November 18, 2006. The RPI Engineers improved their all-time ECAC bowl record to 7-0 with a 26-7 victory over the Cortland State Red Dragons. Cortland ended its season 9-2, tied for the best record in the NJAC. RPI, predicted by D3Football.com to be in the NCAA playoffs prior to the 2006 kickoff, ended its season at 7-3.

Cortland's numerous injuries caught up to them against a talented RPI squad. Fourth string quarterback Sean Pratt (Freshman/Brockport) had a difficult day. Pratt fired 5 interceptions and passed for only 102 yards. Perhaps most impressive for RPI however was their ability to move the football against Cortland's defense, something Ithaca and Rowan failed to do.

The Engineers got 2 short field goals from Drew Taranto to take a 6-0 lead in the first half. Early in the second quarter Cortland's Jeff Beck broke a kickoff return up the middle. As Beck cut right, Ronny Rodriguez delivered a nice block to spring Beck for a touchdown. Matthew Mintz added the extra point and Cortland took a 7-6 lead.

Cortland would be its worst enemy however. Late in the first half Cortland still led 7-6 and faced a punting situation in its own territory. The Red Dragons faked the punt with a direct snap to Brad Robison. Robison ran forward for a first down but fumbled the football. RPI covered the ball at the Cortland 31-yard line. On the very next play Engineer's quarterback Jimmy Robertson hit Jon Branche for a 30-yard gain to the Cortland 1-yard line. Tailback Jay Bernardo finished the short drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to give RPI a 13-7 lead.

Cortland took over possession with only 45 seconds remaining in the first half. Pratt completed a deep out to Drew Lascari for 42 yards. A 6-yard pass to Anthony Morat got the football down to the RPI 17-yard line with 21 seconds remaining. However Pratt was intercepted by RPI's Nick Foglia to snuff out the scoring opportunity. RPI took the 13-7 lead into half-time.

RPI took the opening drive of the second half down to the Cortland 10-yard line. The 13-play 57-yard drive ended with another Taranto field goal to increase the RPI lead to 16-7. Thereafter the half-time adjustments by the Cortland coaches solidified the defense and contained the RPI attack. What Cortland needed was their offense to pick up the slack, but it never did.

Cortland turned the football over 4 more times in the second half, 3 interceptions and a lost fumble. The RPI offense did its part by capitalizing on the defense's turnovers. The Engineers tacked on another 10 points to cement a 26-7 victory over Cortland.

RPI's Jimmy Robertson passed for 291 yards against Cortland, completing 14 of 27 passes. Robertson's quick drops and ability to move out of the pocket neutralized the Cortland pass rush. Tailback Jay Bernardo rushed the ball 35 times for 122 yards and 2 touchdowns. While Bernardo was held to 3.5 yards per carry, his sprint draws helped Robertson by keeping the Cortland defenders honest.

Dustin Bowser had a good game for Cortland filling in for injured Matt Rickert. Bowser gained 98 yards on only 21 carries. Bowser is the favorite to be the starting tailback as a senior in 2007.

It was a disappointing end to an otherwise great season for Cortland. The Red Dragons (9-2) won the most games it has won since 2002. Clearly Cortland was upset not to be invited to the NCAA playoffs. However the injury-plagued Red Dragons barely resembled the squad which was considered one of the region's best at mid-season.