It would be fair to say that the John Banaszak era at Robert Morris has not gotten off to the start that was expected. After three straight losses, including Saturday’s disappointing 50-3 setback on the road at Lafayette, the Colonials are still looking for the first coaching win for Banaszak, who took over for long time head coach Joe Walton.
Saturday’s loss was especially tough, as the Colonials had two costly first quarter turnovers leading to 14 points, along with a safety that gave the Leopards a 16-0 lead in the first quarter. The Leopards then opened the second quarter with an interception return for a touchdown that made the score 23-0, a deficit the Colonials would simply not overcome.
Mistakes have hurt the Colonials in both road losses. Special teams errors and costly turnovers were the theme in a hard fought loss to North Dakota. Rameses Owens, who rushed for 199 yards in the loss to North Dakota, was unable to get going on the ground at Lafayette, gaining a mere 20 yards on 11 carries.
Owens was certainly not alone in the struggles this past weekend. Seton-LaSalle Sophomore quarterback Luke Brumbaugh was unable to get the Colonials offense moving, throwing for 60 yards on 11 completions and throwing three interceptions.
The Colonials will lean heavily on Owens and Brumbaugh on offense. On defense, the Colonials have struggled to stop the run in two of the three contests this season, giving up 407 yards on the ground in their home opening loss to Eastern Kentucky and another 324 yards to Lafayette.
With another road content upcoming, this time versus the Dayton Flyers (1-1) the Colonials will get their chance to earn their opening win of the season. Conference rival Duquesne played the Flyers this past week, and were able to easily handle them 33-13. The Dukes were able to hold the Flyers to 273 net yards on offense, so there could be reason to believe that Robert Morris will be facing an offensive attack of lesser quality than Lafayette.
Robert Morris has spent nearly a month on the road, so a win at Dayton would certainly give the team some momentum before they play their final non-conference tilt of the season against Monmouth at Joe Walton field October 4th.
(Photo Credit: Robert Morris Athletics)
