Shoes game should be a treat
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It's the last Shoes game that will be played at Rensselaer's '86 Field, as the Engineers will start playing at the East Campus Athletic Village in 2009. It's the last Shoes game for RPI senior quarterback Jimmy Robertson, who will be playing in his fourth rivalry contest. It's also the last chance the Union seniors will get to beat RPI in a Shoes game, as the Engineers have won the last two, including last year's game, a 24-19 victory, in Schenectady.
"I tell the younger guys just to enjoy it and try to soak it all in," said Robertson during a media event on Wednesday. "It's going to be a big crowd, a rowdy crowd and it's lucky that my last Shoes game will be at '86."
RPI is 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the Liberty League, and ranked No. 21 in the D3football.com Top 25 poll, while Union is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in league play.
Despite the cliche, records don't matter for this game.
"Even though we're still ahead, it could win or go home, so we need to play a good game on Saturday," Robertson said.
Some of the guys that will be on the field Saturday know this all too well. In 2006, Union was undefeated in league play at 5-0 coming into '86, and left with a blemish on the record. By contrast, Union was undefeated in 2005 coming into the game and was able to win a 49-42 shootout to keep the undefeated season intact and earn the Liberty League's automatic bid.
"This never gets old. Both teams have it circled on the calendar and it will always be close," Robertson said.
Union senior safety Kevin Rautenstrauch has been in this rivalry for four years as well.
"It's always been a great game, there's always been rowdy fans at both places," Rautenstrauch said. "It's the biggest game of the year. We've been frustrated since they've had our number the past couple of years."
The last four contests have been determined by a touchdown or less. The last one that was by a bigger margin was a 33-7 win by RPI in Troy in 2003.
"It's a great atmosphere and great to be a part of," Robertson said.
Rautenstrauch said he's been telling all the younger players to throw away whatever they know from their high school rivalries.
"There's so much passion and the teams are butting heads all day," he said. "We're getting their best and they're getting ours."
One last that gets a change this year is the one on the schedule. For the past few years, the RPI-Union game has been the last on the schedule, but this time, both teams have two games left after this one.
"It's a huge game, it doesn't matter when it's played," said RPI head coach Joe King. "This is as big as it gets. It's been more competitive now then in the past."
The Dutchman Shoes have been doled out since 1950, and while Union is 44-14 in the series, RPI is 6-5 in the last 11 contests in the series.
"We've talked about not having the trophy in our trophy case," Union coach John Audino said. "We're not trying to put pressure on the kids, but they know what's going on."
This year, Union has struggled a bit compared to past years. Audino wants to use this game as a springboard to avoid his first losing season in 17 seasons as the Dutchmen's head man. But he said that the team could be doing much better record-wise with a couple of breaks.
"We're just a couple plays away from being 5-1," Audino said. "We need to throw the ball deep, but we also need to be able to run the football too -- be closer to 50-50."
RPI goes for its third straight victory in the series, and if they can get it, it will be the first three-game winning streak for the Engineers in this game since 1957-59.
"It would just be unbelievable," King said. "It would be tremendous for our football program."
Audino said he doesn't want RPI to hold the trophy for the third year in a row.
"There have been a few times where each team has held it for two years, but we don't want them to get it the third time," Audino said.
The RPI offense will play a huge role in keeping the trophy in Troy. Robertson is 13th in the nation in total offense, only has one interception, and the Engineers are first in the league in passing, rushing and total offense.
"We've been riddled by the pass the past few years," Audino said. "We're not going to be able to shut them down completely, but we have to minimize the big plays and keep them out of the end zone."
Rautenstrauch, the team's leading tackler, and the rest of the defense will be called on to halt the high powered spread offense.
"I really like this team a lot," Audino said. "This team has progressed a lot on special teams, offense and defense. These kids don't quit."
After this, RPI still has to play Hobart and Merchant Marine, but King continues to stress the "one game at a time" mantra.
"We're not thinking ahead to any game past this one," King said. "We don't know what's going to happen. We have to be ready to play."
Running back Nick Costa, felled by a leg injury in the second half against Susquehanna, could play against Union, but King said he wasn't sure on Wednesday. Costa ran for 160 yards and a touchdown in last year's game. Bob Munier has played pretty well in Costa's absence.
"He's (Costa) one of the main reasons we beat Union last year," Robertson said.
Union comes off a bye, so they've had two weeks to heal up and prepare, while RPI comes right off the win against St. Lawrence.
"I'd rather have a bye week so we can get people healthy," King said. "We'd get two weeks to prepare, but we still need to be ready to play. It's just when the schedule falls."
The extra week to prepare for the rivalry might be better for Union, who have a freshman at quarterback in Andrew Connolly and a sophomore tailback in Chris Coney, the leading rusher in the Liberty League and 15th in the nation in yards per game.
Defensively, Khaly Merot leads RPI in tackles and will be one of the first lines of defense against the Union rushing attack
Audino summed up a lot of what the RPI-Union is all about.
"Strange things happen on any particular Saturday in this game," he said. "You never know what's going to happen."