Troy, N.Y. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team, ranked sixth on the D3football.com and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Preseason Top-25 Polls, opened its 2024 season with a 35-0 victory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (N.Y.) Thursday night at East Campus Athletic Village. The Engineers, receiving votes on the AFCA Preseason Poll, were also playing their season opener.

It marks UWL's 10th straight season opening victory and 11th in the last 12 seasons. The Eagles are now 68-32-11 (.662) all-time in season openers.  UWL improves to 17-4 in non-conference play in the last eight seasons. 

The shutout for UWL is its first since a 42-0 win at UW-Eau Claire on November 10, 2018. It is also the team's first opening shutout since a 42-0 victory over Howard Payne University (Texas) on September 6, 2003. 
 

In the first-ever meeting the two teams, UWL took the opening kickoff and a 7-0 lead on three offensive plays. Zach Weir connected with Jack Studer on a 64-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Weir scored on a seven-yard run. Michael Stack's extra-point made it 7-0 with 13:45 left in the first quarter.
 
After a pair of RPI (N.Y.) punts and an UWL punt, the Eagles drove to the Engineers' one-yard line, but a snap over the quarterback's head was recovered by RPI (N.Y.) at its own 14-yard line.
 
UWL forced the third straight punt by RPI (N.Y.) on the ensuing drive and the Eagles took over at the Engineers' 32-yard line after a 24-yard punt. Kyle Haas hit Wyatt LeMoine with a 22-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 remaining in the first quarter to make it 13-0. Stack converted the extra-point. The Eagles went 32 yards in four plays and 1:37.
 
The Engineers drove to the Eagles' 20-yard line on the ensuing drive, but Aleksander Maric missed a 37-yard field goal with 14:34 left in the second quarter. After UWL was forced to punt, RPI's (N.Y.) Jake Kazanowsky was intercepted by UWL's Jared Pelishek at the Eagles' 38-yard line. UWL drove to RPI's (N.Y.) five-yard line, but Stack missed a 22-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining.
 
RPI (N.Y.) drove to UWL's 31-yard line, but Kazanowsky's fourth-down pass was incomplete with :53 left. Braedon Ott had two carries for 40 yards to set the Eagles up at the Engineers' 29-yard line, but Weir was sacked on the next play. Weir hit Zackary Watson with a six-yard completion to the 28-yard line, but Stack missed his second field goal of the game, this time from 45-yards, with :04 remaining. UWL led, 14-0, at halftime.
 
RPI (N.Y.) punted on the opening drive of the third quarter. UWL was also forced to punt on its first drive. The Engineers went to the Eagles' 33-yard line when Kazanowsky was intercepted in the end zone by Brennan Goralski. On the first play from scrimmage, Weir hit LeMoine on an 80-yard touchdown pass with 7:15 left in the third quarter. UWL took a 21-0 lead on Stack's extra-point. 

 
UWL forced another punt and made it 28-0 with Weir and Studer connecting on a 23-yard touchdown pass with 1:16 remaining in the quarter. The Eagles used 3:49 to go 73 yards in seven plays.
 
Weir threw his third touchdown of the game with 13:51 left, hitting Jack Janke from six-yards out for a 35-0 lead. The drive went five plays for 39 yards in 2:23.
 
The Engineers drove to the Eagles' 47-yard line on the final drive of the game, but two straight incompletions ended the game.
 
UWL finished with 23 first downs and 530 yards of offense, including 182 rushing and 348 passing. The Eagles won the time of possession, 33:34 to 26:26, and finished seven-of-12 on third-down.

Weir went 12-of-14 for 279 yards with three touchdowns and one rushing touchdown while Haas finished eight-of-13 for 69 yards and one touchdown. Braeden Ott finished with six carries for 99 yards while Studer caught six passes for 173 yards and one touchdown. LeMoine had two receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns. 

Studer moves into third-place in career receiving yards (2,219) and touchdown receptions (27) at UWL.  He passes Craig Chrest (1977-80) for third in receiving yards. Scott Burnoski (2001-04) is the all-time leader with 3,004 yards with Cole Spieker (2017-19) second with 2,338. Studer breaks a tie for third in career touchdown catches after entering the game tied with Spieker and Cameron Sorenson (2018-22) with 26. Burnoski is first in career touchdown receptions (30) with Nick Holcomb (2014-17) second with 28. 

Ryan Daines led UWL with eight tackles on Thursday while Tanner Newlin and Aaron Schmitz each had six. Daines had 2.0 tackles for loss. Newlin and Nate Wilcher recorded a quarterback sack while Pelishek and Goralski had interceptions. Ethan Tranel averaged 39.3 yards on three punts with one inside the 20-yard line and a long of 64-yards. 

RPI (N.Y.) totaled 14 first downs and 252 yards, including 55 rushing and 197 passing. The Engineers were three-of-14 on third-down. Kazanowsky went 21-of-39 for 197 yards with two interceptions. Christian Buckley led RPI (N.Y.) with 61 yards rushing on 15 attempts while Sean Kelly had nine receptions for 83 yards. 

Anthony D'Agostino led the defense with 11 tackles, including nine solo. Desmond Von Tobel and Nate Sicard each had a quarterback sack. Anderson Burke averaged 33.7 yards on six punts.

UWL returns to action Saturday, September 14 hosting NCAA Division II Northern Michigan University in its home opener at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.