Joe Walton Stadium (3,000) - Moon Township, Pa.
Top Story -Â The
Robert Morris University football team returns home for its fifth Northeast Conference (NEC) contest this Saturday, Nov. 16, at Noon as the Colonials welcome 9-2 Sacred Heart to Joe Walton Stadium. The winner of the game will claim, at a minimum, a share of the league championship. Robert Morris can clinch the league's automatic playoff bid with a win and wins by Central Connecticut State and Wagner while the Pioneers can clinch it with a win and a win by Wagner. On the other hand, RMU would be eliminated from claiming the auto bid with a loss while a loss by Sacred Heart would end its chances at a league title. Saturday is Robert Morris' home finale and thus will be the final regular-season home game for Joe Walton, the only head coach in program history. RMU is coming off of its third straight league win, two of which came on the road, as it toppled Central Connecticut State last weekend, 54-21. As is customary, the Colonials will take a moment to honor each of their seniors, 21 in all, in a brief ceremony prior to kickoff. RMU will finish the regular season next Saturday, Nov. 23, at Saint Francis.
Quick Stat of the Afternoon - Robert Morris delivered an offensive outburst in its victory last week at CCSU. The Colonials scored seven touchdowns en route to 54 points. The seven TD's marked only the second time that RMU found the end zone seven times in a road game and were also the most in any game by RMU since the inaugural contest at Joe Walton Stadium in 2005, a 49-13 victory over Butler. What made last week's display more notable was the fact that each touchdown was scored by a different Colonial—that marked the first time in RMU history that seven distinct Colonials scored a TD in the same game. Three of those seven scored touchdowns for the first time in their career (
Kenny Davis;
Eric Lowry;
Kimani Smith) while a fourth scored via a new medium (
Deontae Howard had his first receiving touchdown). After its strong outing, the RMU offense will be challenged as it faces the NEC leader in scoring defense in Sacred Heart.
Saturday's Opponent - Robert Morris has met up with Sacred Heart in each of the past 15 seasons, and the series has been largely even. RMU has a slim, 8-7, edge, but the squads have split the eight prior meetings in Pennsylvania and have also split the four prior matchups at Joe Walton Stadium. RMU scored two touchdowns in the final 10 minutes in last year's meeting with the Pioneers to come from behind and claim a 21-17 victory in Connecticut. Four of the past five games have been decided by four points or fewer.
All-Time Series vs. Sacred Heart
Robert Morris leads, 8-7
10/17/98 -Â W, 44-7; Home
10/16/99 -Â W, 48-0; Home
11/4/00 -Â W, 31-20; Away
9/22/01 -Â L, 31-44; Home
10/5/02 -Â L, 0-34; Away
10/18/03 -Â L, 20-24; Home
11/13/04 -Â L, 3-24; Away
11/12/05 -Â L, 20-27; Home
11/11/06 -Â W, 41-21; Away
11/10/07 -Â W, 41-31; Home
10/4/08 -Â L, 28-31; Away
10/31/09 -Â W, 9-7; Home
9/11/10 -Â W, 35-31; Away
10/29/11 -Â L, 15-27; Home
11/10/12
-Â W, 21-17;
Away
@ Moon Township, Pa. - Tied, 4-4
@ Fairfield, Conn. - Robert Morris, 4-3
SHU Quick Outs - Robert Morris has won five of the last seven meetings between the two programs … Four of the past five games have been decided by four points or fewer, three of which were won by RMU … RMU's 9-7 victory in 2009 (10/31) is one of just three occurrences in school history in which the Colonials failed to score 10 points but still garnered a victory …
Tyjuan Massey (2002-05) set RMU school records for receptions (10), receiving yards (272) and all-purpose yards (349) in the 2005 meeting between these programs … The longest fumble return in school history for Robert Morris came in a 41-21 victory @ Sacred Heart (11/11/06) just over seven years ago, as former defensive back
James Kazil (2004-07) returned a fumble 94 yards for a touchdown … The home team is just 7-8 (.467) in the all-time series and has lost three straight meetings.
On This Date (Nov. 16) in Robert Morris Football History - Robert Morris has played twice before on November 16, but only one of those contests was a home game. RMU won its first-ever game on Nov. 16, a contest that was its final home game of 1996 as well as its penultimate outing of the season. After a scoreless first quarter against C.W. Post, RMU took control over their middle two quarters. The Colonials scored 14 points before halftime and added three more touchdowns in the third frame to take a 35-0 lead after 45 minutes of action. The defense's shutout bid was ended with a single second remaining in regulation as the Pioneers found the end zone to set the final margin at 35-6. Nonetheless, that final score could hardly dent a stout defensive effort from the Colonials as they yielded only 114 total yards of offense and held the Pioneers to -25 rushing yards. RMU tallied 10 sacks, a single-game school record that still stands as seven Colonials got to the quarterback.
Archie Wannamaker (1996-98) ran for 122 yards and a TD.
Head Coach Joe Walton (20th season; Pittsburgh '57) - At the forefront of the football renaissance at Robert Morris University throughout its 20-year history is Joe Walton, who has built the Colonials from a fledgling program into one of the top Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) teams in the region.
The one constant associated with the program, Walton was named the first head coach July 27, 1993. He started the program from scratch, completing everything from hiring assistant coaches to purchasing equipment to recruiting student-athletes for the team's inaugural season in 1994. He owns an overall record of 114-90-1 (.559).
Walton's fingerprints are all over the football program,and to prove that, RMU has played its home games since 2005 in a stadium that bears his name. During his tenure, Walton has led Robert Morris to the first Northeast Conference championship in 1996, guided RMU to a perfect 10-0 season in 2000 and in 2010 helped lead the Colonials to the NEC's inaugural bid to the NCAA FCS Playoffs with their league-high sixth regular-season championship.
"It's hard to believe," Walton speaks on how fast time has elapsed. "I've said this many times before, and I mean it when I say that this situation is one of the best things that has ever happened to me in my life. It happened at the right time. Before this position became available, I felt I was too young to quit coaching, but I wasn't anxious to get back into pro football. When this came along, it was the perfect fit. This situation was the perfect opportunity for me to continue to do what I like to do, and I've loved every minute of it."
Under Walton's tutelage, the Colonials have claimed outright NEC regular-season titles three times (1997, 1999, 2000) while sharing three others (1996, 1998, 2010). Walton led Robert Morris to back-to-back ECAC Bowl victories in 1996 and 1997, and in 1999 and 2000 he guided RMU to a pair of NCAA I-AA mid-major national crowns according to Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette.
In 2010, Walton added to his legacy by engineering the Colonials on an eight-game winning streak for a share of the NEC regular-season title and the NEC's first bid in the NCAA FCS Playoffs. In the process he picked up his 100th career victory in the collegiate ranks.
Last Time Out - Robert Morris used 30 second-quarter points to blow open the game and cruised to a 54-21 victory over CCSU … Both Eric Lowry and Luke Mueller registered their second interception in the last three games … Safety D.J. Myers forced and recovered a fumble, the first recovery of his career … Paul Jones tossed three touchdowns for the second straight game … Running back Deontae Howard tallied the first receiving TD of his career … Fullback Ryan Thermil ran for his first touchdown of the season … Brian Jones tied for team high honors with a career-best seven stops … RMU moved to 9-1 (.900) in its last 10 games when forcing at least three turnovers.
Player of the Week - Sophomore linebacker Kimani Smith was named NEC Defensive Player of the Week Monday. Smith, who claimed his first-ever honor, registered the first interception of his career in the second quarter and immediately took off the other way, bringing it back 31 yards to the end zone for his first-career touchdown. Smith finished the day with five tackles, four of which stopped the ballcarrier short of a first down and three of which kept him from gaining no more than two yards.
Lighting It Up - Robert Morris' 54 points in last week's victory stand as the second-most in school history and the highest figure since the Colonials scored 63 in a win at Saint Francis in 2000, a span of 141 games. RMU did top one record, though, as the 40 points it put up in the first 30 minutes are the most the Colonials have ever scored in a single half. In fact, 30 of those points came in the second quarter, all within a span of 10:11.
Spread the Love - Robert Morris registered four interceptions in last week's win at CCSU. It marked just the eighth time in RMU history that the Colonials had at least four picks in a game. However, what was even more unique was that four distinct Colonials each had INT's (Marcelis Branch; Eric Lowry; Luke Mueller; Kimani Smith). It marked only the second time, and first since 1994, that at least four different Colonials had interceptions in the same game.
Any Given Saturday - Entering Saturday's contest against Sacred Heart, senior safety D.J. Myers should have pretty good odds of seeing the field, judging solely by his past history. Myers has appeared in 42 games in his RMU career, playing in every game since the beginning of the 2010 season. He is the only active Colonial to own this distinction. Redshirt senior R.J. Cook currently tops the squad as he has played in 44 games in his career.
Making the Grade - Redshirt senior linebacker Kyle Cooper and junior offensive lineman Nick Faraci were both named Capital One Academic All-District First Team in an announcement made by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) last week. As a result of their first-team selections, both Colonials will now advance to the Academic All-America ballot. While this is the first such honor for both Cooper and Faraci, the RMU football program is no stranger to academic successes. These two accolades give the Colonial program at least one Academic All-District honoree in each of the past 11 seasons, a span in which Robert Morris has taken home 21 overall selections. To put that in perspective, no other NEC school has an active streak of football academic all-district selections longer than two years. Cooper, a sport management major who is minoring in legal studies, has a 3.73 GPA. He has 69 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and has forced two turnovers this season. Faraci, a nursing major, has a sterling 3.93 GPA. He has started 20 consecutive games at center, the most consecutive starts by any active Colonial that plays on the offensive side of the ball.
