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BROADCAST INFO: Saturday's game - and all Utica College games - will be broadcast on the radio at ESPN Radio's WTLB 1310 AM ... Links for live stats for today's contest are available at www.rpiathletics.com … Live streaming video can be accessed online at b2livetv.com … Live streaming audio can also be accessed on WTLB's new website, www.espnur.com. 

UC LOOKS TO GET BACK ON THE WAGON: The Pioneers (2-2, 0-2 E8) started the season off with two non-conference victories against Liberty League opponents St. Lawrence (2-3) and Union College (2-3), before dropping two straight games against Frostburg (2-2) and Salisbury (4-0) … UC is currently 1-1 on the road this year and hope to find their second road win of the year in Troy, N.Y. on Saturday. 

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: The Pioneers have fared extremely well in non-conference play as of late and dating back to 2005 they are 18-9 against non-conference opponents … They are currently riding the highs of a nine game non-conference winning streak.

OFFENSIVE JUGGERNAUT: As a team the Pioneers' are averaging 36.2 points per game to go along with 400.2 total yards of offense per contest.

UC LAST WEEK: The nationally-ranked No. 19/25 Salisbury University football team came away with a 70-45 victory over the Pioneers' Saturday in a contest that featured a combined 115 points and 994 yards of total offense at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium …  The Pioneers led by as many at 14 points early in the second half, but the visitors mustered an incredible 49 points in the final 25 minutes of play to earn the Empire 8 Conference victory …  UC sophomore wide receiver and return man Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) amassed 380 all purpose yards (175 return yards, 146 receiving yards, 46 passing yards, 13 rushing yards) and added two touchdowns to pace the Pioneers … Senior receiver Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) added 97 yards on eight catches, including two touchdowns, in his first game back from injury, while junior running back Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) recorded his first collegiate 100 yard rushing game and added two touchdowns for UC.

LAST TIME AGAINST RPI: UC scored 21 unanswered points on its way to a convincing 42-21 victory over visiting RPI last season on Sept. 18, 2010 … The Pioneers moved their record to 3-0 for the first time in the program-history … Benkwitt threw for 335 yards and four touchdowns, while Acevedo had a huge day catching four balls for 141 yards and two touchdowns… The Pioneers, who had not beaten the Engineers since 2004, headed into the contest leading the nation in scoring with an average of 68.5 points per contest.

SCOUTING UTICA'S OFFENSE: The Pioneers offense is led by Benkwitt, who has completed 89 passes for 1,055 yards and 12 touchdowns (only four INT's) … Acevedo has come on strong as of late and he now leads the team with 24 receptions for 360 yards and three touchdowns … Classmate Jamie Murphy (Canadaigua, NY/Marcus Whitman) ranks second on the team with 19 catches for 244 yards and two touchdowns … Junior transfer Jake Larson (Bemus Point, NY/Maple Grove) has emerged as the Pioneers' top running back and he currently leads the team with 357 yards rushing and four touchdowns.

WHAT'S THE “D” UP TO: A couple of new faces lead the Pioneers' defensive unit in tackles …  Sophomore Eric Rindo (Lancaster, NY/Lancaster) clings to the team lead with 38 total tackles, which ranks fifth in the conference, while junior Luke Manolescu (New York Mills, NY/Notre Dame) has registered three straight stellar weeks and he now ranks second on the team with 35 tackles … Manolescu also leads the team with three pass break ups … Senior Zach Jones, who has been a journeyman for the Pioneers' over the course of his career, has settled in nicely at the corner position and ranks third on the team with 32 tackles … He is also the owner of the Pioneers' lone interception of the season.

HERBERGER BECOMING A FORCE OFF THE EDGE: Junior defensive end Michael Herberger (Amherst, NY/Williamsville North) currently leads the team, and the conference, with three sacks so far this season to go along with 22 tackles … He also has four tackles for a loss of 25 yards. … All three of his sacks have come in the last two games. 

BENKWITT ETCHING HIS NAME IN UC HISTORY: Benkwitt holds nearly every career quarterbacking record at Utica including completions (510), passing yards (6,034), passing touchdowns (51), completion percentage (63.4) and passing yards per game (251.4) … He also holds several single game records, including pass completions (32), touchdown passes (five) and efficiency rating (236.3) … He has started 24 straight games for UC (every game of his career).

ACEVEDO COLLECTING THE HARDWARE: Anthony Acevedo (New Hartford, NY/New Hartford) was named the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week and the College's Male Athlete of the Week after recording 380 all-purpose yards last week against Salisbury. 
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: Benkwitt currently leads the Empire 8 and ranks 29th in the country with a 156.13 passing efficiency rating … He also leads the conference and ranks 33rd nationally with an average of 273.25 total yards of offense per game. … Acevedo is tied for 17th in the country with an average of 173.50 all-purpose yards per game. 

MITCHELL STILL PERFECT: With the exception of one missed extra point, Utica junior kicker Seth Mitchell (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) has been flawless so far this season … He has converted on 5-of-5 field goals and 16-of-17 extra points for a team-best 31 total points … Three of his five field goals have been 36 yards or longer, including a career-best 47 yarder against Frostburg State. 

MEIER IS BACK AND HE'S BREAKING RECORDS: UC's leading receiver from one year ago, Jeremy Meier (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), made a triumphant return to the gridiron last week, scoring two touchdowns on eight catches in his first game back from a hand injury … His two touchdown grabs helped him break the College's career touchdown receptions mark set by James Proniewych in 2007 … Meier looks to add to his school-record 14 touchdown catches this weekend against RPI. 

SCOUTING RPI:  RPI (2-2, 1-1 LL) is coming off a 28-24 victory over conference foe Rochester at home last weekend … The Engineers are averaging 31.8 points per contest and they feature a balanced offensive attack that has collected 812 yards in the air and 691 yards on the ground … Like Utica, the Engineers have also had trouble stopping the opposing team on defense, and they are currently allowing an average of 31.8 points per contest … Quarterback Mike Hermann is the primary option on the offensive side of the ball and he leads the team with 812 passing yards and 369 rushing yards … He has accounted for 14 of the Engineers 17 touchdowns this season (seven rushing, seven passing) … TJ Strunk has collected 137 yards rushing and two touchdowns on the ground … Austin Caswell leads the RPI receiving corps with 18 catches for 245 yards and a team-best five touchdown grabs … Zach Scruggs leads the Engineer defense with a team-best 35 tackles so far this season … Matthew Day has posted 22 tackles, while Joe Tedder leads the secondary with a team-best three pics. 

TIME WARNER IS BACK!: The Pioneers will welcome Time Warner Cable Sports back to campus on Saturday, Oct. 22nd as UC takes on Ithaca College … If you cannot make it out to campus on Oct. 22nd the contest will be available on your local Time Warner Cable Sports TV station or online at http://www.twcs.tv.