ITHACA, N.Y. – The nationally ranked No. 17/19 Ithaca College football team will conclude its Liberty League schedule on Saturday as the Bombers travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for a 12 p.m. kickoff at East Campus Stadium in Troy, N.Y. Ithaca, which is 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the Liberty, will look to get back into the win column after last week's setback to Union. RPI is 5-3 overall and 2-2 in league play.
GAME COVERAGE
WATCH | LISTEN | LIVE STATS | TWITTER UPDATES | GAME NOTES
STATISTICS
ITHACA | RPI | LIBERTY LEAGUE
ALL-TIME SERIES: Saturday will mark the sixth time that the Bombers and Engineers have faced-off. RPI leads the all-time series over Ithaca, 3-2, dating back to 1946. Ithaca comes into the game on a three-game losing streak against the Engineers and have not won in this matchup since 2001.
RPI has won the last three matchups between the schools, including a 10–9 win last season and a 27–14 win in 2017. The Engineers also edged the Bombers in an NCAA playoff game in 2003 by a score of 21-16.
UNION RECAP: The Bombers took their first loss of the season last week when they fell to Union by a score of 31-21. The Dutchmen, who were ranked No. 25, outgained the Bombers on the ground by 123 yards (223 to 100) and forced three turnovers as well as three turnover-on-downs. With the win, Union clinched the Liberty League and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Senior Joe Germinerio threw for 397 yards and two touchdowns on 38-of-60 passing, while rushing the ball nine times for 40 yards and a touchdown in the loss. Junior Andrew Vito had 12 receptions for 191 yards and two scores against Union last week.
ITHACA FALLS IN THE RANKINGS: The Bombers fell to No. 17 in the rankings according to D3football.com and 19th by the AFCA. This is the first time since Week 4 that the Bombers will not be ranked in the top 10.
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Ithaca remains one of the top DIII teams in multiple statistical categories. IC is fourth in passing offense (346.9 yards per game), fifth in first downs (213), eighth in completion percentage (68.4%) ninth in third down conversion percentage (52.3%) and punt return defense (1.4 yards), 13th in scoring offense (44.0), 17th in red zone offense (88.9%) and 18th in total offense (475.3 yards per game).
Individually, Germinerio is second in the country in completions per game (26.8), third in total offense (356.5), third in passing yards (2,629), passing yards per game (328.6), seventh in touchdowns (28), seventh in points responsible for per game (24.3) and eighth in completion percentage (70.3%).
Vito ranks sixth in receptions per game at 8.7, while senior Will Gladney is 10th in the nation in receiving touchdowns with 12.
Freshman Nicholas Bahamonde remains first in the nation in field goal percentage.
SCOUTING RPI: Quarterback George Marinopoulos, is the leader of the Engineers offense as he has thrown for 1,751 yards on the season as well as 18 touchdowns to six interceptions. He has completed 164 of 261 passes this season which is good enough for a 62.84% completion percentage.
The RPI offense has a tandem of running backs and receivers that rush the ball all over the field on any given play. Running backs Joe Scaglione and Dylan Burnett, lead the team in carries as they are both have over 50 on the season. Scaglione is up to 332 yards rushing on 62 attempts while Burnett has 293 yards on 51 carries this season.
Slot receiver Marc Meislahn, leads the team in rushing touchdowns with six, as no other player on the team has more than two rushing touchdowns on the year. He also has 270 yards receiving this season including one touchdown reception.
The RPI defense is led by senior linebacker John Sadak, who leads the team with 52 tackles in 2019. He also has an interception and a forced fumble on the year.
UP NEXT: The Bombers will travel to MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. next weekend to face off with SUNY Cortland. This will be the 61st annual Cortaca Jug Game between the two schools and will be a part of the National Football Foundation to celebrate the 150th season of college football in America. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. on November 16.