MOON TOWNSHIP– Early Monday morning, the Big South Conference announced that the Monmouth vs. Robert Morris football game on April 17, has been canceled due to the lack of student-athlete availability within the Colonials program.
NEWS: Saturday's Football Game Against Monmouth Canceled
🖱️: https://t.co/48nXGGeYij#RMUnite | 🔵🏈🔴 pic.twitter.com/N3cMIuHmTs
— RMU Athletics (@RMUAthletics) April 12, 2021
Story continues below advertisement
Asbury Park Press sports columnist Steve Edelson reported it was not a COVID issue as Robert Morris backed out this morning.
Robert Morris just backed out of Saturday’s football game with Monmouth citing lack of healthy players, not COVID issues.
— Steve Edelson (@steveedelsonapp) April 12, 2021
With the cancellation of Saturday’s contest, that will conclude RMU’s 2021 spring season as the FCS tournament is set to commence in just two weeks, making the possibility of rescheduling the game near impossible with the lack of Robert Morris players available.
The Colonials had a rough go of it in their first season in Big South competition, as they fell to Kennesaw State 35-0 on April 3, and most recently dropped the game against Charleston Southern 27-14 on April 10. They lost their lone non-conference game to no. 1 James Madison on February 27 by a score of 36-16.
With the season over, Robert Morris looks forward to a normal schedule in the fall of 2021, which is set to begin in just under five months. Recently, the Colonials released their non-conference opponents for the fall season and they open the season against a formidable foe in the Dayton Flyers on September 4 at Welcome Stadium. They will also travel to Central Michigan on September 11 and will host Howard on September 28, to round out the non-conference portion of their schedule.