Fresh off its first college football victory of the season, Robert Morris will look to stay on the winning track Saturday when the University of Dayton visits Joe Walton Stadium for a 2 p.m. matchup.
After opening the season with back-to-back losses, the Colonials found West Liberty to be a much better match and came away with a 28-14 victory over the Division II Hilltoppers.
Robert Morris started quickly by jumping out to a 14-0 lead on a 10-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zach Tanner to Thomas Lee and a 2-yard touchdown run by Donta Whack. The Colonials extended the lead in the second half on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Tanner to Jaqai Carter and later added a 1-yard touchdown run by Ethan Shine.
Offensively, Robert Morris leaned on the rushing attack and were led by Ethan Shine, who rushed for 133 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Tanner was efficient on a small number of pass attempts, completing 8 of 9 for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Lee led in receiving with five receptions for 44 yards and one touchdown.
Robert Morris had a strong defensive performance, led by Patrick McDonnell, who recorded six tackles (three for loss) and a sack. Ameer Johnson also added six tackles and 1.5 sacks. The Colonial secondary had two interceptions, one each by Tahseen Howard and Isreal Petite.
Dayton, an FCS and a member of the Pioneer Football League, is 1-1. The Ohio program is led by quarterback Bryce Schondelmyer, who has thrown for 371 yards and four touchdowns, and he’s also a threat to run the ball.
Luke Hansen is Dayton’s leading rusher with 159 yards and Gavin Lochow is the top receiver with 15 receptions for 207 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Dayton has one shut out this season.
Robert Morris opened its season by stepping up in class and taking on the West Virginia Mountaineers, and the Colonials suffered a 45-3 loss in Morgantown, W. Va.
Robert Morris has scheduled Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents for several consecutive years, including Utah State and Air Force in the past two years. The game in Morgantown marked RMU’s first game against an FBS “Power Conference” opponent, in this case, the Big 12, as well as Rich Rodriguez’s return as the Mountaineers’ coach.
The game’s first half was a hotly contested, primarily due to RMU’s ability to create defensive turnovers. In the second quarter, the heavily favored Mountaineers lost three fumbles on consecutive drives. Overall, WVU fumbled five times in the game, losing four.
Robert Morris’ offense was unable to capitalize on the turnovers, other than a 36-yard field goal by Jayson Jenkins, but kept the game close with WVU leading only 10-3 at halftime. In the second half, the Mountaineers’ depth took control on both sides of the ball, with WVU rushing for 393 yards and five touchdowns and quarterback Nicco Marchiol passing for 224 yards and one touchdown. In addition, Robert Morris turned the ball over twice with lost fumbles. West Virginia eventually pulled away for the victory.
Tanner was 7 of 21 for 70 yards and the rushing game struggled with only 53 total yards. Lee led RMU in receiving with two receptions for 22 yards. Defensively, McDonnell led RMU with nine tackles.
In the Colonials first FCS contest of the season against Youngstown State, the Penguins rolled to a 56-17 victory.
Robert Morris’ defensive struggles against the run were apparent for the second consecutive game as YSU quarterback Beau Brungard set a Missouri Valley Conference and YSU record for quarterbacks by rushing for 264 yards and four touchdowns. Brungard was also 12 of 16 passing for 122 yards and one touchdown.
Youngstown State’s rushing game accounted for 424 yards on the ground and the Penguins scored on eight consecutive drives, totaling 56 points. Robert Morris struggled offensively through the first three quarters, though Tanner threw for two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter. Tanner was 16 of 29 for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Lee and Kai Holloway caught touchdown passes of 34 and 16 yards, respectively. Lee was the leading receiver with five receptions for 75 yards. Defensively, Mitchell Robinson led RMU with nine tackles and one sack.
This season marks RMU’s 32nd as a Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program and the team is in its second season as a returning member of the Northeast Conference, after participating in the Big South Conference from 2020 through 2023.
Benard Clark, in his eighth season as head coach, led the Colonials to a successful 7-5 season in their return to the Northeast Conference in 2024. The 2024 team won six consecutive home games and fielded a team that included nine all-conference players, as well as 16 players on Phil Steele’s All-NEC Team.
In the current climate of college football, the transfer portal makes continuity difficult, but Robert Morris brought in several transfers to supplement an experienced base. While Tanner, a returning junior, has been starting at quarterback, former Central Valley quarterback and Harvard transfer Ameer Dudley will also be in the mix. At running back, Shine and Whack, a University of Massachusetts transfer, figure to be the primary ball carriers.
Defensively, the secondary will encompass, amongst others, Elijah Davis (Ball St. transfer), Isreal Petite, Jakari Patterson (Austin Peay transfer) and Robert Dickerson. The defensive front will include Trey Woods, David Johnson and Okey Egbuziem (South Dakota transfer) on the initial depth chart and Nathan Carabatsakis, Robinson and McDonnell (Walsh D II transfer) round out the defensive unit.
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