The Utica College football team seeks its fourth 3-0 start in program history when it hosts nationally-ranked No. 21 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Saturday, Sept. 15 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium. Opening kickoff for the non-conference affair is set for noon.

Indium High School Day: Indium Corporation is the lead sponsor for Saturday's contest. All high school students wearing high school related clothing will receive free admission. Indium Corporation® develops and manufactures materials used primarily in the electronics assembly industry. For more information about Indium please visit: www.indium.com

Oneida County Stop DWI: The folks from Oneida County Stop-DWI will be in attendance handing out information about their Stop-DWI Program. The mission of The OC STOP-DWI Program is to reduce the number of persons killed or injured in alcohol and other drug-related crashes and to promote DWI prevention as a public priority. Fans are encouraged to ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN TO GET HOME SAFELY. Download the OC Stop-DWI mobile app at  www.stopdwi.org/mobileapp.

Broadcast Info: Saturday's game will be broadcast over the radio airwaves by WPNR 90.7 FM.  Fans can also follow the contest via Pioneers All-Access live video and stats: http://bit.ly/2wtxUV5. Fans interested in viewing the game on their televisions are also offered a streamlined experience for their television connected devices through the Empire 8 digital apps. The apps are available for popular devices including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire. See your respective app store for availability.

Taking Up Residence: Saturday's contest marks the second game of a four game homestand for UC. The Pioneers will be on the bye next week before meeting Cortland for the 2018 Adirondack Bank Homecoming Game on Sept. 29, and then they remain at home to meet St. John Fisher on October 6th for the New York State Tool Believe Bowl.

Week 2 Recap: The Pioneers opened the home portion of their schedule and put up a much more polished performance than their close shave in Week 1. Utica raced out to a 35-0 lead and hardly glanced in the rear view mirror as they controlled the game wire-to-wire in a 45-21 trouncing of the Catholic University of America. Freshman quarterback Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) got the start and energized the offense immediately as Utica's first four drives all ended in touchdowns, and the UC defense feasted on three interceptions as the Pioneers rolled to the win and avenged a 2017 loss at Catholic.

Yardage Yammerings: The Pioneers currently sit fifth in the Empire 8 in total offense at 393 yards per matchup, and fifth in total defense at 292 yards. Utica has outgained both of its opponents in total offense so far this season. On Saturday, the Pioneers held a yardage advantage on Catholic, 402 to 319. The Pioneers also outgained St. Lawrence in their Week 1 win, 384-266.

A Grand Career: At 979 career rushing yards, running back Malcolm Stowe (Coram, NY/Longwood) now needs just 21 rushing yards to break the 1,000 yard mark for his career. He would become the sixth back in program history to achieve that milestone. For the season, Stowe currently stands tenth in Empire 8 rushing at 45.5 yards per game.

A Bounty In The Backfield: Utica entrusted the services of ten different ball carriers on Saturday in the team's 134 net rushing yard effort. Five of those players specifically played running back, including LaMont McGriff, who had 36 yards as a first time starter on Saturday to go with his first career touchdown.

East Side to West Side: Utica Proctor grad Logan Wilcox (Utica, NY/Proctor) put on a passing clinic in his debut outing as the team's starting quarterback. Showcasing a strong arm and pinpoint accuracy, Wilcox completed 22-of-32 attempts for 259 yards and four touchdowns, and did not throw an interception.

Depth Under Center: The resounding week 2 victory also afforded Utica the opportunity to showcase their outstanding depth at quarterback, as they employed the services of three different signal callers. Week 1 starter Vinny Aloi (Chester, NY/Chester Academy) came in at the end of the first half, and made another appearance after Wilcox returned to action in the third quarter. The junior was 2-of-5 for nine yards and rushed for an additional 14 yards. Ryan VanGalen (Clifton Park, NY/Shenedehowa) also appeared at quarterback in the fourth quarter, making his Utica College debut in the process. However, it was not his Gaetano Stadium debut as he checked in for relief action as a member of the Cortland Red Dragons in 2016.

Good Luck Covering This Guy: Junior quarterback/wide receiver Peyton Miller (Chemung, NY/Waverly) has been virtually impossible for opposing defenses to keep track of when he's lined up at the slot receiver position. Miller had a banner day on Saturday with 13 catches for 141 yards, and he found the endzone on passes from Wilcox on three different occasions. All three totals mark career highs for Miller, who only began playing the receiver position in his football career last season. His 23 receptions lead the Empire 8, and his 230 receiving yards and three touchdowns both rank second in the conference. He has three consecutive games with ten or more catches dating back to last season.

Nate the Great: Saturday also marked the first game action on offense for freshman receiver Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/Vernon Verona Sherrill), and the local product wasted little time in making an impact as he caught a touchdown pass in the opening quarter of Saturday's win.

Target Run: There were no shortage of targets for Wilcox, Aloi, and VanGalen to throw to on Saturday, as nine different players caught at least one pass against Catholic.

Get Your Kicks: After his overtime field goal lifted the Pioneers in week one, Dan Tette (Rochester, NY/West Irondequoit) continued to serve in field goal kicking duties against Catholic and did not disappoint. Tette made all seven of his attempts for the day including six extra points, and a new career best 38 yard field goal to improve to 2-for-2 on the season.

Here Comes The Boom: Through two games, the Pioneer defense has done an excellent job of getting after the quarterback. Utica paces the Empire 8 Conference with six sacks this season, and the pressure has been coming from all sides as all three levels of the defense have recorded a sack in the first two weeks. Sophomore linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) currently sets the team standard with two.

No Rush: The Pioneer defensive unit is one of four squads in the Empire 8 Conference currently holding opponents to under 100 rushing yards per game. UC currently sits third against the run at 67.5 yards against per game, and they have yet to allow an opponent to score a rushing touchdown.

Wrap It Up: Utica currently has three players with ten tackles or more this season. Linebacker Kwasi Addo (Menands, NY/Shaker) holds the team lead with twelve tackles, while safety Dylan Sekuterski (Depew, NY/Depew) and linebacker Antonio Scala (Coram, NY/Longwood) currently have eleven each. Scala also leads the squad with 2.5 tackles for loss.

Take Your Pick: The Pioneers currently rank second in the Empire 8 Conference with five interceptions, and three of those interceptions came against Catholic including a two interception performance by Matt Stone (Rochester, NY/Brighton). Ben Vargas (Holbrook, NY/Sachem East) also had a 60 yard interception return touchdown in the second quarter on Saturday.

Series Against the Engineers: The Pioneers renew the series with RPI after a six year absence from the schedule. The teams last met on October 8th, 2011 in a 38-28 Pioneers win at the East Campus Athletic Stadium in Troy. Running back Jake Larson put up 173 rushing yards and a touchdown in that matchup to lead UC to the win. The Engineers were a mainstay on Utica's schedule in the early years of Pioneer football as the teams met each year from 2002 to 2011. RPI leads the all-time series seven games to three, although Utica has won the last two meetings.

About RPI: The Engineers are currently 2-0 and ranked No. 21 in the latest D3Football.com Top 25. They are coming off a 25-14 rivalry game win in their annual Transit Trophy game against WPI. Quarterback George Marinopoulos was instrumental for the red and black, throwing for all three of the team's touchdowns. Offensively, the Engineers are converting at 41 percent on third down through two weeks. Free safety Luke Watanabe is the current Liberty League defensive player of the week after posting six tackles, an interception, a fumble recovery, and two pass breakups. Another player to watch out for is D3Football.com Preseason All-American Chris Neu, who is expected to start at left tackle for the visitors. Linebacker Jack Hoggard sets the pace for the RPI defense with 11 solo tackles. In the most recent meetings with RPI, the Pioneers have also had the opportunity to line up against future NFL players such as former Oakland Raiders quarterback Mike Herman, and current NFL Free Agent kicker Andrew Franks.

Up Next: The Pioneers will be on the bye next week before welcoming Cortland for the 2018 Adirondack Bank Homecoming game on Sept. 29. Opening kickoff is slated for 1:30 p.m.