The Robert Morris University Colonials (1-1) opened at home Saturday hosting Virginia State University(0-2) amid unforgiving rain showers that led to struggles on both sides of the ball for each team. The Colonials left the field Saturday with a 22-19 victory over the Trojans.

Why It Happened

Unforgiving “football weather” led to stumbles from RMU and Virginia— neither team was able to generate consistent offense. Neither team was able to get their passing offense going either. However, the Trojans were able to gain a 12-7 lead in the second half thanks to a short field to work with as a result of multiple turnovers. Virginia State QB, Cordelral Cook, sparked the Trojans’ offense by making numerous plays with his legs. Late game heroics were led by Jimmy Walker, rebounding from a tough first half to throw two straight touchdowns in less than 1 minute and 18 seconds to secure the victory for the Colonials.

What it Means

The heavy rain which lasted most of the game caused offensive struggles for RMU. When the rain finally let up, however, the Colonials offense started to click. Walker completed two 4th quarter touchdowns to secure the win. One of them being an 81-yard catch and run down the right sideline to Matthew Gonzalez. The defense also showed up when they were needed most with pass breakups by Jon Muehlbauer.

Who Starred

Gonzalez and Walker shined when it counted, connecting on that 81-yard touchdown pass gave the Colonials new life when it had seemed that all momentum was gone. Gonzalez finished the day with 4 receptions for 113 yards while Walker finished his day with 205 yards passing and 2 clutch touchdown passes, the other going to RMU wide receiver Warren Robinson in the back left corner of the end zone.

Who Stumbled

It was a long day for the RMU rushing defense trying to bottle up QB Cordelral Cook who rushed 25 times for a net gain of 182 yards with a touchdown, along with Trojan runningback Demetrius Strickland picking up 85 yards and a touchdown off 25 carries. Special teams also struggled in the rain with 2 turnovers on 3 muffed punts, of which one was turned into a touchdown scoring drive due to the short field for the Trojans.

RMU hopes to ride this momentum into next week Saturday where the Colonials are hosted by the James Madison Dukes (0-1)