Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University football team rallied from a fourth quarter deficit to take the lead, but Dayton had the last laugh Saturday as the Flyers came away with a 27-24 victory on a warm, humid afternoon at Joe Walton Stadium.
Dayton's 37-yard field goal with 2:32 remaining proved to be the game winner as the clock ran out on RMU's final drive with the Colonials driving in Flyer territory.
RMU won the turnover battle Saturday and also performed considerably better on third down (10-for-22 to Dayton's 5-for-18 mark), but the Colonials came up three points short.
The Robert Morris defense put forth a strong effort against the nation's fifth-leading rusher from a year ago in Dayton's Connor Kacsor. RMU held Kacsor to 2.2 yards per carry on 33 attempts after he averaged 6.1 yards per carry during the 2014 season. The Colonials kept the Flyers under 300 total yards and posted 9.0 tackles for loss Saturday, continuing a recent trend as RMU posted 33 TFL in its final three games in 2014.
Sophomore Ryan Richards Jr. grabbed two interceptions for RMU Saturday while adding six tackles and a pass breakup. He becomes the 18th distinct Colonial to grab multiple picks in the same game, and it is also the second straight season opener in which a Colonial achieved that feat.
Redshirt senior captain Mike Stojkovic contributed a team high 13 tackles, including a tackle for loss, while also forcing a fumble that the hosts recovered, his first forced fumble as a Colonial.
Redshirt junior cornerback Marcelis Branch added 12 stops while classmate Kimani Smith posted eight tackles, including a game best 2.5 tackles for loss.
RMU punted on the game's opening drive, and Dayton subsequently drove into Colonial territory. Stojkovic then teamed up with junior defensive end Ryan Lewis to stop a Dayton rush short of the chains on a fourth down attempt.
A trio of punts followed before a Dayton field goal attempt was blocked by junior weak safety Andy Smigiera.
Three more punts would occur before Richards Jr. grabbed his first pick of the game, which he returned to the Dayton 3-yard line. Three plays later, true freshman Mathew Barr lofted a high pass into the right side of the end zone, and redshirt sophomore Nic Lamica outjumped his defender to haul it in and open the scoring.
RMU immediately forced a Dayton three-and-out to get the ball back to its offense. The Colonials would convert on two third downs, via the legs of sophomore Rameses Owens and the hands of redshirt junior Luke Centofanti, to move into the red zone. Robert Morris settled for a 30-yard field goal attempt, which was converted by junior Connor Shennan.
Richards Jr. notched his second interception of the quarter, this one coming inside RMU's 10-yard line, on Dayton's next drive. The Colonials punted on their next drive, practically bringing the first half to a close.
Dayton traveled 60 yards on 11 plays on the opening drive of the second half, but the RMU defense forced a 33-yard field goal that was converted. The Flyers would tie the game under two minutes later on an interception return.
After a Colonial punt gave the Flyers a short field, Dayton took advantage with a 48-yard touchdown drive, taking the lead on a 27-yard pass.
Each team fumbled on its next possession as Stojkovic jarred the ball free from a Dayton ballcarrier to help RMU regain some momentum.
Robert Morris then launched a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive on which Barr twice converted third downs with completions. The rookie would find the end zone himself on a QB keeper from a yard out.
RMU forced a three-and-out on Dayton's next drive. On the ensuing play, redshirt sophomore T-J Waters blocked the Flyers' punt, and sophomore Cole Blake scooped it up and returned it 26 yards to the end zone, tallying his first career score and putting the Colonials back on top.
A pair of punts followed, and Dayton would again take advantage of a short field. The Flyers drove 42 yards on seven plays, capped off by a quarterback rush up the middle, to even the score.
Robert Morris could not get a first down on its next possession, and the Flyers followed with five rushes and one pass to move the ball 35 yards into field goal range. A 37-yarder would put Dayton on top with 2:32 to play.
A turnover by the hosts on their next drive hurt their comeback hopes. The RMU defense did force one final three-and-out as Dayton punted it away.
Robert Morris would move inside Dayton's 30-yard line on its final drive, but the Colonials were out of timeouts and unable to pull off a last-gasp attempt at a victory.
Barr becomes the first true freshman to start a season opener at quarterback for RMU since 1994. He was one of three Colonials to earn his first career start Saturday, joining redshirt freshman wide receiver Kyle Buss and redshirt freshman right tackle Mike Lamb. Buss caught four passes for 74 yards in his debut.
In blocking a field goal and a punt Saturday, Robert Morris blocked more than one kick in a game for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2002. Saturday also saw the Colonials return a blocked punt for a touchdown for the first time since 2003.
Owens rushed for 72 yards while Lewis posted a career-high eight tackles.
Redshirt freshman Marquis Robinson and redshirt sophomore Zack Zamiska each recovered the first fumble of his career against the Flyers.
RMU falls to 14-8 all-time in home openers with the setback.
Robert Morris will make its road debut next Saturday, Sept. 12, as it faces Youngstown State, a nationally ranked squad that lost to Pittsburgh by just eight points in its season opener.
