Joseph A. Gherlone Jr., LT, USN wrote:
 
>        i concur heartily about the new desire to win, but i'd caution
> that it seems to be a long-standing tradition for the Engineers to be
> overconfident and goof up in games they (and everyone else) expect them
> to win.  words of warning to Coach Fridgen :-).
 
Losing to significantly inferior teams has been a tradition for RPI
ever since I was there, and probably before that.  Princeton is one of
the chief beneficiaries of this largesse.  (I never thought that I
would use the word "largesse". :-) )  This happened in 68-69 with
Princeton for example.  I have long wondered 1) if this is just the law
of averages and happens to all teams or 2) for some reasons it is
unique to RPI.  I think that the atmosphere in the Houston Fieldhouse
can lead to RPI playing over their heads on occasion, but his does not
explain some significant upsets on the road (although it is often the
case that there are more RPI fans than fans of the home team on the
road).
 
There is still no excuse for the loss to Army which has recently been
having trouble with Div-III teams.
 
RPI '68, '70, '74