GAME #6 - BUFFALO STATE BENGALS AT RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE (RPI) ENGINEERS
Saturday, Oct 14, 2023 - 1:00 PM
ECAV Stadium - Troy, NY

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THE MATCHUP... Buffalo State has back-to-back road games for the first and only time this season, as the Bengals get set to travel to Troy for a showdown against the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Engineers. This is only the seventh meeting of the sides, with RPI having won four straight, and five of the previous six matchups.

THE BENGALS' LAST GAME... Host Hobart scored 31 unanswered points in the second quarter, and took advantage of six Buffalo State turnovers, to take control in a 45-21 victory.
     Getting his first career start at quarterback, Amir Cameron (Brooklyn, NY/James Madison) had one passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns. Ale Wilson (Bronx, NY/KIPP College Prep) rushed for 77 yards on 19 carries. Evan Cervantes (Cicero, NY/Bishop Ludden) led the Buffalo State defense with 14 tackles, including one for loss, and also recovered a fumble, while Kenneth Mosley (Buffalo, NY/Kenmore West) had his first career interception.  
     Hobart needed just five plays to open the scoring on their first drive, which ended with a Johnny Colombi five-yard quarterback keeper with 12:37 remaining. Buffalo State responded with a 15-play, 77-yard scoring drive that took up over nine minutes of game clock without a passing attempt by Cameron. On fourth down and goal, Cameron was able to sneak over the goal line to knot the score at 7-7 after Nick Sciandra's (N. Tonawanda, NY/N. Tonawanda) extra point.
     Mosley intercepted a pass with a leaping grab three plays into the next Hobart drive, but Buffalo State could not capitalize as Sciandra's 47-yard field goal attempt fell short.
     Early in the second quarter, Buffalo State appeared to have great field position after a botched Statesmen punt attempt, but a late illegal substitution penalty nullified the big play. One play later, Hobart scored on a incredible one-handed catch by Ahmad Crowell, who raced untouched to the endzone for a 14-7 Hobart lead. On the Bengals' next drive, a failed exchange between Cameron and Wilson in the backfield led to a 31-yard scoop-and-score by Mike McGhee.  
     Anthony Bowman (Lockport, NY/Lockport) fumbled on the kickoff, which was recovered by Hobart at the 18-yard line. The Statesmen capitalized on the great field position three plays later, as Rayshawn Boswell's two-yard touchdown run gave Hobart a 28-7 advantage. Buffalo State went 3-and-out on the next drive, and Tobias Wefering's 26-yard field goal made it 31-7. Another Bengals 3-and-out led to a Rane Daramola 43-yard touchdown reception with 43 seconds left in the half to make it 38-7 at halftime.
     Cameron was intercepted by Anthony Romano on the first Buffalo State drive of the second half, and the pick was returned to the 12-yard line. Three plays later, Hobart was back in the end zone on an Edward Taylor nine-yard rushing score.
     Buffalo State got another touchdown on a one-yard quarterback keeper with 2:06 remaining in the third quarter after a nice catch by Tariq Nelson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) set the Bengals up at the one-yard line. After the Bengals' defense forced punts on back-to-back Hobart drives, a 25-yard touchdown pass from Cameron to Julian Maloney (Buffalo, NY/West Seneca West) with 5:23 remaining in the fourth quarter made it 45-21.
     The Bengals recovered Sciandra's onside kick, but Cameron was intercepted for the third and fourth times of the game on the last two Buffalo State drives to halt any hopes of a comeback.

LAST TIME WE MET... The visiting Engineers built an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter, while the Bengals were able to narrow the gap to 14-7 with a second quarter pick-six, but were never able to get closer as the RPI won 42-14.
     Darion Jones (Buffalo, NY/Hutch Tech) led the Bengals' receiving unit, hauling in four passes for 75 yards and his first career touchdown. Ethan Biscaro (Batavia, NY/Batavia) had his first two interceptions of the season, including one returned for the first touchdown of his career to lead the Bengal defense.
     The Bengals punted on each of their first two possessions, while RPI was unable to get anything going on its first drive. RPI's second drive covered 55 yards over eight plays and ended with a Dylan Burnett 16-yard rushing touchdown.
     The next Bengal drive resulted in a pick-six for RPI's Carlos Davis, a 30-yard score to give the Engineers a 14-0 lead before the end of the first quarter.
     Neither team found much success in the second quarter until Buffalo State's Biscaro returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown with just under three minutes remaining in the first half. The Bengals trailed 14-7 at halftime.
     RPI added two more touchdowns in the third quarter to push its lead to 28-7, including a 6-yard touchdown reception for Shane Allison after the Bengals turned the ball over on downs.
     Dameon Ming added a 3-yard dash to the endzone midway through the fourth to increase the Engineers' lead to 35-7. The Bengals responded with a 5-play, 58-yard drive, capped off by a 38-yard touchdown grab for Jones from Cam Sionko.
     RPI's Joshua Ahrens ended the scoring with an 8-yard rushing touchdown with just over one minute remaining in the game.

BLAST FROM THE PAST... The Buffalo State offense scored early and often, while the defense allowed the fewest yards of total offense in school history in a 62-0 rout of Finlandia in Game #6 of the 2015 season. 
     The Bengals racked up 335 rushing yards, and tied a program record with six rushing touchdowns. Antoine Holloman finished with 99 yards on nine carries and a touchdown, Tre Jones had 94 yards on seven attempts with two scores, and Dale Stewart rushed four times for 59 yards and a touchdown.
     Andrew Cleveland and Marquis Artis each had a pair of sacks and five tackles to lead a defensive front that held Finlandia to 24 yards of total offense, and -32 yards rushing, both program-best marks.
     Rey Jordan became the first player in school history to return two interceptions for a touchdown in the same game, scoring on pick-sixes of 42 yards and 27 yards.

KNOCK IT DOWN... Defensive back Michael Lastique (Far Rockaway, NY/Midwood) is tied for the Liberty League lead, and is ranked 31st nationally, with 1.5 passes defended per game. 

GO FOUR IT... After going 2-for-2 last weekend against Hobart, Buffalo State has now converted 8-of-13 fourth down attempts. The Bengals' .615 conversion percentage is the second-best mark in the conference. 

QUEST FOR 1,000... Through five games, Ale Wilson sits at 501 rushing yards. His 106.0 rushing yards per game average tops the conference, and keeps him on pace to become the first Bengal 1,000-yard rusher since Rich Pete in 2014.

SCORING ON DEFENSE... Basiaka Butcher (White Plains, NY/Valhalla) is the first Bengal to return two interceptions for touchdowns in the same season since 2015, when Rey Jordan recorded two pick-sixes in the same game against Finlandia. 

GETTING STOPS... The Buffalo State defense is second in the conference in opponent 3rd down conversion percentage this season, allowing just a 35.6% success rate.

BEHIND THE LINE... Nicholas Moore's (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo Academy of Science) 3.0 sacks are tied for the Liberty League lead this season, while his 5.5 tackles for loss are the second most in the conference. 

DUAL-THREAT QB... Amir Cameron became the first Bengal quarterback to record two rushing touchdowns in the same game since Kyle Hoppy had a pair of scores on the ground against Hartwick in 2016.

20 FOR THE MONEY... Tariq Nelson has recorded at least one reception in 20 consecutive games dating back to the middle of the 2021 season. That is the longest such streak for a Bengal since Jordan Evert caught a pass in 23 straight games from 2016 to 2019. Nelson is also closing in on 2,000 career receiving yards, currently sitting just 391 away from reaching the milestone. 

FOUR NEAR THE TOP... Buffalo State has four of the top eight leaders in the conference in tackles per game. Kenneth Mosley is third with 8.6 tackles per game, while Evan Cervantes, Anderson Osei-Gyimah (Bronx, NY/New Visions), and Sincere Green (Jamestown, NY/Jamestown) are all tied for sixth with 7.8 tackles per game.

RPI-BUFFALO STATE CONNECTION... RPI assistant coach Ky Veale served as the wide receivers coach for the Bengals in the 2022 season before heading over to coach the defensive backs for the Engineers.

COMMON OPPONENT... Buffalo State and RPI both faced off against Dean this season, with the Bengals winning by a final score of 41-7, while the Engineers were victorious by a score of 63-0. 

ABOUT THE BENGALS' COACH... Lazarus Morgan is in his second season at the helm of the Buffalo State football program in 2023 after being appointed as the sixth football coach in Buffalo State history in January 2022. 
     In his first season as head coach, Morgan guided six student-athletes to Liberty League All-Conference selections, as well as seven All-Academic team winners. 
     He arrived in Buffalo after serving as the defensive coordinator at SUNY Cortland during the 2021 season, coordinating the fifth-ranked overall defense in NCAA Division III, helping guide the Red Dragons to an 11-1 record, an Empire 8 title, and a trip to the NCAA playoffs.
      A native of the Bronx, Morgan played defensive back at Utica College from 2006-08, then began his coaching career at his alma mater from 2009-13. He then moved to Alfred University from 2014-19, serving as the Saxon's defensive coordinator in the final four seasons.

RESEARCHING RPI... The Engineers enter play for the weekend with a 4-1 overall record (0-1 Liberty League), dropping an overtime contest to #16 Ithaca over the weekend by a score of 20-17. Anthony D'Agostino led the RPI defense with 18 tackles, one tackle for loss, and an interception. 
     The RPI offense averages 36.2 points per game, led by quarterback Jake Kazanowski and the conference's best passing offense at 236.6 passing yards per game. Kazanowski also boasts the 37th-best passing efficiency rating in the country, while throwing eight touchdowns to just two interceptions. The offense is also converting on third downs at a 51.5% rate, the 22nd-best mark in the nation. For the year, RPI has also lost only four turnovers.
     The Engineers' defense is led by D'Agostino, who has 43 tackles and 4.0 tackles for loss on the year. Nate Sicard and C.J. Schumaker are the sack leaders for the team with the most sacks in the conference.
      Sterling Walker-Sutton leads a strong special teams unit for the Engineers, averaging 26.5 yards per return on kickoffs, the best in the Liberty League, and 31st-best mark in Division III. RPI is also one of three teams in the conference to hold opponents without a punt return yard for the season. 

SCHEDULES/RESULTS... 

BUFFALO STATE (1-4, 0-2 LIBERTY LEAGUE)

Aug. 31	BROCKPORT	L 42-6
Sept. 9	APPRENTICE SCHOOL	L 37-23
Sept. 16	at Dean	W 41-7
Sept. 30	ROCHESTER ***	L 29-22
Oct. 7	at Hobart ***	L 45-21
Oct. 14	at RPI ***	1 pm
Oct. 21	HILBERT	5 pm
Oct. 28	at Ithaca ***	1 pm
Nov. 4	UNION ***	1 pm
Nov. 11	ST. LAWRENCE ***	1 pm

*** LIBERTY LEAGUE CONTEST ***

RPI (4-1, 0-1 LIBERTY LEAGUE)

Sept. 2	at Dickinson	W 38-27
Sept. 9	WILKES	W 38-14
Sept. 15	at WPI	W 25-0
Sept. 23	DEAN	W 63-0
Oct. 7	ITHACA ***	L 20-17 (OT)
Oct. 14	HILBERT	1 pm
Oct. 21	at St. Lawrence ***	1 pm
Oct. 28	ROCHESTER ***	12 pm
Nov. 4	at Hobart ***	1 pm
Nov. 11	at Union ***	12 pm

*** LIBERTY LEAGUE CONTEST ***