The Robert Morris Colonials football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the Robert Morris University located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). Formerly members of the Northeast Conference, the Colonials were originally intended to compete in the 2020 season as an FCS independent before becoming a football-only member of the Big South Conference in July 2021.[2] The Colonials would ultimately join Big South football several months ahead of schedule. After COVID-19 caused the Big South to move its fall 2020 season to spring 2021, with two teams playing in the fall and a third not playing at all in 2020–21, the conference brought RMU into its football league for its spring 2021 season.[3]
| Robert Morris Colonials football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1994; 30 years ago | ||
| Head coach | Bernard Clark 7th season, 24–46 (.343) | ||
| Stadium | Joe Walton Stadium (capacity: 3,000) | ||
| Location | Moon Township, Pennsylvania | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FCS | ||
| Conference | NEC | ||
| All-time record | 120–113–1 (.515) | ||
| Playoff appearances | 1 | ||
| Playoff record | 0–1 | ||
| Conference titles | 6 | ||
| Colors | Blue, white, and red[1] | ||
The school's first football team was fielded in 1994.[4] The team plays its home games at the 3,000 seat Joe Walton Stadium. They are currently led by fifth-year head coach Bernard Clark.
History
editClassifications
edit- 1994–present: NCAA Division I–AA/FCS[5]
Conference memberships
editOn June 15, Robert Morris Colonials announced leaving the Northeast Conference for the Horizon League in all sports except for football starting in 2020. The football program will join the Big South Conference in football 2021. For the 2020 football team, the Colonials were originally intended to play as an FCS independent.[6] The team's 2020 schedule was to have been played as originally set, but all games would have been considered non-conference.[7] However, this would change due to COVID-19 disruptions; the Big South brought RMU into its football league for its rescheduled spring 2021 season.[3]
On November 28, 2023, Robert Morris announced a return to the Northeast Conference effective with the 2024 season as an associate member for football only.[8]
- 1994–1995: Independent
- 1996–2019: Northeast Conference
- 2020–2023: Big South Conference
- 2024-: Northeast Conference
.jpg)
Championships
editConference
edit| Year | Coach | Conference | Overall record | Conference record | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996† | Joe Walton | Northeast Conference | 9–2 | 3–1 | |
| 1997 | 8–3 | 4–0 | |||
| 1998† | 4–6 | 4–1 | |||
| 1999 | 8–2 | 8–0 | |||
| 2000 | 10–0 | 8–0 | |||
| 2010† | 8–3 | 7–1 | |||
| Conference championships | 6 | ||||
† Co-champions
FCS playoffs results
editThe Colonials have appeared in the FCS playoffs one time with an overall record of 0–1.
| Year | Round | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | First round | North Dakota State | L 17–43 |
Notable former players
editNotable alumni include:
- Hank Fraley
- Tim Hall
- Tim Levcik
- Wale
- Matt Stasko
Future non-conference opponents
editFuture non-conference opponents announced as of July 29, 2023.[9]
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| at Air Force | at Utah State | at West Virginia | at Akron | at Youngstown State | Murray State | |
| Saint Francis | at Lafayette | Lafayette | Towson | |||
| at Youngstown State | at Eastern Kentucky | at Youngstown State | Norfolk State | |||
| Virginia–Lynchburg | at Towson | |||||
| Howard | at Norfolk State |
References
edit- ^ "RMU Brand Style Guide" (PDF). March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
- ^ "Robert Morris leaves NEC for Horizon League; football moves to Big South". wtae.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ a b "Big South Announces Football 2021 Spring Schedule" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- ^ Robert Morris Colonials Archived 2016-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, College Football Data Warehouse, retrieved October 1, 2016.
- ^ Phil Axelrod (September 3, 1994). "Ready or not, the future is here for fledgling Robert Morris". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. E-5. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ "Robert Morris football to join Big South Conference in 2021". fbschedules.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ "Robert Morris joins Horizon League, football heads to Big South". timesonline.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ "RMU Football to Rejoin Northeast Conference for 2024 Season". rmucolonials.com. November 28, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
- ^ "Robert Morris Colonials Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 29, 2023.
External links
edit
 | This American football team article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This college football-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a sports team in Pennsylvania is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |