June 22, 2026 · Dead Period · Heritage Window · 2026 Outlook

Rose-Hulman

3-7 2025 final

Rose-Hulman is the elite engineering school that has not won the HCAC title since 2021 — the Engineers with top individual talent like RB Jay Smith are hungry to reclaim their conference throne.

The Fightin' Engineers bide their time.

Record

3-7

win% .300

Conference

4th of 7

Heartland · 3-3

Index Rating

42.8

D3 #177 of 240

Playoff Path

Win the league

Dead PeriodOffseasonPatientPost-loss — diagnostic

The Long Wait·Offseason

Rose-Hulman is the elite engineering school that has not won the HCAC title since 2021 — the Engineers with top individual talent like RB Jay Smith are hungry to reclaim their conference throne.

Title DroughtSince 2021 · 4 yrs

Rose-Hulman finished second in the 2025 HCAC behind Hanover, who won the title with a 48-0 victory over Bluffton. Senior running back Jay Smith led the Engineers with a school-record 1,297 rushing yards and 18 TDs in 2024, and 13…

low signal

Read the full program story ↓

Offseason

69 days

until kickoff · Sun Aug 30 · 17:00 UTC

Act I

The 2026 Outlook

DIVISION III · THE PATH TO THE STAGG BOWL

Rose-Hulman sits 5th in the Heartland Conference and 177th of 240 in the CFB Zeitgeist — outside the at-large picture — the path runs through the conference title.

Heartland · 2025

	Team	Conf	Overall	Index
1	Hanover College	6-0	9-3	66.0
2	Mount St. Joseph	5-1	6-5	52.4
3	Franklin	3-3	5-5	49.7
4	Bluffton	3-3	5-5	46.9
5	Rose-Hulman	3-3	3-7	42.8
6	Anderson (IN)	1-5	2-8	36.2
7	Manchester	0-6	0-10	28.5

42.8 CFB Zeitgeist#177 of 240 D350.6 strength of schedule

Win the Heartland Conference for the automatic berth into the 40-team NCAA Division III bracket. Miss it and the path is an at-large bid, selected by NPI — the metric the CFB Index mirrors. Six wins survive the bracket to the Stagg Bowl.

Source: CFB Zeitgeist — conference records + NPI-style rating from 2025 games · the field is 40 teams, NPI-selected

THE 2025 SEASON · 3-7

Signature win 38-0 over Anderson (IN); toughest day 0-48 against Mount St. Joseph.

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The Fightin' Engineers bide their time.

What moved it — offseason · last 30 days

June Dead-period quiet — official-visit + heritage window —

Camp Fall camp ~40 days out

"Go Rose-Hulman" — Rose-Hulman fanbase · recurring line

0 mentions · awaiting signal

Winning record—

The baseline for a successful season.

Conference title—

The primary goal and national bracket path.

32-team bracket qualifierLocked—

One of 32 national tournament entries.

Stagg BowlLocked—

The Division III national championship game.

Floor 1-11

Base 3-9

Ceiling 6-6

floor1-11Rebuild year. Below .500.

base3-9Mid-table finish.

ceiling6-6Conference title race. Bracket qualifier in range.

Variance assumed at ±2 wins from last-season record. Replace with the season-path projection once preview data is built.

Act II

Who We Are

Home-Field Advantage · Rose-Hulman · 2018-present

Soft

50% home win rate vs 55% on the road. margin runs -0.9 weaker at home.

Home10-10Away11-9

Act III

Last Season Reviewed

2025 season · tap to expand

Recent Form · last 10 games

Cooling

Two of five. Schedule has caught up.

Streak L1Last 5 · 2-3Last 10 · 3-7

Schedule Strength · Rose-Hulman · 2025

Balanced

Average opponent win rate 49% across 10 finalized games. Balanced slate across the conference slate.

Opp Win %0.493

Moment of the Year · Rose-Hulman · 2025

Won 35-13 at Manchester

Week 10 of 2025. A statement margin. Recruiting boards re-rendered overnight.

Decisive Margin

From the Archive — Rose-Hulman

2024: Won 52-10 at Bluffton

In 2024, the program won 52-10 at Bluffton — a blowout road result that left the 42-point margin on the books.

Go Fightin' Engineers.