RMU continually pressured Profs signal caller Mike Orihel all afternoon, sacking him eight times, while superback Davon Edwards was held in check, gaining just 20 yards on 10 carries. Senior defensive lineman Ray Gensler (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Keystone Oaks) posted four and-a-half sacks of Orihel to push his season total to nine and his career mark to 17, which ties the school record held by former defensive lineman Jason Spencer (1994-97). With seven games remaining on the 2006 season, Gensler is just two sacks away from tying the single-season school record, which is also held by Spencer and was set in 1997.

The Colonials received inspired special teams play against Rowan, turning two punt return fumbles by the Profs into scores while junior Mario Hines (Ecorse, Mich. / Ecorse) capped the day's scoring with a 48-yard punt return for a touchdown to give RMU a 21-0 lead. Robert Morris opened its scoring with a 12-play, 51-yard drive that was capped by a two-yard touchdown run from sophomore quarterback Erik Cwalinski (Jacobsburg, Ohio / Shadyside) on a naked bootleg. The drive was set up by a Rowan fumble on a punt return, as Kelvin Bellamy fumbled at the RMU-49 yard line on a force by sophomore Scott Schade (Rocky River, Ohio / Rocky River). Senior Jarvis Powers (Stafford, Va. / Brooke Point) came up with the loose ball to give possession back to the Colonials.

The score remained 7-0 entering halftime as Rowan was held to -18 yards of total offense in the first half, and the Colonials received some breathing room in the third quarter when Jabrill Joseph fumbled a punt return at the Prof 11-yard line. This time senior Jason Davis (Pembroke Pines, Fla. / Hollywood Hills) pounced on the ball, giving the Colonials back the ball deep in Rowan territory. Three plays later senior halfback Kevin Drakeford Jr. (Englewood, N.J. / Paramus Catholic) scored from a yard out to give Robert Morris a 14-0 lead. After holding the Profs to three-and-out on their next possession, Hines became just the second Colonial in school history to return a punt for a touchdown, scampering 48 yards to give RMU a 21-0 lead.

Cwalinski, pressured all day by Rowan and sacked five times, completed 13 of his 24 passing attempts for 112 yards, while senior fullback Moises Hernandez (Miami, Fla. / LaSalle) finished with four catches for 21 yards to lead the receiving corps. Freshman halfback Brian Harden (Sunrise, Fla. / Stranahan) paced the running game with 38 yards on 14 attempts.

The afternoon belonged to the defense, however, as Gensler finished with seven tackles, all of which for losses, while senior linebacker Jeff Rommes (Gibsonia, Pa. / Deer Lakes) paced the defense with eight takedowns, including half a sack. Junior middle linebacker Jordan Howard (Uniontown, Ohio / Lake) added five takedowns and one and-a-half sacks, while senior defensive lineman Matt Brunck (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Fox Chapel) and senior strong safety Brian Pruitt (Steubenville, Ohio / Steubenville) each finished with six tackles.

Robert Morris now gears up for its 2006 Northeast Conference opener Saturday, Sept. 30, when it travels east up Route 22 to Loretto, Pa., for a 4:00 p.m. tilt at in-state rival Saint Francis in a game that will be televised live on Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh.

Notes: The shutout marked RMU's first since a 14-0 win over Central Connecticut State (9/21/02), a span of 41 games ... Hines joined former Colonial Dante Settles (2000-04) as the only players in the program's 13-year history to return a punt for a touchdown ... Through the first four games of the season Robert Morris owns 19 sacks ... The school record for most sacks in a year by a Colonial club is 33 (1997) ... Rowan was 0-for-13 in third-down conversions, the second straight week the Colonials held their opponent without a third-down conversion and also a new school record ... RMU held Saint Francis to 0-for-12 in third-down conversions in a 63-0 victory over the Red Flash Sept. 30, 2000.