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QB: Junior Jake Lindsey has thrown for 543 yards with a 69% completion rate and no interceptions. Surprisingly, he’s only thrown for a single touchdown over a two-game span. Lindsey isn’t much of a threat to run and rarely has to when playing behind Minnesota’s massive offensive line. RB: Senior Darius Taylor hasn’t had a ton of opportunities thus far, but he’s still a bigger back that can do some damage. Taylor has 71 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns to go along with 36 receiving yards. WR: Former Miami of Ohio transfer Javon Tracy leads the team in receptions and yards, collecting 12 catches for 149 yards. He is also the punt returner and has taken two back for touchdowns. Cincinnati transfer Noah Jennings is second on the team with 10 receptions for 145 yards. TE: The Gophers don’t target their tight ends much in the passing game but senior Pierce Walsh does have four receptions. OL: The offensive line rarely allows pressure on the quarterback and has given up only two sacks this season, both against Mississippi State. LT - Nathan Roy (6’5 305) LG - Greg Johnson (6’6 325) C - Ashton Beers (6’6 320) RG - Tony Nelson (6’6 325) RT - Daniel Shipp (6’5 295) DL: The Gopher pass rush has been about as anemic as the Zips’, however, that doesn’t mean Minnesota is lacking in talent. Senior Anthony Smith plays both inside and out. Former Cal transfer TJ Bush has one of the defense’s two sacks. Against MSU, junior Jaylon Hicks started on the interior, as did senior Karter Menz on the edge. LB: Seniors Maverick Baranowski and Matt Kingsbury start at linebacker. The duo have combined for 22 total tackles. DB: Michigan State transfer Aydan West and former Iowa transfer John Nestor start at the cornerback positions. Seniors Kerry Brown and Aidan Gousby, along with sophomore Zack Harden, are the starters at safety and nickel. ST: Tom Weston is the main punter and averages 38.3 yards per punt with a long of 45. Minnesota has used two different kickers on field goals, and they have gone 3 for 3. Beckham Sunderland has put 11 of his 13 kickoffs in the endzone. Keys on Offense: Find a way to keep drives moving and take care of the football. MSU’s mobile quarterback really hurt the Minnesota defense, and it would not be a surprise if CB came out of this game as Akron’s leading rusher. I’m not sure if the Zips OL will be able to consistently get push on the Gophers defensive front, so CB’s legs may have to make up for that. Keys on Defense: Force turnovers and keep the ball in front. Stopping Minnesota’s run game should be the main priority as I’m not sure the Zips defense will be able to get much pressure on Lindsey. In essence, force the Gophers into long, multi-play drives in the hopes they goof up. Final Thoughts: I don’t like this matchup, and there aren’t many areas where the Zips will have the advantage. As a comparison, Minnesota is bigger and more physical than Wake Forest. Akron will need to play at a very high level and have some help from Minnesota to pull out a win.

QB: CB’s scrambling ability makes such a difference for this offense. Not only that, the majority of his passes were on point, and he looked more comfortable than he did last week, albeit this game was against much lesser competition. My one suggestion to him at this point would be to make the first defender miss and then slide down in the open field. He will not make it through the season taking those kinds of hits. Roggow once again came in and looked really good. Two of his passes in particular were absolute strikes, put right on the money. Regardless of who the opponent is, those throws were impressive. If something were to happen to CB, I feel good about Roggow’s ability to move the offense when needed. In my opinion, Roggow compares favorably to Finley. He may not be quite as physically gifted, but he seems to make better decisions with the ball. RB: Gant and Patrick looked healthy and explosive. The two combined for 148 rushing yards, with 90 of those yards coming after contact. They also added 85 yards through the air. Toss in CB’s rushing, and that’s 219 yards on the ground. If either Gant or Patrick had another top-end gear to hit in the open field, they’d both be playing for P4 schools right now. WR: While the receivers weren’t targeted as much this game, there were no drops. An unusual amount of passes went to the backs and tight ends. Overall, the perimeter blocking was good as well. Outside of the one fumble, this was a solid, workmanlike day for the wideouts. TE: JUCO addition Elijah Alexander played very well. He held up as a blocker and also took advantage of his opportunities in the passing game. We’ll need the tight ends to continue to develop as they are an important part of this offense. OL: For the most part, the offensive line bullied the RM defensive front, and there wasn’t much thrown at them that caused confusion. However, there are a few sticking points. I was very complementary of Hampton at RG last game, and while that holds true again in the run game, he was also the direct cause of two sacks. The first came as Asher Wilson beat him so badly off the snap, he was left standing flat-footed. The second came off a total whiff on a blitz (or maybe twist? I can’t recall for sure). The good news is those sequences can be cleaned up. The other concern I have is when Slayden comes out the game at LT. Gould has looked overwhelmed, and Shor hasn’t played up to his potential since he arrived. I’m not sure what the answer is outside of hoping Gould improves quickly. Either that or leave Slayden in for the entire game. DL: The good news is the defensive line manhandled the RM OL. Dahvon Frazier seemed to be in on everything and easily had his best game as a Zip. Perhaps the light is finally turning on and he’s ready to take the next step. We’re going to need more of that as the season progresses. Abor flashed what he can do on passing downs when matched up one-on-one as he exploded around the edge for the Zips only sack. Hull was a load for RM to handle on the interior, and I also noticed he was often one of the first ones to congratulate the offense and special teams on the sideline as they were coming off the field. Kavals and Waye had their moments again. I think Kavals is going to be really good. It’s too bad we only have Waye for a single season. Williams didn’t play as much this game, as he looked to have a cast on his hand. Now for the bad: Pass Rush. Yes, RM was focused on getting the ball out quickly, but on the times when Akron should have been reaching the quarterback, it happened far too little. This area must improve. LB: Johnson and Curtis were really good. I also noticed Nunoo flying around, though I think he slipped off a few tackles. In any case, this group is coming together nicely. DB: White is really coming along. I would not be surprised if he ends up All-MAC at this rate. Safety play was also solid. I think it was Tairan Davis who had the diving interception wiped off by what looked to be a questionable holding call on another defender. T. Thomas had a terrible day in coverage. He got beat on the long touchdown and also gave up a PI. It’s a safe bet future opponents are going to come after him until he improves his play. ST: Special teams were excellent in every area today. Final Thoughts: The Zips handled a RM squad that really doesn’t have the talent or depth to match up for four quarters. Hopefully, this win is a building block that will help with next weekend’s matchup against a far more difficult opponent. Depth Chart QB: Broughton Roggow Beals RB: Gant Patrick Williams Curry WR: Ma. Williams Davis WR: Burris Hills Myers WR: Mason Louis Hilburn TE: Cravaack Alexander Hook LT: Slayden Gould Shor LG: Smith Falkner Archer C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton Falkner Fox RT: Jones Gould Mann DE: Abor Waye Watkins DE: Frazier Waye Ridley DT: Hull Williams Ross-Graves Brown-Demery DT: Mixon Kavals E. Davis LB: Johnson Reeves Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis Hocker NB: Aa. Branch Moss CB: White Galloway CB: Thomas Newsome S: Davis Flowers Somerville S: Hunter Jarmon Top Rated Offense (30 snap minimum): QB - Broughton RB - Gant C - Lyons TE - Alexander LT - Slayden Top Rated Defense (30 snap minimum): S - Davis CB - White LB - Johnson DE - Abor DE - Frazier

I’ve added the times and networks for our opponents games.

We were planning on going, but my family wont have the patience for a long drive just to sit in the rain.

Robert Morris enters Saturday’s matchup 2-0 with wins over Wagner (1-1) and West Virginia State (DII, 1-1). The Colonials are averaging 28.5 PPG and holding opponents to 8 PPG. The offense is producing 228.5 yards through the air and 127.5 on the ground, while allowing opponents 111.5 in the air and 92 on the ground. QB: Carson Haggard started his collegiate career at Tulane in 2022. He did not see any action during his two years with the Green Wave and subsequently transferred to Abilene Christian. At Abilene, Haggard played in three games in 2024, but did not play in 2025. This should be his final season of college football. Through two games, Haggard has thrown for 430 yards, 6 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and completed 56% of his passes. When kept clean Haggard completes 61% of his passes, compared to only 39% when pressured. The Colonials are willing to role Haggard out and call some designed runs for him as he has some mobility and can be effective as a runner. RB: Junior Keino Fitzpatrick is the starter after being shifted from wide receiver to running back this offseason. Fitzpatrick is small in stature, but has some shiftiness about him. He currently has 95 yards on 17 attempts, along with 3 receptions for 21 yards. WR: Cincinnati, Ohio native Galen Combs leads the team in receiving yards with 188 on 6 receptions and also has 4 touchdowns. However, the receiver that has been targeted the most is redshirt sophomore Jaqai Carter. Carter has 8 receptions for 91 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both players have some length to them as Combs is 6’2” and Carter is 6’0”. TE: Arkansas Pine-Bluff transfer Tyreke Jinks is the starter at tight end. He is mostly utilized as a blocker, but the Colonials will take advantage of his receiving ability. Jinks has 2 receptions for 10 yards and has been targeted 4 times. OL: The offensive line has yet to give up a sack this season: LT - Jarvis Williams (6’5 300lbs) (So.) LG - Marc Koumoundouros (6’3 285) (Sr.) C - Pete Jarvis (6’2 295) (R. So.) RG - Vincent Boila (6’4 300) (So.) RT - Grant Murin (6’4 285) (Sr.) DL: Robert Morris deploys a 3-3-5 and will usually bring down an OLB as an overhang into a 4-2-5. Utah State transfer John Gayer and sophomore Asher Wilson start at the defensive end spots with junior David Johnson in the middle. Redshirt senior Khalil Hunter is the linebacker who will usually walk down as the overhang. The defense as a whole has collected 8 sacks on the season. LB: Chattanooga transfer Amanuel Dickson and Columbus, Ohio native Jake Lopinto are the other starting linebackers. They’ve collected 15 and 12 total tackles, respectively. DB: Columbus, Ohio native Mekhi Kilburn and senior Ronnie Woods are the starting cornerbacks. Senior Tahseen Howard is the nickleback and punt returner. Former Ball State transfer Elijah Davis and former Akron transfer Noel Roach are the starters at safety. Kilburn, Woods, and Howard have been targeted fairly evenly by opposing offenses. ST: Kicker Lucca Alcarez-Valens is 7 for 7 on extra point attempts, but has missed his only field goal attempt. He has also put 5 of his 10 kickoffs into the endzone. Punter Bryson Costa averages nearly 46 yards per punt with four of 50+ yards and three downed inside the 20. Keys on Offense: Get push in the run game early and give the backs room to work. Gant doesn’t need much room to operate anyway and if Akron can get Gant and Patrick going, it’ll open up all kinds of opportunities for the Zips talented receiver corps. Keys on Defense: Pass rush and depth development. Durham did not play against Wake and he should add at least a little more edge pressure when he does return. The defensive line as a whole must get more push than what we saw against the Deacons. This will be a good opportunity to find which players step up in game situations and have the potential to contribute in conference action. Final Thoughts: The Colonials coaching staff has done a great job getting the most out of the talent they have. However, Akron is more talented across the board and will easily be the most physical opponent Robert Morris has faced in 2026. Zips should win this game handily.

Player Participation/Depth Chart & PFF now added to original post. I went back and rewatched the first three quarters. When I saw PFF had Nunoo rated so highly, I thought it must be wrong. It wasn’t. Some of the plays I thought Johnson made were actually made by Nunoo. I retract that Curtis should be starting. Although, I do think Curtis should be the third man in the rotation at this time, the starters should definitely be Nunoo and Johnson based off this game. Our secondary tackled well outside of the one busted tackle that led to the long touchdown. I couldn’t tell if that tackle was missed by Moss or Davis. There were a few bad angles taken after catches, though. Coverage was actually pretty solid. It’s just unrealistic to expect coverage to be great when the QB has that much time to throw the ball. On offense, it looked to me like we did not identify several of Wake’s blitzes. There really weren’t a ton of times where we flat out got beat one-on-one in pass protection. However, as mentioned before, we didn’t get much push in the run game either. I was really impressed with RG Hampton. He’s one I doubt we’ll be able to keep around too long. On the other hand, redshirt freshman Gould struggled at LT. One other note is that TE Alexander made some nice blocks on the perimeter.

I’m not going to do as in-depth of a take on this game, though will touch on a handful of things. Offense: CB is a playmaker and will only get better with game experience. His mobility is going to be invaluable to this offense. Also, Roggow looked confident and in command with the backups, which is something every team wants to see out of their backup quarterback, but often isn’t the case. What was even more impressive is that Roggow moved the offense with all backups in around him. I really like what we have at the skill positions and look forward to when the OL starts to gel. Speaking of the OL, they were overwhelmed in the first half against Wake’s ones. Once the twos came in, our OL more than held their own. I think we have some guys in place to have another solid OL, but it’s probably going to take a few games to figure it out. Defense: I’m already on the JD Williams bandwagon. He looked like he belonged and was a load in the middle. However, I didn’t like that he seemed to get gassed so quickly. Omari Obor looked explosive against the backups and also when he was left unblocked against the ones. He’ll need to continue to develop as a pass rusher, but he’s going to be difficult for MAC opponents to deal with. Waye and Kavals also had their moments. Outside of those guys, our pass rush and effectiveness against the run was almost nonexistent. I liked what I saw out of Daunte Curtis and Donelius Johnson at linebacker. I believe they should be receiving most of the snaps from here on out. It’s hard to say much about the secondary. They at least tried to play physically, but they were put in bad spots way too often. Besides all of the penalties, I think Wake is a solid team that should at least make a bowl game. The Zips came out, fought to the end, and came away with some positives to build on. Next week should be a blowout as Robert Morris just isn’t that good. QB: Broughton Roggow RB: Gant Patrick Williams Curry RWR: Burris Myers LWR: Ma. Williams Hills SWR: Sivon Mason Hilburn Louis TE: Alexander Cravaack Hook LT: Gould Slayden Shor LG: Smith Archer Hoskins C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton Archer RT: Jones Gould RDE: Abor Waye LDE: D. Frazier Waye RDT: Hull Williams Brown-Demery LDT: Mixon Kavals E. Davis MLB: Jones D. Johnson Reeves WLB: Nunoo Curtis Hocker NB: AA. Branch AL. Branch Moss RCB: White Newsome LCB: Thomas Hobson SS: Flowers Davis FS: Hunter Davis KO/XP: Stire FG: Schramm P: Castle Top Rated Offense (15 snap minimum): WR Hilburn WR Ma. Williams RT Jones LT Slayden WR Mason Top Rated Defense (15 snap minimum): NB AA Branch LB Nunoo CB White DT Williams S Davis

When was the last time we saw a backup QB look not just functional, but efficient? And that’s with being in there will all the backups.

Nice drive against Wake’s backups. Helped by penalties, but I’ll take it.

Wake just scored in the exact same play they ran earlier in the drive on 4th down. And we did the exact same thing in not stopping it. Good play design though.

A few take aways from the first half: 1) CB is a player and his mobility is going to be a big asset for us in conference play. However, he needs to learn how to avoid big hits or he won’t be available in many games. 2) Our OL is clearly a work in progress and we simply can’t block Wake’s DL. We’ve gotten confused several times on Wake’s blitzes. I’m glad we finally went away from the inside zone in the run game. When inside zone isn’t working, counter and outside zone are the next best bets and we ran some nice counters in the 2nd quarter. 3) Pass rush is a problem…again. I’m not going to blast our secondary as they don’t stand a chance with the amount of time Lopez is getting. That said, I am going to be critical of the entire defense for looking lost on too many plays in the first quarter. 4) JD Williams is a beast on the interior against the run, but he needs to get in better shape. 5) Freshman Daunte Curtis is going to be a player. 6) Receivers look as expected. If the OL can hold up a little longer, which they should against other MAC teams, this offense will have a chance at some big plays. 7) I want to see us compete and make some things happen in the second half.

A co-worker of mine played at Bowling Green and told me a few months ago that Novosad “isn’t any good.”