plays, to go up and get the ball,” said Savasli of the Engineers’ receiving corps. “You can’t key in on just one receiver.”
Bob Munier scored on a seven-yard carry to push the lead to 35-7 in the fourth quarter, and the RPI defense held through the rest of the game. The Crusaders’ lone score of the second half came off a blocked punt when under four minutes remained in the game.
“We’re getting better week by week. D-line did a pretty good job stopping the run,” said Casale. He noted that RPI held Paveletz to just 76 rushing yards after he ran for 288 a week earlier.
Robertson finished with 354 yards through the air to go along with his two touchdown strikes, and the Engineers grinded out 159 yards on the ground. Overall, RPI outgained the Crusaders 513-301.
There was one major thing that the Engineers will look to improve on: “We had too many penalties,” said King. RPI was flagged 13 times for a total of 153 yards, numbers they will look to reduce in future contests.
The Engineers now turn their attention to the winless St. Lawrence University Saints, who are 0-3 in the Liberty League and 0-6 overall. RPI will travel there this Saturday for a 1 pm game as it looks to win its sixth straight to open the season. While RPI defeated the Saints 28-10 on the ’86 Field last season, the Engineers had trouble in their last trip to St. Lawrence. The Saints overcame a 38-21 deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 42-38 win over the visiting Engineers in that contest.
“We have to stop the run. D-line: We’ve got to pressure the quarterback. That will definitely put our secondary in position to make some plays back there, because those guys are talented. They’re definitely capable of doing that,” said Casale.
“This is the most important game of the year, like Coach King always says. The game we’re playing is the most important game, and we have something special going right now, so we can’t lose focus,” said Robertson.
RPI’s next home game will be November 1 against Union College in the Dutchmen Shoes Trophy Game.
