16-14 win over Sacred Heart. Pioneers missed a field goal as time expired.

7-5, 6-1 in the NEC. Wasn't pretty a lot of the time, but it was effective. Program took huge leaps forward in Bernard Clark's second season. If he's not Coach of the Year in the NEC, it'd be ridiculous. Mason Gray could be considered a strong candidate for defensive player of the year, too.

There is a lot to like about this team moving forward. George Martin showed flashes, but also should be challenged as the starting QB in the spring and fall. Alijah Jackson looks like a future NEC rushing leader, though I think RMU will always need a strong No. 2 back because of Jackson's durability.

Garrett Houser showed some nice flashes, but there is definitely a need at receiver. Maybe some of the redshirt guys can step up, but I wouldn't mind a high-end JuCo/grad transfer.

Love that RMU could still have six guys up front with starting experience next year, depending on what some guys do with their fifth year. Same with experience on the defensive line, though end looks much thinner than tackle.

Aniello Buzzacco is an all-conference linebacker and still has two years. Garrett Fairman looks like a solid outside pass rusher. And there were young linebackers they brought in last year that could be ready to take a step. Same in the secondary now that Jacob White can be an anchor back there and the young guys who had to play last year got a bit more time to grow up (Dickerson, Dandridge in particular).

Always things to address, but there is a lot of promise on this team. Target a couple areas with JuCos and a grad transfer. Get some good freshmen. And contend for the NEC crown next year.

The game is on ESPN3 tonight at 8:00. UIC game notes are available here.

Four scholarships available for next year's recruiting class. Guards Josh Williams, Sayveon McEwen, and forward Yannis Mendy will graduate, and RMU also has one open slot left from this past season.

And it looks like the first spot is taken by Trayden Williams, a 6-2 guard from North Carolina.

Login to view embedded media

Football, from my following of twitter, it appears RMU has offered a number of JUCO football players. The signing date for JUCO mid-transfers is December 18th. I guess ideally it would be great to bring in all true freshmen each year, but with the reality of roster turnovers in college sports, there are always going to be holes to fill at certain positions so bringing in a few JUCOs each year makes sense. The JUCOs that are mid-year transfers are especially helpful since they can participate in spring drills and get to know the system.

Basketball, I am very excited about the three JUCO transfers new to the team this year. AJ already has a couple of double/doubles and has high-level athletic talent. Jalen is another talented and exciting athlete. DJ is the type of center that can excel in the NEC, a rugged 6'7" aggressive rebounder with the ability to score around the basket. Often it seems that it takes a couple of months for JUCO basketball players to get acclimated to playing D-1, then they start to show their abilities after the holidays. These three should be good to go for the Conference schedule and should be able to excel against NEC competition.

I really like it when we can get a player such as Jalen that has played one year of JUCO and comes in with three years of eligibility remaining.

Go Colonials!

Nice to get first win yesterday and see the offense come alive. Toledo game today will be tough. Both teams have played at Marshall, RMU losing by 7 and Toledo winning by 26. Game is at 2:00 in ESPN3.

Tomorrow is the big day. Two years of playing downtown and at the rec center are behind us. Unfortunately Pitt lost at home to Nicholls State on Saturday, so expect them to come out ready to make up for that loss. Better their intensity fellas and let's see what happens!

Anyone know a stream to watch this game?

It will be a monster game. I have been disappointed by the crowd size this season. I know its can be cold out there but students, family and fans need to pack JWS. I hope the Athletic Department does their part to get the students there.

Single game seats are now available.

If you didn’t get season tickets or the 3 game mini plan, get them now before the Pitt fans do.

Got my seats...ready for the season!

-GoRMU

Matt Furjanic has been hired to coach Woodland Hills.

RMU:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.si...ocuments/2019/10/9/10_12_19_Saint_Francis.pdf

https://thedmonline.com/elementor-81067/

Interview(ed) for chancellor at University of Mississippi

RMU Game Notes
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.si...ments/2019/9/25/09_28_19_Youngstown_State.pdf

Per FBSchedules:

The Central Michigan Chippewas have added the Robert Morris Colonials to their 2021 football schedule, the school announced on Tuesday.

Central Michigan will host Robert Morris at Kelly/Shorts Stadium in Mount Pleasant, Mich., on Saturday, September 11, 2021. The game will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Robert Morris is a member of the Northeast Conference (NEC) in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Colonials are 0-3 so far this season following consecutive losses to Buffalo, Kentucky State, and Dayton.

Central Michigan also confirmed today our report that they will play the FIU Panthers in a home-and-home series. CMU will host FIU on Saturday, Sept. 25, 2021 and will travel to take on the Panther on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024.

“As we prepare to head to South Florida this weekend for a game at Miami, it is clear what great fans we have in that area and this gives us another opportunity to play in front of those alums and supporters,” Zyzelewski Family Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Michael Alford said. “It also brings another quality opponent to Kelly/Shorts stadium as we continue to build attractive home slates for our fans.”

The addition of Robert Morris completes Central Michigan’s non-conference schedule for the 2021 season. CMU is also scheduled to play at Missouri (Sept. 4) and LSU (Sept. 18) and host FIU (Sept. 25) that season.

Central Michigan is the second known non-conference opponent for Robert Morris in 2021. The Colonials are also scheduled to play at Morehead State on Sept. 18.

I am hopeful that the win yesterday was a turning point, not only for this season but for the program.
It certainly was a good road win, that required a long bus ride against a Southern Conference opponent. After the Kentucky State loss, I was wondering if this program would ever turnaround. Now, looking back, with just a few fewer turnovers, the Colonials would be 3-1 instead of 1-3. Obviously, Youngstown is a high-quality opponent, hopefully, RMU can make a respectable showing and then be ready to be competitive in the NEC. Hopefully, in a couple of years, we can look back and see that this past Saturday was when the RMU football program became a winning program again.

Anyone know why Caleb Lewis got the start at VMI today? George Martin is in uniform on the sideline, but he's just holding a clipboard. Lewis has played every snap.

It's worked out okay - RMU is up 21-8 at the half thanks to a great defensive performance and timely touchdowns. But very strange after Martin played so well last week.

Apparently neither played in college. Per Trib:

Robert Morris men’s basketball coach Andy Toole recently announced that Shane Southwell and Matthew Sweet have been added to his coaching staff.

Southwell will be an assistant coach and Sweet the director of basketball administration and video coordinator.

“Both Shane and Matt come from winning basketball programs, and we’re fortunate to have them both on staff at Robert Morris,” Toole said in a release. “I look forward to both of them continuing the winning culture that we’ve established and helping our student-athletes both on and off the court.”

Southwell joins the staff from Kansas State, where he spent last season as the program’s director of student-athlete development after serving two seasons as a graduate student manager.

He is a native of Harlem, N.Y., who also served as the video coordinator for Team USA at the 2019 U19 World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.

While a graduate assistant with the Wildcats, Southwell helped KSU post consecutive 25-win seasons for the first time in school history. Kansas State went 25-12 and advanced to the Elite Eight in 2017-18 and last season finished 25-9, earning a share of the Big 12 regular-season championship.

Sweet, a native of London, Ohio, joins the Colonials from Dayton, where he spent the last two seasons as a graduate assistant and video coordinator.

Sweet also was the assistant camp director for Dayton Basketball Camps in the summers of 2017 and 2018. Sweet earned a bachelor’s degree in sport management from Dayton in 2017 as well as a MBA in 2019.

Dayton's
https://daytonflyers.com/documents/2019/9/11//Robert_Morris.pdf