GAME ONE
ALDERSON BROADDUS 9.1.16 | 7:00 P.M. MOON TOWNSHIP, PA | JOE WALTON STADIUM (3,000) STREAMING: NECFrontRow.com; iHeart Radio App (audio only) LIVE STATS: RMUColonials.com RADIO: iHeart Radio App (Chris Shovlin, PxP & Brian Cleary, Analyst) TWITTER: @RMUFootball #ColonialPride #FL1GH7SCHOOL
CAPSULE The 23rd season of football gets started at Robert Morris University on Thursday, Sept. 1, as the Colonials host Alderson Broaddus in a 7:00 p.m. game at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township, Pa. This is the third time in the last four seasons - 2015 being the exception - that a Thursday has marked the beginning of football season. Selected to finish sixth in the 2016 NEC Football Preseason Poll, RMU is coming off a 4-7 season and a 2-4 league record.
VS. ALDERSON BROADDUS 4This is the inaugural game between the Colonials and Battlers 4Alderson Broaddus is the sixth different Division II opponent that RMU will take on joining C.W. Post, Mercyhurst, Gannon, New Haven and Notre Dame (Ohio) 4RMU is 7-4 against DII programs 4RMU is 17-9 overall against non-Division I competition.
SEASON OPENERS 4Robert Morris is 9-13 all-time in seasonopening contests 4RMU is 14-8 in home openers 4Those two particular superlatives have coincided on 10 occasions with the Colonials posting a mark of 5-5 in those situations 4A 27-13 victory against Morehead State in 2008 marks the last time that the blue and white opened the year in the win column.
ABOUT THE BATTLERS 4The Battlers went 7-4 last season including 4-2 in road games 4Senior safety Michael James is a Football Gameplan Preseason All-American entering
his final campaign with 205 tackles and 12 interceptions 4Alderson Broaddus is a private liberal arts university located in Philippi, W. Va., that was founded in 1871 4Known as the Battlers in reference to the 1861 Battle of Phillipi, A-B sponsors 22 sports, joining the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in 2014-15 after leaving the West Virginia Interscholastic Athletic Conference
MUSKET SHOTS 4Sixteen starters (7 O, 7 D, 2 S) and 35 letterwinners return from last season’s 4-7 team 4RMU was picked sixth in the 2016 NEC Football Coaches Preseason Poll 4Sophomore WR Kyle Buss was a Preseason AllNEC First Team selection 4Seniors Marcelis Branch (DB) and Andy Smigiera (DB) were Preseason All-NEC picks on defense while sophomore Kyle Buss (WR) was the lone RMU player on the offensive Preseason All-NEC team 4Buss was a finalist for FCS Freshman of the Year and was the NEC Offensive Rookie of the Year 4The defense ranked in FCS top 25 in 3rd down defense, 4th down defense, passing yards allowed, passing efficiency defense, sacks, tackles for loss and total defense 4Six players who earned NEC weekly honors return this season 4Special teams accounted for three touchdowns in 2015 (kick return, punt return, blocked punt return) 4Head coach John Banaszak boasts a 43-26 carrer record in six seasons, 5-17 in two seasons at RMU
WHO WAS ROBERT MORRIS? The “Financier of the American Revolution,” he isn’t as famous as his friend George Washington, but without Robert Morris, the American colonies’ bold attempt to throw off British rule never could have succeeded. Born in 1734 in Liverpool, England, Robert Morris sailed to the United States with his father when he was 14 years old. Morris became a partner at the import export firm of Willing & Morris where he made his millions. After, he became the spokesman for opposition to the Stamp Act, smuggled arms for the new American army and navy, signed the Declaration of Independence, secured financing — often using his personal credit — to fight the Revolutionary War and served as a Pennsylvania state senator. He died in Philadelphia on May 8, 1806. 2016 R O B ER T M O R R I S FO O T B A LL
2016 SCHEDULE Overall: 0-0 NEC:0-0 09/01 09/10 09/17 09/24 10/01 10/08
Home: 0-0 Away 0-0
ALDERSON BROADDUS 7:00 p.m. Moon Township, Pa. | Joe Walton Stadium @ Dayton 1:00 p.m. Dayton, Ohio | Welcome Stadium @ Youngstown State 4:00 p.m. Youngstown, Ohio | Stambaugh Stadium MALONE 7:00 p.m. Moon Township, Pa. | Joe Walton Stadium @ Liberty 7:00 p.m. Lynchburg, Va. | Williams Stadium SAINT FRANCIS U 3:00 p.m. Moon Township, Pa. | Joe Walton Stadium
10/15 @ Duquesne
7:00 p.m.
Pittsburgh, Pa. | Rooney Field 10/22 @ Sacred Heart Noon Fairfield, Conn. | Campus Field 10/29 CENTRAL CONNECTICUT Noon Moon Township, Pa. | Joe Walton Stadium 11/5 @ Bryant Noon Smithfield, R.I. | Bulldog Stadium 11/12 WAGNER Noon Moon Township, Pa. | Joe Walton Stadium
COACHING STAFF Head Coach John Banszak (E. Michigan ’75) 3rd season as HC; 14th season at RMU Assistant Head Coach / Defensive Coordinator Scott Farison (Mercyhurst ’01) 14th season at RMU Offensive Coordinator Mike Miller (Clarion ’92) First season at OC; 4th season at RMU Offensive Line: Drew Richardson Secondary: Bill Hurley Tight Ends: Pat Shepard Running Backs: Myles Russ Defensive Line: Cornelius Coleman Receivers: Nick McVay Safeties: Mike Brown Linebackers: Alex DiMichele