Colonials Corner

Apologies for the timing and the quality of this update. It will be just a slash and dash of news and notes, as I’ve been wonderfully ill since the middle of the night.

A commentary follows these news and notes:

• You can read more about it in today’s paper (quick note, by the way – The Beaver County Times was the only paper or news organization represented at the home opener), but Joe Walton absolved Camdin Crouse of most of the mistakes on offense. He was extremely disappointed with the play on the offensive line, saying any quarterback would struggle with the pressure he was facing.
• Sherrod Evers took full responsibility for not holding on to the pass that hit him right in his hands slightly above his chest. Evers and King were two of several culprits for not hauling in catchable balls. Crouse did miss a couple times, though, including a short potential TD pass to Jeff Link. Josh Keil plunged in on the next play to save the Colonials.
• This is speculation, but the only time I recall seeing Jeff Sinclair warm up was after Crouse’s fumble in the 4th quarter. Crouse took a shot on that play and Sinclair might have just been a precaution. If someone recalls something else, feel free to speak up.
• Crouse only had two completions longer than 10 yards, both on the same drive in the 4th quarter – A 12 yard pass to Russ and the 25 yard touchdown to Evers.
• Dayton’s Steve Valentino, a converted wide receiver, was not playing QB for the first time. He was recruited as a quarterback and only moved to wide receiver to take advantage of his athleticism. Dayton had depth at QB, only to see that depth ravaged by injury.
• Robert Morris piled up 104 yards due to penalties. Dayton had more flags thrown (9 to RMU’s 6), but most of those were minor infractions.
• Shadrae King played but definitely did not look 100%. He was removed in the 4th quarter after a long pass fell incomplete – despite being catchable – and left him hobbled.
• Brian Bevilacqua, Brad Rodgers, and Logan Miles all played at guard, but Miles spent a lot of time at RG in place of Bevilacqua with Rodgers at Miles’ usual LG spot.
• Nathan Argenta received his first playing time of the season, starting at safety alongside Mike Landers.
• Farren Mason left in the 1st quarter with a knee injury. Early report was that it was potentially a kneecap injury.
• Adam Lawrence has a badly sprained ankle. He was going to be checked out further after the game.

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When you pile up six sacks on defense, hold the opponent to 183 yards of total offense, and allow just 10 points to the offense, theory says you’ve won the game.

Not if you’re Robert Morris. The Colonials turned the ball over five times – four interceptions by starting quarterback Desmond Brentley – and the Colonials’ defense once again could not overcome the multitude of mistakes on offense and special teams and pull out a win.

It started off wrong for Robert Morris, allowing AJ Kizekai to give Bucknell great field position on the opening kickoff. Bucknell got a field goal, and the two teams traded drives until Brentley hit Sherrod Evers with a 55-yard touchdown pass with 1:43 left in the 1st quarter. RMU followed that up with a Garrett Clawson field goal to make it 10-3 in the second quarter.

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Just a quick note, I’ve installed a new, less intrusive spam blocker in the comment form. The only extra thing it requires that the open system didn’t have is for you to fill the CAPTCHA (letter and number combo) form before you hit submit. Nice and easy and shouldn’t create a bunch of errors like the last one. It’s necessary because of an increase in spam that Colonials Corner didn’t experience at the old site.

Couple things for everyone to chew on over the weekend. As you enjoy these tidbits, you should be aware that the site is scheduled to undergo some changes over the weekend. This has been primarily a template and placeholder, and we’re hoping to institute a better organized and more visually interesting version this weekend. That is, of course, if everything goes right.

From there, the hope is to work out the final few bugs and then see if/how some additional features – more photos, video, additional multimedia, a message board – can be included as we go along. The primary focus, though, is to get the true format of the site up and running this weekend. Keep your fingers and toes crossed that all goes well.

On to the notes:

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Two things to pass along to you as we head into the fourth of July weekend, both of them revolving around schedules for the 2009-2010 seasons in men’s and women’s basketball.

The news includes a change in the conference scheduling for women’s teams, as the NEC moves towards a reduction in travel costs; the continuation of a one-sided but entertaining rivalry that was expected to die; a surprise addition to the hoops schedule for the men featuring another major state university; and an early look at how strong the schedule will be for the defending champs.

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Brad Banas, Chartiers-Houston grad and incoming RMU freshman, photo courtesy of the Post-Gazette

A couple things to get to from parts near and far involving incoming Robert Morris players and outgoing area athletes.

• The top story is the performance of Brad Banas, who had an MVP performance in the Bee Graphic North-South All Star Football game played at South Fayette High School on Saturday. Banas, a Chartiers-Houston graduate and incoming Robert Morris linebacker, displayed his offensive skills on the way to scoring four touchdowns. He was a quarterback, running back, linebacker, and kicker in high school, and the Colonials plan to use him right away on defense and on special teams – although his effort on offense may create additional opportunities.

• Read the rest of this entry →

The Pittsburgh Basketball Club’s annual summer league kicked off on Monday at the GreenTree SportsPlex, and Wednesday night featured another round of games. With the University of Pittsburgh, Robert Morris, and Duquesne all well represented at these regular triple-headers, there’s a wide variety of talent to scope out during these games.

For those unfamiliar with the setup, there are six teams in this summer league, all named after sponsors of the league. Every Monday and Wednesday, those teams play a triple-header, with tip-offs around 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00. Two 22-minute halves sandwich a 4-minute halftime, and the clock runs constantly except for substitutions and timeouts.

There is no zone defense, no set plays. This is playground basketball. Call your own screens, call for the ball, set picks and screens to gain favor, and man up. All players, no matter your affiliation, will play, but if the choice is between Gilbert Brown from Pitt and Justin Greer from Westminster, you better believe that the D-I starter is getting the call.

Now, on to last night’s games.

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One of the great Pittsburgh institutions is back for another year. The Pittsburgh Basketball Club sponsored summer league begins Monday night. Games will be played Mondays and Wednesday nights through July 15th at the GreenTree SportsPlex in Green Tree.

If you need more information about the club and the sportsplex, check out the PBC website. Games are scheduled as triple-headers, with a game starting at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 in the evening. Some games go longer, some end early.

The summer league serves as an open competition for players with ties to the local area. That includes all of the Division I teams in the region – Penn State, West Virginia, Robert Morris, Duquesne, and Pittsburgh – as well as D-I players who are from the Pittsburgh area but may be playing elsewhere. It is also open to Pittsburgh based players who are now playing overseas (you’ll see some RMU reps there in that category), and it’s open to several D-2 and D-3 schools in the area as well.

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Brenda Weare, the current Northeast Conference commissioner and the woman responsible for much of the recent push to make the NEC more competitive, passed away on Saturday following a bout with synovial cell sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.

You can read more about Weare’s legacy and the disease that took her away far too early at the NEC website. She was only 51.

A short list of NEC upgrades under Weare’s 2+ years as commisioner:
- Introduction of Bryant to the NEC.
- NEC Football earning an autobid to the FCS playoffs.
- ESPNU broadcast rights and a larger foothold on regional networks in the Northeast, including FSN Pittsburgh
- Continued upgrades to scholarship levels for football.

Our own personal experiences with Commisioner Weare were often brief, but informative. She was always quick to respond to emails – a rarity amongst college executives – and was more than willing to share her time, often in the evenings, for more in-depth interviews.

She will be missed.

Some time ago, an anonymous commenter said that the scuttlebutt on campus was that a UCLA QB would be transferring to Robert Morris. We doubted it. Original_RMC debunked a lot of it.

Well, a UCLA QB is indeed transferring, but Chris Forcier is headed to Furman to try and help knock Appalachian State down a few pegs in that conference.

He’s also a bit, uh, strange. From a UCLA website through Deadspin, we get a look at a press release distributed by Forcier and his family. Read it. Chuckle.

Advice to transfers – Don’t get cute. Don’t burn the bridge behind you, just state that you’re looking for something like a fresh start/new opportunity/to be closer to family/to get away from family if you had it rough/etc. and then just shut up. Show up to your new digs, have perfect attendance, and win on the field. End. Of. Story.