12 story lines for RMU at Lafayette. The 12 pack reads better with an actual 12 pack.
1) Ram: All eyes will be on freshman RB Ram Owens. We knew the kid had talent, and that translated right away with a week 2 that included 199 rushing yards. The kid is an absolute beast, but he's going to face a much stingier run defense.
2) Stretch it out: Would love to see some shots downfield today. The defense is going to load up the box and key on the run. Some play-action to suck the linebackers in could open up the middle of the field. I'm not asking for 50 yard bombs, just throws of 15+ yards. Duane Mitchell has proved very effective in this aspect.
3) Last time out: RMU defeated Lafayette under the lights 31-28. RMU jumped out to a huge lead, only to have it tied up at 28 before Jeff Sinclair led a 67 yard drive to set up a Greg Langer game winner. Duane Mitchell caught his first touchdown pass that game. Donte Jeter had 7 catches for 131. Mike Cook had 10 tackles. Fun, fun, fun.
4) Injuries: Don't expect Sean Gavin (shoulder) to play. No Forrest mason.
5) Turnovers: RMU is +2 in turnover differential this year., with room to improve when you consider only 1 of 3 fumbles were recovered in week one's loss. Fumbles can be tricky, but I do expect to see the interception numbers rise as the secondary gets better accommodated and changes scheme a little.
6) Under the radar: Two guys in the front 7 who probably don't get the coverage they deserve? DE's Ryan Lewis and Austin Trgovcich. Trgovcich is third on the team in tackles and has half a sack and forced fumble to his credit. Lewis doesn't have the tackle numbers but does have a sack. I also suspect that teams are starting to run away from him a little more, something I'll be keeping an eye on in todays game.
7) Booting: Punter Tony LaMancusa is on pace to punt more in his senior season than any other prior season. His 17 punts through two games has him on pace for 94 punts this season. His prior career high was 66 in 2012.
8) Special teams: Speaking of special teams, how about the rest of the unit picks up some slack. ST didn't look bad against EKU but was deplorable at UND. Fumbled punts, long kickoff returns, and blocked FG's and extra points. I talked to Banaszak this week and was a little confused with his comments to be honest. He said the kickoff team is full of freshman but the field goal unit is not, but then went on to blame the youth for their struggles last week. Whatever the case is, that unit cannot cost them another game.
9) Red zone D: The Robert Morris red zone defense has been outstanding. I went through and recorded the yardage of every play in the red zone the past two games. I included penalty yardage in these totals, which alters the numbers a little but I think is relevant enough to add. EKU ran 17 plays inside the Robert Morris 20 for 28 yards. EKU also had two 15 yard penalties, which hurt this number for them. UND was only in the red zone for 7 plays last week and totaled -4 yards. Again, negative penalty yardage hurt both offenses, but the point remains: the RMU defense is putting their foot in the dirt when the offense reaches the red zone. Impressive work by the defense.
10) Head coach John Banaszak, on what it would mean to get his first win: "It would mean I wouldn't have to wait another week."
11) I had senior wide receiver Phil Peckich on my radio show this week, and we talked a little offensive philosophy. He thinks the offense is close to breaking off some big plays through the air: "Ideally, some of those shorter 5 yard routes turn into 35 yard gains as we wear the defense down."
12) Plays per game alert... Week 1: 75. Week 2: 82. Again, try not to focus too much on time of possession. Offensive coordinators subscribe more to the philosophy of running more plays means more chances to score. You're more likely to score five touchdowns in a game by running 75 plays as opposed to 55.
1) Ram: All eyes will be on freshman RB Ram Owens. We knew the kid had talent, and that translated right away with a week 2 that included 199 rushing yards. The kid is an absolute beast, but he's going to face a much stingier run defense.
2) Stretch it out: Would love to see some shots downfield today. The defense is going to load up the box and key on the run. Some play-action to suck the linebackers in could open up the middle of the field. I'm not asking for 50 yard bombs, just throws of 15+ yards. Duane Mitchell has proved very effective in this aspect.
3) Last time out: RMU defeated Lafayette under the lights 31-28. RMU jumped out to a huge lead, only to have it tied up at 28 before Jeff Sinclair led a 67 yard drive to set up a Greg Langer game winner. Duane Mitchell caught his first touchdown pass that game. Donte Jeter had 7 catches for 131. Mike Cook had 10 tackles. Fun, fun, fun.
4) Injuries: Don't expect Sean Gavin (shoulder) to play. No Forrest mason.
5) Turnovers: RMU is +2 in turnover differential this year., with room to improve when you consider only 1 of 3 fumbles were recovered in week one's loss. Fumbles can be tricky, but I do expect to see the interception numbers rise as the secondary gets better accommodated and changes scheme a little.
6) Under the radar: Two guys in the front 7 who probably don't get the coverage they deserve? DE's Ryan Lewis and Austin Trgovcich. Trgovcich is third on the team in tackles and has half a sack and forced fumble to his credit. Lewis doesn't have the tackle numbers but does have a sack. I also suspect that teams are starting to run away from him a little more, something I'll be keeping an eye on in todays game.
7) Booting: Punter Tony LaMancusa is on pace to punt more in his senior season than any other prior season. His 17 punts through two games has him on pace for 94 punts this season. His prior career high was 66 in 2012.
8) Special teams: Speaking of special teams, how about the rest of the unit picks up some slack. ST didn't look bad against EKU but was deplorable at UND. Fumbled punts, long kickoff returns, and blocked FG's and extra points. I talked to Banaszak this week and was a little confused with his comments to be honest. He said the kickoff team is full of freshman but the field goal unit is not, but then went on to blame the youth for their struggles last week. Whatever the case is, that unit cannot cost them another game.
9) Red zone D: The Robert Morris red zone defense has been outstanding. I went through and recorded the yardage of every play in the red zone the past two games. I included penalty yardage in these totals, which alters the numbers a little but I think is relevant enough to add. EKU ran 17 plays inside the Robert Morris 20 for 28 yards. EKU also had two 15 yard penalties, which hurt this number for them. UND was only in the red zone for 7 plays last week and totaled -4 yards. Again, negative penalty yardage hurt both offenses, but the point remains: the RMU defense is putting their foot in the dirt when the offense reaches the red zone. Impressive work by the defense.
10) Head coach John Banaszak, on what it would mean to get his first win: "It would mean I wouldn't have to wait another week."
11) I had senior wide receiver Phil Peckich on my radio show this week, and we talked a little offensive philosophy. He thinks the offense is close to breaking off some big plays through the air: "Ideally, some of those shorter 5 yard routes turn into 35 yard gains as we wear the defense down."
12) Plays per game alert... Week 1: 75. Week 2: 82. Again, try not to focus too much on time of possession. Offensive coordinators subscribe more to the philosophy of running more plays means more chances to score. You're more likely to score five touchdowns in a game by running 75 plays as opposed to 55.
