ROCHESTER, N.Y. (October 18, 2014) – Matt Pisano ran 87 yards with a fumble for the clinching touchdown with six seconds remaining as the University of Rochester held on against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 34-20, at Edwin Fauver Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
RPI had the ball second-and-goal on the Rochester three trailing 27-20. Rochester's Colin Woods sacked quarterback Tommie Morgan back to the eight and the ball popped loose. Pisano picked it up at the 13 and raced untouched to the end zone for the insurance touchdown.
With the victory, Rochester improved to 4-2 overall, 2-2 in the Liberty League. RPI is 4-3 overall, 2-2 in the Liberty League. It marked only the second time in the last eight meetings that the home team won the game in the series.
Rochester quarterback Daniel Bronson, in his second career start, ran for a game-high 98 yards and passed for 204 more including three touchdowns. He threw one interception and was sacked twice. Bronson completed 10 of 21 throws.
Morgan was 11-25 passing with two interceptions and one touchdown. RPI totaled 415 yards in offense (232 rushing, 183 passing). Rochester finished with 482 (278 on the ground, 204 in the air).
Rochester stretched a three-point halftime lead (13-10) to 10 points, 27-17, when Matthew Eichhorn ran for a three-yard TD to punctuate a 10-play, 77-yard drive with 13:23 left in the game.
RPI's Andrew Franks kicked a 29-yard field goal with 9:24 left, pulling his team within 27-20. Franks kicked a25-yarder in the first half. The two field goals raised his career total to 33, an RPI school record. He tied the mark of 31 last week when RPI lost to St. Lawrence.
The Engineers eventually got the ball back at their 42 with 4:50 to play. Morgan completed consecutive passes of four yards and 12 yards to John Costello, moving the ball to the Rochester 28. Facing fourth-and-eight from the UR 26 with less than two minutes to play, his pass over the left side was intercepted by Rochester's Miles Smith at the eight and returned to the 15.
Rochester went three-and-out. Jeff Weinfeld's short punt went to the UR29. A penalty set RPI back to the 34. Morgan missed twice, then passed to Costello at the two. Nick Schlatz lost a yard on first down. On second-and-goal, Morgan rolled to his right and was hit by Woods which jarred the ball loose. Pisano got to it first and ran, pursued by a crowd of players from both teams.
The Yellowjackets drove 88 yards in 13 plays for their first touchdown. Bronson converted three third down chances. On second-and-16, he evaded pursuit and found Farid Adenuga for a 48-yard touchdown. Andrew Haber's PAT was wide.
RPI went ahead immediately, After a five-yard gain by Mike Tivinis on first down, the Engineers ran an option play for Reggie Colas around left end. He slipped past defenders and raced down the left side for a 71-yard TD. Franks made the PAT for a 7-6 lead. Colas led RPI with 94 yards rushing on six carries.
Rochester drove 75 yards in 11 plays, helped by a personal foul penalty after RPI sacked Bronson for a seven-yard loss on third-and-one at the RPI33. Two plays later, Bronson connected with Max Berger for a 22-yard TD. Haber's PAT put the Yellowjackets up, 13-7.
Franks kicked his first field goal to end a 13-play, 66-yard drive with 1:10 left in the half. RPI ran for 52 of the 66 yards, 27 by Morgan and 16 by Schlatz. On the opening drive of the third quarter, Bronson completed a 20-yard pass to Berger and a 35-yard pass to Allegrini two plays later that put Rochester up, 20-10.
Facing third-and-22 from the Rochester midway through the third, Morgan threw a fade pattern to Joey Giacone in the corner of the end zone. The Franks PAT cut the Rochester lead to 20-17 with 6:49 left in the period.
Rochester restored the lead to 10, 27-17, with a 10-play, 77-yard drive that ended on Eichhorn's three-yard dive into the end zone. He carried the last three plays of the drive, gaining 21 yards.
Morgan shook off a sack by Rochester's Thomas Marone to throw a 42-yard strike to Logan Gaddar and move the ball inside the 10 with less than 10 minutes left. Three plays later, Franks kicked the 29-yarder to get within a touchdown and set up the frantic final minutes.
For Rochester defensively, Isaiah Smith had 17 tackles – eight primary and nine assists. Borgolini had 10 tackles (six primary), an interception, and a pass breakup. Matt Mender had nine tackles (three primary) including one sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. Marone had eight tackles, two sacks, and 3.5 tackles for loss.