The Dutchman's Shoes is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
game between the
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...
Engineers and the
Union College
Union College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Schenectady, New York, United States. Founded in 1795, it was the first institution of higher learning chartered by the New York State Board of Regents, and second in the s ...
Garnet Chargers since 1950. As of the end of 2023, these two schools have played each other 120 times, making it the oldest football rivalry in the state of
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
.
The trophy consists of a wooden base, with two
clogs
Clogs are a type of footwear that has a thick, rigid sole typically made of wood, although in American English, shoes with rigid soles made of other materials are also called clogs.
Traditional clogs remain in use as protective footwear in a ...
mounted on a small pedestal, with one painted cherry red with a white letter "R", and the other garnet with a white letter "U", for Rensselaer and Union, respectively.
History
The rivalry began in 1886, but the trophy wasn't introduced until 1950. The Dutchman's Shoes is a nod to the heritage of both schools, with a R for the Engineers and a U for the Dutchmen. Prior to the introduction of the trophy, Union dominated, winning 33 of the 47 pre-trophy meetings, with most with three streaks of at least 8 consecutive wins over RPI in that timespan. In terms of the trophy series, Union leads 51–24, but since the turn of the century, RPI has won 14 out of 24 matchups since 2000, including a 5-game win streak from 2013 to 2017. Due to it often being the season finale for both schools, the Dutchman's Shoes has been a ''de facto'' championship game for the
Liberty League
The Liberty League is an intercollegiate athletic conference which competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III. Member schools are all located in the state of New York.
History
It was founded in 1995 as the ...
title and the automatic berth to the
Division III playoffs. This includes the 2005 game, a 49–42 victory for Union, the highest scoring game in the history of the rivalry, as well as the 2021 edition of the rivalry ending on a
field goal
A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. Consequently, ...
by RPI as time expired to give them a 19–17 victory and the league title.
Game results
See also
*
List of NCAA college football rivalry games
This is a list of List of sports rivalries, rivalry games in college football. The list also shows any trophy awarded to the winner of the rivalry between the teams.
NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision
...
References
{{reflist
External links
Report of the 2005 game
College football rivalry trophies in the United States
RPI Engineers football
Union Garnet Chargers football