1962 – 1966

1965 Football Victory

by Peter Barbella

In the fall of 1965, I found myself watching another home football game and expecting another loss. This would have been number 44 (in a row). I sat there with about fifty or sixty other die hard fans. But something magical happened. Quarterback Bob Nicotera led the engineers to a 28 - 14 victory over Middlebury College. Somehow, around the middle of the third quarter, word got out that RPI was in danger of winning. By the end of the third quarter, there were at least 500 people in attendance and the atmosphere was electric. By the end of the game, the number had swelled to at least 1500. At the final whistle, the crowd swarmed the field and made short work of the goal posts. The entire city was jubilant. What a great memory for my senior year.