PITTSBURGH – A day that was full of optimism and excitement as the two best teams in the NEC Conference would collide for what could decide who wins the conference championship. Robert Morris (6-4, 3-1 NEC) would travel some 17 miles in order to play Duquesne (7-2, 4-0 NEC) in what would be a renewed crosstown rivalry with this being the first matchup since 2019.

Robert Morris would fall to Duquesne by a final score of 31-6.

“I love it, I love it, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to,” head coach Bernard Clark Jr. said. “But even when we were in the Big South I was doing everything I could to play Duquesne, I think it is a rivalry that needs to go on. I wished they would turn it into the Rooney Bowl or the Steel City Bowl or something like that”.

“I have been a part of this game from 2005 through 2019, it is great to have them back in the conference,” Duquesne head coach Jerry Schmitt said. “[Coach Clark] has talked to me about playing this game at a neutral site or something I like, I said you let me know we will play you wherever. I think it is awesome that two teams 20 minutes away from each other play against each other”.

From the opening kickoff this game had the Dukes all over it. The NEC leaders marched down the field and scored on the opening drive and then would score on the next two possessions to make the score 21-0 at halftime.

“[We] got out coached, got out played, and that is what happened when you get out coached and out played. Give them all the credit, we didn’t play well at all.” Clark said.

Throughout the game there was not much that the Colonials did well in. Their offensive line gave up seven sacks, giving Anthony Chiccitt no time in the pocket and ended up paying for it all day long. The offense only put up six points for the second consecutive week and the playmakers for RMU were non-existent.

“Only thing we didn’t do badly was the special teams. We missed too many assignments, we knew they were going to twist up front with their defensive line and we just couldn’t control it.” Clark said.

All season the offensive line has held up well and gave Chiccitt time in the pocket but today he had no time and that was the end product.

“Chiccitt is used to staying in there and having the time to get rid of the ball, they double teamed Noah (Robinson),” Clark said. “They killed our front line more than anything else.”

This is not back to back weeks the offense has only put up six points. With only two weeks left in the regular season and with some meaningful football left to be played Robert Morris will have to head back to the drawing board in order to fix this offense.

“We have to figure it out, it is more up front,” Clark said. “We have some injuries up front but I don’t like to use excuses. But the bottom line is we have to get it done, we want to win football games”.

In two aspects that really slowed play down was the third down offense for RMU, the Colonials were 0 for 10 in situations where they needed to move the sticks to keep the drive going. With the offense struggling that much it was just a situation where their defense played well but the offense wasn’t producing either.

The offense went 0-for-10 in third down coversions.

“It is a situation where you look in the past and we have been doing ok on third down, defensively they just got after us,” Clark said. “We went 0-10 because they were tackling us in the backfield. It is a situation where you are 0-10 and giving up too many sacks”.

Even when the Colonials were able to get something together on offense they would shoot themselves in the foot with penalties or turnovers. “We can’t play behind the sticks especially versus a team that good, it is a situation where we get a first down on one then we go back 10 yards, then we get a personal foul or whatever it may be” coach Clark said. “They would call a penalty on us then on them, I’m not blaming the refs, I’m blaming Robert Morris University.”

The Robert Morris offense wasn’t able to get much going with Chiccitt throwing for 122 yards. Shawn Charles went for 88 while Noah Robinson went for 35. Delecchio Powell II was the leading rusher for the Colonials who went for 42 yards and scored RMU’s only touchdown.

On the Duquesne side of the ball Darius Perrantes threw for 231 yards with four TD’s. John Erby was the Duke’s leading receiver with 126 yards and three touchdowns all of which came in the first half. Where Duquesne was most impressive was the defensive line.

Jack Dunkley had a total of three sacks which led the Dukes, followed by four Duquesne players who each had one for a total of seven sacks on the day for that defensive line.

Robert Morris has two games remaining and will be back in action next weekend for a big road test when they face off against Central Connecticut State for what could be another big NEC game. Kickoff is set for noon.