Joe Walton Stadium is known to be the best place on Robert Morris’ campus to watch the sunset.

As the sun begins to set on Saturday and the Joe’s lights get turned on, eyes will be set on Robert Morris football and their matchup against old NEC foe St. Francis.

“Will the team win their first game since Nov. 20, 2021?”

That’s one of the many questions surrounding the team, but there is one thing that is for sure about this game: THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT GAME IN A LONG, LONG TIME!

The game against the Red Flash holds more implications than can be seen. As everyone knows, the Robert Morris football program is coming off of their worst season ever, an 0-11 record.

Not only that, but they follow it up with once again being in the media for all the wrong reasons by forgetting their jerseys for their Week 1 game at Air Force. What a way to start your 2023 season.

Now, how many jerseys they forgot is up for debate. Originally reported was around 50 jerseys, but the word on campus is it was only around 20 at most. Nonetheless, Robert Morris football is in the news for the wrong reasons again. Not all publicity is good publicity right now, especially with the state of this program. If there’s such thing as rock bottom they are there. If not, they’re close.

The students of Robert Morris flocked to social media to ridicule the team. The majority of this current student body views this team, to put it bluntly, as the laughing stock of the school. The amount of memes continues to pile up on social media about the program and their current 12-game losing streak. The longest in their 30 years as a program.

I can’t even remember the last time I heard a student say something positive about this team or be even excited to go see their games, to actually watch the team.

Now, it may sound pretty tough, but it is what it is. That’s what makes the game against St. Francis so much more important. Every player, coach and staff member knows they have an opportunity to put a stop to a sizable amount of the ridicule. They have 60 minutes to not only get in the win column, but also win back some of the student body and regain their support.

Every player that steps on the field should have a raging fire underneath them. Not only is the motivation for winning there, but they have been asking for a night game for a few years now. The last night game came in 2017 when they played Duquesne. The night game just makes it so much more important. If you have been asking for this night game for years now, you better show up.

With a win, they finally get the monkey off their backs. No more worrying that they will actually win a game for once. They can put an end to that. If they win, Week 1’s mishaps will be a thing of the past. This game also can propel the team for the rest of the season. They can walk around with a swagger into Week 3 and beyond saying, “We aren’t the same team as last year and will never be like that again.” Will they have a crowd that supports them after Saturday night? For the most part, I believe it can all be determined once the clock hits triple zeros on the new scoreboard.

Now we can look at the worst-case scenario. They lose, but they still remain the punch line of a joke. The headspace of the team becomes more clogged with the question “how long can this nightmare of a streak continue?” Their faith will continue to dwindle and if they stand tall and take on the challenge, the student body will have already moved on. The day when a win finally comes the reaction won’t be as well received. “About time, but you’ve already dug yourself too deep of a hole.”

So it’s up to you Robert Morris Football. You have this game to win back the campus, wipe away the memes and ridicule, cool off the seats you may be sitting on, create a fresh start to forget about the last year. Start the new path for where you want this program and NEED this program to start moving to. So much is at stake for you, and you will be under the lights where all eyes are going to be on you. You need your stars to shine and put every single ounce of strength you have into this game. It’s your ball right now and you CANNOT fumble this opportunity away.