2020 Robert Morris Colonials football team

The 2020 Robert Morris Colonials football team represented Robert Morris University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by third-year head coach Bernard Clark and played their home games at Joe Walton Stadium.

2020 Robert Morris Colonials football
ConferenceBig South Conference
Record0–3 (0–2 Big South)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorGabe Luvara (3rd season)
Defensive coordinatorDave Plungas (3rd season)
Home stadiumJoe Walton Stadium
Seasons
← 2019
2021 →
2020 Big South Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 10 Monmouth $^   3 0     3 1  
No. 17 Kennesaw State   2 1     4 1  
Charleston Southern   2 2     2 2  
Gardner–Webb   0 2     2 2  
Robert Morris   0 2     0 3  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • Notes: Due to COVID-19, the Big South suspended the fall 2020 football season.
    Hampton opted out of the spring schedule. Campbell and North Alabama played only in the fall.
Rankings from STATS Poll

On June 15, 2020, Robert Morris announced that it would be leaving the Northeast Conference for the Horizon League in all sports except football, with the move officially taking place on July 1, 2020. The football team originally planned to play as an FCS independent for the 2020 season before moving to the Big South Conference in 2021.[1][2] Robert Morris's 2020 football schedule was initially unchanged, meaning that all NEC opponents would have lost a conference game.[3]

These plans would be upended by COVID-19, which led most FCS conferences to cancel their originally scheduled fall 2020 seasons. Most of these leagues, among them the Big South and NEC, eventually moved football to spring 2021. Of the eight schools that had planned to field teams in the Big South's 2020 fall season, only Campbell and North Alabama played in the fall, and Hampton chose not to play football at all in the 2020–21 school year. The Big South ultimately chose to hold a spring 2021 season with the remaining four teams plus RMU, with the Colonials eligible for the conference title.[4]

Schedule

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Robert Morris released their original football schedule on April 9, 2020.[5] A game against Hawaii (scheduled for September 26) was added on July 14, to compensate for Hawaii having to cancel four non-conference games due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] On July 15, Robert Morris's game against Bryant, scheduled for November 7, was canceled due to Robert Morris's reclassification as an independent.[7] On July 27, Robert Morris's game against Dayton was canceled due to the Pioneer Football League's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8] On November 9, 2020, the Big South announced a spring 2021 schedule, with RMU competing.[4]

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
February 27 12:00 p.m. at No. 2 James Madison* NBCSW/FloFootball L 16–36
April 3 1:00 p.m. at No. 7 Kennesaw State ESPN+ L 0–35
April 10 12:00 p.m. at Charleston Southern ESPN+ L 14–27
April 17 No. 12 Monmouth Canceled

[9]

References

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  1. ^ "Robert Morris leaves NEC for Horizon League; football moves to Big South". wtae.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "Robert Morris football to join Big South Conference in 2021". fbschedules.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  3. ^ "Robert Morris joins Horizon League, football heads to Big South". timesonline.com. June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "Big South Announces Football 2021 Spring Schedule" (Press release). Big South Conference. November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  5. ^ Kelley, Kevin (April 9, 2020). "Robert Morris releases 2020 football schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  6. ^ Kelley, Kevin (July 13, 2020). "Hawaii adds Robert Morris to 2020 football schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  7. ^ Kelley, Kevin (July 15, 2020). "Bryant adds Merrimack, drops Robert Morris from 2020 football schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 16, 2020.
  8. ^ Kelley, Kevin (July 27, 2020). "Pioneer Football League to play conference-only football schedule in 2020". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  9. ^ "2020 Robert Morris Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved November 28, 2020.