GAME 11
RMU (4-6) vs. Eastern Illinois (7-3)
Saturday, Nov. 18, 2023 • 12:00 p.m.
Joe Walton Stadium (3,000) • Moon Township, Pa
 
TV: ESPN+
Audio: RMU Athletics Gameday App
Talent: Adam Gusky (pxp), Ray Thomas (color)
Twitter: @RMU_Football • Instagram: RMU_Football
 
No Huddle
 
- The RMU football team will come back to Joe Walton Stadium as they'll look for their third straight win in the season finale. The Colonials will host Eastern Illinois as they look for their fifth win of the year. Kickoff is slated for 12:00 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
 
- The Colonials are led by Bernard Clark, Jr., who is in his sixth season at the helm of the program. In his first head coach position, Clark was named the 2019 Northeast Conference (NEC) Co-Coach of the Year and owns an overall record of 17-39 (.303).
 
- Clark was inducted into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame presented by AutoNation, joining Dewey Selmon (Oklahoma) and Grant Wistrom (Nebraska) as part of the Class of 2022. The trio were honored at the annual AvMed Orange Bowl Coaches Luncheon presented by AutoNation Dec. 29, 2022, at Jungle Island and were recognized in an on-field ceremony at the 89th Capital One Orange Bowl Dec. 30, 2022, at Hard Rock Stadium.
 
- RMU is fresh off a close win against conference opponent Charleston Southern, 14-12 (11/11). The Colonials held the Buccaneers to six points in the second half en route to their second straight victory.
 
- Quarterback Tyler Szalkowski started the game for RMU and had a line of 11-for-18 and 97 yards passing with two interceptions. Sophomore quarterback Zach Tanner came on in relief for the Colonials and went 4-for-7 and 41 yards in the air while he also had six rushes for 66 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
 - Running back DJ Moyer had his best game of the season for RMU, setting a season-high in rushing yards with 82 on 15 carries. Noah Robinson led the Colonials receiving core as he hauled in four catches for 47 yards. 
 
- Defensively against Charleston Southern, Joe Casale and Jermarian Jackson led the Colonials with six tackles while Casale also had two pass breakups. Noah Steverson had the lone sack for RMU as he added three tackles to his line as well.


- Prior to the Charleston Southern contest, the Colonials won a thrilling road game against Southern Missouri State, 21-20. The win was RMU's first road victory of the season along with it being the first conference win of the year. The Colonials held SEMO to three second half points and had two key takeaways to pull of the big road win.
 
- Quarterback Anthony Chiccitt was 20-for-33 passing for 232 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Wide receiver Noah Robinson had his best game of the season as he hauled in 11 catches for 167 yards and one touchdown catch. Robinson had a key 51-yard touchdown that put the Colonials up 14-3 at the end of the first quarter.

- Defensively, the Colonials were led by a few players such as Joe Casale who paced the team with 10 tackles. Jamar Shegog had an all-around good day recording six tackles, two pass breakups, two quarterback hits and a sack. Jermarian Jackson notched six tackles and forced a fumble that was recovered by Robert Carter. Linebacker Seth Verilus recorded the lone interception and returned it 15 yards to set up a Colonial touchdown.
 
- A total of three Colonials were named to the 2023 Big South-OVC Association Watch List, which came as part of Big South-OVC Association Media Day in Nashville, Tenn., at the Sheraton Music City Hotel. Garnering the plaudits for RMU were senior linebackers Joe Casale and Jamar Shegog and fifth-year punter George Souders III. Casale was named to the 2022 All-Big South Second Team, while Shegog earned a spot on the 2021 All-Big South Second Team as well as the HERO Sports 2020-21 Freshman All-America Team.
 
- The Big South and Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) announced Feb. 20, 2022, the creation of an association of their football member institutions to begin with the 2023 NCAA Division I season and have an initial term of four years. The unique agreement combines the football membership of the two conferences to ensure NCAA championship access and stability. Selected as the 2023 preseason favorite for the inaugural Big South-OVC Association in a vote of league head coaches was Southeast Missouri State.

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The All-Time Series (Eastern Illinois) – This will be the first the matchup in series history between the Colonials and Panthers as Eastern Illinois was previously in the OVC before the Big South merger. Eastern Illinois joins Southeast Missouri and Tennessee Tech as first-time matchups for the 2023 season in the new Big South-OVC league.
 
Conference Leader – Wide receiver Noah Robinson continues to stay atop the Big South-OVC leader board in one of the top receiving categories. Robinson leads the conference in receptions with 61 with one game remaining.

Did You Know? Quarterback Anthony Chiccitt leads the Big South-OVC in pass completion percentage with a tally of 65.76 percent through nine games.
 
  
Firecracker – To get ready for the 2023 season, redshirt senior linebacker Jamar Shegog entered the Brentwood Firecracker 5K in Pittsburgh, Pa., on the Fourth of July. Shegog navigated the 40th annual 3.1 mile jaunt in a time of 27:03 to finish in the top half of the 1,686 participants. Shegog has compiled career totals of 155 career tackles in 22 games in an RMU uniform, the most by a student-athlete that has spent his entire career with the Colonials. Included among his career numbers are 78 solo stops, two-and-a-half sacks and two forced fumbles.
 
The Third – Returning for the Colonials as the starting punter is grad student George Souders III, who has anchored the RMU special teams for years. Also serving as the holder for kicker Jayson Jenkins, Souders has amassed 8,112 career yards punting on 210 attempts, an average of 38.6 yards per punt. In RMU's last game @ Youngstown State (9/16), Souders punted six times for 252 yards (42.0 yards per punt) with a long of 51. He also pinned a pair inside the 20-yard line of the Penguins. Entering Saturday's game as part of Homecoming festivities, Souders ranks fourth in the RMU career record book for punting yards.
 
Still On Top – The program's first running back, Tim Hall (1994-95), spent two seasons with the Colonials and during his career rushed for 2,908 yards. He accomplished the feat on 393 carries, an average of 7.40 yards per attempt. That total remains No. 1 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) record book (minimum 350 rushes) entering the 2023 season, a span that hits 27 years this fall. Matt Cannon of Southern Utah sits second with an average of 7.25 yards per carry thanks to 5,489 yards on 757 attempts.

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