TROY, N.Y. – Myles Allen and Dean Kennedy combined for 247 yards rushing and four touchdowns as the University of Rochester held off Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 37-31, at East Campus Stadium.
Allen rushed 29 times for 135 yards. He scored on two short touchdown runs in the second quarter – a one yarder with 10:48 left in the period and a five-yarder just 4:34 before halftime. Kennedy broke free for a 69-yard scoring run late in the third quarter and added a six-yard TD run with 8:09 remaining. He finished with 112 yards rushing on 10 carries. He hit 15 of 28 passes for 119 yards and was intercepted three times.
The victory boosts Rochester's record to 4-2 overall, 2-1 in the Liberty League. RPI is 3-3 overall, 0-3 in the league. The Engineers had beaten Rochester three straight times.
Rochester rushed for a season's high 290 yards on 53 carries. The Yellowjackets threw for 188 yards and finished with 478 yards in total offense. RPI totaled 414 yards in offense – 154 on the ground (47 rushes) and 260 through the air. Jeff Maynard completed nine of 19 passes for the Engineers for 180 yards and one TD. He found Pat Hogan for a 24-yard scoring strike eight seconds before halftime. That pulled RPI within 23-21. Jeff Avery hit five of seven passes for 80 yards.
Allen is the first Rochester running back to run for more than 100 yards in a game since Clarence Onyiriuka turned the trick on October 22, 2011 when he rushed for 158 yards on 31 carries in a 28-21 victory over WPI at Fauver Stadium. Kennedy's total of 112 yards marked his second straight 100-yard rushing game. He ran for 120 yards last week against Alfred State. That made him the first Rochester quarterback in eight years to rush for more than 100 yards in a game.
Avery and Maynard ran for RPI touchdowns in the first half, giving the Engineers a 14-7 lead. Rochester scored with 12:35 left in the first period when RPI muffed a punt. Rochester freshman Matt Pisano scooped the ball up at the 23 and ran into the end zone. Mark Torosian's PAT made it 7-0.
RPI tied the score on Avery's two-yard run with 10:45 left and a PAT from Andrew Franks. Maynard's one-yard scoring run (and a Franks PAT) put RPI ahead, 14-7, with 13:05 left in the first half.
Rochester scored 16 straight points to take the lead. Allen had his two TD runs (the PAT was missed on the second one) and Torosian added a 25-yard field goal with 53 seconds left for a 23-14 lead. RPI used a good kickoff return and solid play from Maynard to march down the field and pull within two on the scoring pass to Hogan.
Kennedy's TD run in the third put Rochester ahead by nine (30-21) but Nick Schlatz completed a scoring drive with a one-yard TD run just 47 seconds into the fourth quarter. Kennedy scored again, this time from six yards out.\ with 8:09 left. RPI drove into Rochester territory but the Yellowjacket defense held and Franks drilled a 48-yard field goal with 3:45 to play.
The Yellowjackets used a first down run by Allen and good clock management to run the time down to 31 seconds left before Garrett Kesel hit a rugby-style punt to the Engineer 39. Maynard threw two incompletions, then looked like he had a first down pass but R.J. Borgolini knocked the ball away from the receiver. A fourth down pass deep down the field fell incomplete as time expired.
UR Runs for 290 Yards and 4 TDs to Defeat RPI
/seasons/2013/boxscores/20131019_cqpp.xml
2013
Rochester
37
RPI
31
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester (4-2) | 7 | 16 | 7 | 7 | 37 |
| RPI (3-3) | 7 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 31 |
Oct 19, 2013