The Robert Morris Colonials will be looking to make it two wins in a row this week when they take on the Saint Francis Red Flash in the first of seven-consecutive Northeast Conference matchups to close the regular season.
RMU is coming off their first win of the season, a thrilling, 31-28, victory over Lafayette last Saturday. The Leopards came into the game 3-0 and receiving votes nationally, but Greg Langer’s 33-yard field goal with 19 seconds left was enough for the RMU upset.
Saint Francis fell to Duquesne last Saturday and if the Colonials are going to make it back-to-back wins, they will need a similar result from their offense as they got last week. RMU had struggled all season moving the football, but racked up 386 yards of total offense and scored 30-plus points against a very good team.
Here’s a look at some notes surrounding the Colonials football program as they prepare for a big NEC clash.
Series Matchup: All-time the Colonials are 15-2-1 (.861) against the Red Flash and enter Saturday’s game on a six-game winning streak against Saint Francis. RMU won the 2011 meeting, which was the first-ever home night game in program history, by jumping out to a 35-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 45-14 win. In addition, RMU’s 15 victories against the Red Flash are the most against an opponent in the 19-year history of the program. Robert Morris has averaged 32.7 points per game against Saint Francis in the all-time series while allowing an average of just 10.6 points a contest.
Player to Watch: Quarterback Jeff Sinclair. Sinclair was my key to victory for RMU last week and he responded with a big game. Sinclair posted a career-high 285 yards of total offense in last Saturday’s win over Lafayette, throwing for 201 yards and running for 84 more.
It ranked as one of the top 10 highest such totals in program history and marked the highest single-game total in that category since Drew Geyer (2002-05) posted 313 yards of total offense Oct. 29, 2005. Robert Morris improved to 5-1 (.833) all-time when Sinclair accounts for at least 240 yards of total offense.
NEC Player of the Week: True freshman Marcelis Branch earned a unique distinction as he was named Northeast Conference (NEC) Defensive Player of the Week and the NEC Rookie of the Week this past Monday. Branch, starting in just his third collegiate game, became the first Colonial in program history to earn conference defensive and rookie honors in the same season, let alone the same week. Branch forced two turnovers, helping put points on the board for RMU, while also contributing a team season-high 15 tackles, 12 of which were of the solo variety. Branch’s 15 tackles tied him for the second-highest figure by a Robert Morris freshman in a single game and the most since James Noel (2002-05) posted 15 in 2002.
Jeter Becoming a Weapon: With Sinclair back under center, he needs a weapon to throw to and it looks like junior wide receiver Donte Jeter is becoming that guy. Jeter became the first Colonial to post back-to-back 100+ receiving performances since Sherrod Evers (2006; 2008-09) did it in the first two games of the 2008 season. Jeter caught a career-high seven passes for a career-best 131 yards in last Saturday’s win over Lafayette, just one game after he notched 113 yards receiving at Dayton.
Photo Credit: Robert Morris
