Football | 3/18/2015 10:00:00 AM
Moon Township, Pa. – Four matchups with first-time opponents, six home games and three contests with programs that finished in the national top 25 last year are some of the highlights of the 2015
Robert Morris University football schedule that was released Wednesday.
RMU will play 11 games for the fifth consecutive season in 2015 under second-year head coach
John Banaszak.
The Colonials will not have an easy road to travel in 2015 as none of their non-conference foes finished under .500 a season ago. Robert Morris will face three teams in its first six games that finished 2014 nationally ranked, including facing two squads from the Missouri Valley Football Conference on the road.
After starting each of the last two seasons in August, Robert Morris will christen the 2015 campaign Saturday, Sept. 5, at home, marking the first time since 2007 and 2008 that the Colonials have begun back-to-back seasons at home. RMU will face Dayton in its season opener, continuing the longest-running, non-conference rivalry in program history. The Colonials and Flyers will take to the opposite sidelines for the 18th time, and the 10th consecutive season, in September.
The familiarity RMU has with its season-opening opponent will soon head out the window as a Sept. 12 matchup at Youngstown State is the first of the three consecutive games against a first-time foe. The Colonials will kick off with the four-time national champion Penguins at 7:00 p.m. in what will be first-year head coach Bo Pelini's home opener.
RMU will celebrate the University's Homecoming festivities Saturday, Sept. 19, with a contest against Notre Dame College. The Colonials and Falcons will kick off for the first time ever at 3:00 p.m.
Robert Morris will make its farthest trip of the season in the final week of September as it heads to the Mount Rushmore State for its inaugural meeting with South Dakota State. The Jackrabbits have won a game in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last three years and had a lead at eventual national champion North Dakota State in the final minute of their 2014 playoff contest.
The Colonials will play six of their seven games in October and November against Northeast Conference foes. That stretch will begin with an October 3 trip to Wagner before RMU returns home for an October 10 contest against Sacred Heart. The Seahawks and Pioneers were NEC co-champions in 2014, presenting RMU with a pair of tough tests right of the gate in league play.
After enjoying its lone bye of the season, RMU will remain home for its annual clash with local rival Duquesne October 24 (6:00 p.m.) before closing the month with a Halloween affair at Central Connecticut State.
Robert Morris will play its final non-conference game November 7 when it hosts East Tennessee State. The first meeting between the Colonials and Buccaneers will represent RMU's first regular-season, non-conference game in November since 2003.
The Colonials will close the season with NEC matchups at in-state foe Saint Francis Nov. 14 before returning to Joe Walton Stadium for a Nov. 21 meeting with Bryant.
The 2015 season will mark the first time ever that Robert Morris has faced four schools for the first time in program history (with the exception of the team's inaugural season). It will also be only the third time the Colonials have played at home six times with the most recent occurrence coming in 2008.
Robert Morris has won six NEC titles, the highest figure of any active league member. The Colonials will host their annual Spring Game Saturday, April 18.
