Robert Morris/Sacred Heart Game Day Open Thread
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You can read our preview article in the Beaver County Times here.
It’s pretty standard at this point in a season like this to begin looking ahead, to find building blocks to mold and put in place in the offseason. Theory states that a strong finish bodes well for the following season. That was the hope around the team last year and it didn’t pan out. We’ll see what happens this year, but it certainly won’t be an easy road. Sacred Heart is 1-6, but they’re followed up by Albany, a very good Wagner team, and perennial RMU killer Monmouth.
Injury list: Myles Russ will play following his ankle injury two weeks ago. DL Mike Burkett will try to play after missing the St. Francis game. The rest are out: DL Ryan Catley (knee), DL Farren Mason (knee), DL Mike Lovely (neck), DL Mark Syzmanski (chest), LB Jon Krepps (wrist), and LB Brad Banas (hand).
Lineup changs: None, really. You simply might see some lower level guys get some action in these final four games, including some freshmen. Jeff Link will be back in the lineup at fullback after missing the last game. Expect continued heavy rotation on the D-Line, even with Burkett’s return. Might even see some additional personnel at wide receiver and tight end, as well.
I will not be at the game, which marks the first time since the 9/23/06 game against Rowan that I’ll miss a home game, as I’ll be covering Geneva’s home finale for the newspaper. I encourage discussion here and I’ll stop in later on Saturday.
Congrats RMU and on getting #2 today.
Second week with a win, second week with little action in the comment section. Coincidence? I think not.
Here’s a comment for you the last two games have been the worse qb play I have ever seen. He is not getting any better and even gad the nerve to scream and mf Walton. No respect for the coach or the players constantly yelling at people for his mistakes. It’s time to hive someone else a chance. Sinclair is not a qb and will get his butt handed to him next week.
OMG…but then that can’t be as bad as when Coach Walton drop kicked Coach Dorsett after Myles got hurt again…Classic Walton.
It was 3 hours of my life I can’t get back. Wet and miserable. I’m glad they won, but it was a weak offensive performance against a weak team. Sinclair stunk. Anyone else tired of seeing 3 yard passes on 3rd and 5, or 6 yard passes on 3rd and 8? Hell, they even had a -1 yard pass on 3rd and 1 (maybe it was 4th and 1 I can’t remember). It’s painful to watch this offense. I think at one point Sinclair was 6 for 8 for 23 yards. It’s comical to watch Walton on the sidelines and his interaction with players. I was within earshot of a couple of heated exchanges where Sinclair clearly threw a few F-bombs in Walton’s direction, and Walton ended with telling Sinclair that the QB was a waste his time. I think the smart move for any QB on this team including Sinclair, is to move on. No one will succeed with this offense. I suspect the lack of traffic is more due to lack of interest, not the fact that they barely won.
The reason that Sinclair was standing up against Walton is because the wrong play call resulted in a field goal instead of a TD. The wrong play call got into the huddle and Walton blamed it on Sinclair instead of the incoming player who told the huddle the wrong play. I think it’s about time that someone stands up to Walton when he is off his rocker, which is more often than not at this point. Half the time he doesn’t even seem to have a clue who is on the field or what he is even doing. When there was a very questionable call yesterday in the endzone with St. Francis being pushed out of bounds, picking up a ball that bounced, which resulted in the officials calling a TD, Walton was walking away, not even questioning the call. Banazak has been there in the faces of those refs over and over sticking up for our team and being the only component to head coaching that is working on those sidelines. I think that after losing 6 games, each for different reasons (defense has a bad game, offensive line has a bad game, receivers don’t show up for a game, QBs get rotated, etc.) then maybe it is error that is coming from higher up. Maybe we should begin to evaluate the coaching staff?? One in particular???
walton did not call the wrong play, sinclair called the wrong side of the feild that would have resulted in a touchdown if it happened right. Some people stand up to Walton in the huddles. One time that sticks out to me is in the beginning of the year, Walton called a play, it was ran and had a poor outcome. He yelled at the qb for running the play and said he called a differnt one. tank was the the one writing down the plays. Walton asked the qb coach what was called and he rolled over and sucked up to walton and then tank called him out and look where he sits now. doesnt even dress. Sinclair on many plays yells at the recievers or running backs if they cant catch a bad ball or get a first down. he has no respect. every time he throughs an interception he gets in someones face and its annoying. No one but walton thinks he should be in there. He has not got any better. Honestly who is impressed with him? 38 yards passing?! this is college!
Can someone tell me what is the status of qb Desmond Brentley? Apparently he was pulled after the second game of the year because he threw 2 interceptions??? Why is Desmond being treated horribly!! Jeff SInclair has thrown interceptions, looses his temper with the players and coaches as well as publicly challenged the coach in public. He is still playing!! As a matter of fact Desmond is not even allowed to dress for home games nor travel for away games. Why is he being punished?? I was told the coaching staff does not give him instruction or direction. Why? As parents who do we talk to to get clarity on this situation? Desmond has never disrespected or called any of the coaches out of their names. He is being treated as if he is not a part of this team. He is a senior and deserves the right to be respected as well as given the courtesy of communication.
Don’t expect Des to dress for senior day. Don’t expect Cam to see the field on senior day. Joe’s handling of the QB’s this year has been poor from start to finish. Don’t expect anything to change now. The biggest improvement this team could make is to show Joe the door. He started the program, and 11 years later he is now the biggest detriment to the program.
Concerned Parents:
I would reach out to Dr. Craig Coleman (Athletic Director) if you need to speak to someone.
Phone = (412)397-4302
email = colemanc@rmu.edu
I hope this information helps.
And here we go again RMYou….I think you type while sleep because your dream is not going to come true. Walton is not going to be shown the door at anytime.
RMU is 18 pts away from being 6-2.
Remember that this team lost 2 talented individuals before the season started that no one on this blog has brought up.
Andy Walton (anchor in the middle of that DL) & James O’Quinn (NEC Rookie of the Year) but I know 2 players don’t make or break a season but you have to consider that losing these guys did hurt the team.
There are many things hurting this program that need work and hopefully Andrew will do year end review post when I’m sure will get a lot of hits because everyone will be out in full force to bash Walton.
I type in my sleep and you live in the past. Joe is no longer effective. It’s so painfully obvious that I can only conclude that you must be asleep during the games. They don’t have the guts to show Joe the door, and their offense will continue to suffer as a result. I’d like to see how Andy Walton, a D-lineman could help to cure the offensive issues that plague this team. I doubt O’Quinn would be enough at WR to make up for their many issues. You apparently would rather continue to lose than see your boy go. I think “man crush” is the term you used… or maybe I was a just dreaming again.
Oh RMYou…I don’t think you feel complete unless you can attack Coach Walton and his supporters. If the Athletic Department feels that the program needs to take a new direction and that new direction involves no Joe Walton then I will support it. Sure to you and probably others its sad that I live in the past with only ever losing 3 home games and championship rings and coaching championship teams…yeah you are right. Sucks looking back on that. Sucks being proud of knowing that your class help build the program today. And it really sucks showing respect for Coach Walton and all the others coaches who helped guide those team…sorry…SORRY EVERYONE.
Couple things:
CONCERNED PARENTS – Desmond Brentley was pulled in the second game of the season against Bucknell because of his four interceptions in that game, including two back-to-back that were returned for touchdowns. Players make mistakes, but Brentley did not show the grasp of the passing game that the coaches wanted. Camdin Crouse likely would have continued to stay at quarterback had he not suffered an elbow injury, but he was also struggling to move the offense consistently. Now Crouse would likely argue that he could have played following the injury and that the offense might have been coming together, but Walton decided to go with youth.
Jeff Sinclair was given a shot for several reasons. He is the most athletic and physically capable quarterback on the roster. He has four years of eligibility and seen as the “quarterback of the future” (unlike seniors Crouse and Brentley). And, in what is essentially a lost season, it’s an opportunity to give him work in game situations that will hopefully make him better later in his career. Sinclair has his warts, as all players at this level do. There is simply the hope and belief that with the right coaching, he will have the opportunity to channel his emotions and his talent into being an effective quarterback.
I think that’s the biggest problem facing this quarterback group. Outside of a handful of mop-up snaps for Crouse, none of the quarterbacks coming into the season had ever played quarterback in a college game. Whatever success they had in high school, throw it out the window. High school success only determines which guys get a shot at playing in college, not who will actually perform well. The two levels, just like the college/pro gap, are extremely different.
ORIGINAL RMC – While I think Andy Walton would be valuable because of the injury issue along the defensive front, I don’t think his talent was missed at the start of the season. The defensive line started off fairly well, slipped for a game or two because of injuries and new faces, and then adjusted well. O’Quinn’s talent would helpful at receiver, especially in the next couple years, but considering his troublesome history, I don’t know that he would have handled things well. Obviously he didn’t handle his off the field business well, as has been written here before.
EVERYONE ELSE – You can crow for a coaching change all you want, but it’s not happening. It’s always going to be Walton’s decision when he leaves unless there is a major change of heart amongst the powers that be.
Everyone knows that Joe will leave when Joe says so. That doesn’t mean that we should cease all discussions about his ability, or inabilty to get the job done. Regarding the QB’s, when no one stepped up at the beginning of the season, they should have started an underclassman. I said that then, and I say it now. It would make no sense to go back to one of the seniors now. There are 2 scholarship QB’s on this team. Both are underclassman, yet one never got his shot at starting a game despite poor performances by the others. Sinclair better be the QB of the future, because I expect Walton’s options will be significantly limited next year at QB with the graduation of Des and Cam, and the not so unlikely departure of a couple of others.
That doesnt explain why des is being mistreated and not told a word on wht he doesnt dress or travel. He is the second most experienced QB on the roster. I can recall Erik throwing 5 ints in a game he was never pulled and not allowed to travel…
Desmond camdin and Aaron should be the three qbs. Sinclair has a horrible attitude and that will bring down the team. You can’t argue that a qb needs to be a leader for not only the offense but for the whole team. Sinclair is just not a leader. Do you condone the fight with Walton? Is that something that should be happening? How about yelling at his own teamates?
What is sad from participating and viewing this site and going to games; is the fact that so few alumni or ex players come back and support the program. The administration may need to look into this issue. And while they are at it look into why the student body don’t support the team. At most colleges and high schools the football team is the main revenue generator at RMU if the football team is the biggest revenue generator I feel sorry for the school. No wonder they [the Joe] don’t have lights.
It has been bad for Joe and it is expected because he is the head coach. The coaching staff has made a lot of mistakes this year and in the past and I just hope they learn from them.
A lot of former players support the team/players/coaches/program. Now a lot of those former players don’t live within the Moon Twp area. Remember a lot of these guys were from NY, MD, OH…etc. But a good number of former players do come back every year for Homecoming. And several former players attended a Friday night workout in the Spring at the Sewall Center to oversee a fun strong man event. The team was broken up into small groups via a draft held by the coaches and the former players were assigned the teams to be there coaches. It was a great way to have the former players meet the current players.
It is too bad that Joe Walton stadium does not have lights. I think a Saturday night game against the Dukes would be ideal or having Homecoming at night. If SFPA can get lights I think RMU should be able to flip the bill as well.
Moon has lights. Play the night games there. We always won when we played at Moon, and we had better crowds. Lesson learned, don’t name a stadium after someone until they retire!
If I’m wrong, please flame me all you want, but I seriously doubt “Concerned Parents” are truly Desmond Brentley’s parents. If they were, they would not have to go to an unofficial RMU blog to get contact information about how to get in touch with the athletic director or coaching staff. That information is available on the RMU website, with a little digging, and they’d already have Coach Walton’s number and have already spoken to him about this matter. No disrespect intended if I’m wrong, but that post seems fishy to me.
As for playing the night games at Moon and that they’ve had better crowds at Moon versus the Joe. If I remember correctly, the last few years at Moon, RMU averaged between 1,500- and 2,000/game. I went to more than a few games at Moon and that’s about what it looked like to me. I’m guessing that this is about what they are getting at the Joe now. Of course, with this season, I would not be surprised if the avg per game figure is much less than previous seasons. Why aren’t the alumni supporting this team? In my case, I live too far away to attend more than one game/yr. Otherwise, I have supported this team and the school financially as well as morally. Other reasons may be that the athletic department doesn’t really push this team. Even in better years, I rarely ever saw ads in the local fishwrap touting the benefits of going to an RMU football game. I’ve seen Duquesne ads, but not RMU ads. I get mail from the alumni office about Homecoming, but not for much else. The media in this town won’t cover RMU because it’s not Pitt, Penn State, or WVU. They’ll cover Duquesne before they’ll cover RMU because it’s easier to head up to the Bluff rather than schlep out to the airport. I think the athletic department needs to spend a little more money on marketing and advertising in the local media.
About Sinclair blowing up at Walton and everyone blasting him because he’s not acting like a leader. Three words: HE’S A FRESHMAN!!!!! You guys are expecting him to pass for 3000 yds/season in his first year of playing college football. Maybe playing NCAA2k on the Xbox. You’re expecting a guy who is just learning to adjust to the difference in speed between high school and college to act like a Tim Tebow??? Is he having a bad year, yes, but the whole team stinks this year. Does he have potential to become the quarterback of the future?? Yes. Give him friggine time. Some of y’all need to step away from ESPN and remember that this ain’t Florida or USC. It’s little frickin’ Robert Morris. Heightened Expectations much???
yes sinclair is a freshman, but he should atleast be gettin better. The past two games he has just been horrible against a horrible team. And truth be told, every other qb except camdin could have been considered a “freshman” Desmond and Smetanka did not play a game since high school. Its fine to yell at Walton sometimes, but not in public. as a former player, i can see how the players are reacting to him and honestly, its not good. I just want to know what happens during films. Sinclair has to get his butt chewed out because its pretty pathetic qb play. Please do not try to down play that by saying he is a freshman because many other freshman have success and get better as games progress.
We are concerned parents, community, and family members. As parents we have never played high school or college sports. We are not trying to be a part of the coaching staff, nor are we trying to pretend that we understand all of the reasons why coaches make the decisions they make. We beleive like most RMU parents we learned to trust the coaches decision. The concern about Desmond being pulled after the second game without explanation is one thing; however, our concern is the lack of communication between Desmond and the coaching staff for evaluation, observation, and the opportunity to return back to the starting position that he once held. Some of the noticable differences with the coaching staff and Jeff Sinclair are: the coaching staff is solidly behind Sinclair at practices and games even when mistakes are make; coaching staff is behind the decisions to stick with Sinclair for the last several mistakes dispite the losses (this stability gives the qb needed confidence to move on); head coach also provides positive reinforcement during radio interviews when speaking of Jeff Sinclair. All of those things are wonderful and should have been given to Desmond and any other starting qb for RMU in the beginning of the season. But it did not happen with Desmond! Why!!!
Couple of quick responses to questions raised: for Pierre like, Desmond Brentley even our intentions are questionable with you doubting who is writing this blog. We stated that we are concerned parents, the community, and family members. We are not hiding anything!!! We attend all of the games. Let’s get the record straight!! Desmond Brentley is a senior in the classroom and a junior on the field. He has one year left of eligibility!! He has been waiting for an opportunity since transfering from Grambling State University 2.5 years ago. What does he need to prove? Now can you explain to me why he is being treated with such disrespect?
“CONCERNED PARENTS”:
1. Brentley’s eligibility beyond this season has not been officially determined and likely won’t be until after the season is over. He should have another year, but the NCAA is the king of making weird decisions.
2. No one here can offer any true explanations to why things have occurred involving any player’s opportunity to play. If you feel that you need an explanation, you need to talk to those who have answers. I merely run this site as a news service and open up the news posts for fans to comment on the news.
Pierre,
Regarding my comment about playing at Moon; I wrote that with tongue-in-cheek. You obviously would have realized that except that you are not cool, hip or trendy! But, you are a very talented writer!
For those wondering what I am talking about, click on Pierre’s name from one of his comments, and it will take you to his blog, The Moonlight Scribbler.
Sorry about that, my sarcasm detector is in the shop getting the batteries changed.
On another topic….how about that Defense!
The defense is OK, a bright spot on a sad team, it can be better – lets not get excited about holding down two bad teams. Also remember this is the NEC not the CAA or another top FCS conference. Saturday and the next two weeks will be real tests for both the defense and Offense.