Robert Morris picked to finish tied for 4th in Big South’s spring football season

Jerry Dipaola | Thursday, February 11, 2021 1:08 p.m.

RMU Athletics

Bernard Clark led Robert Morris to 6-1 record in the Northeast Conference in 2019.

If you thought the Super Bowl signaled the end of football until September, think again.

Robert Morris, a first-year associate member of the Big South Conference, will open its spring season Feb. 27 in a nonconference game at James Madison. Traditional Big South football was postponed in the fall of 2020 because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The Colonials were picked to finish in a fourth-place tie, according to a preseason poll of Big South head coaches and a media panel. Defending champion Monmouth was selected as the preseason favorite, followed by Kennesaw State and Charleston Southern. Gardner-Webb was predicted to finish tied with Robert Morris.

The five teams will play a four-game schedule to determine the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA FCS playoffs.

Coach Bernard Clark Jr. led the Colonials to a 7-5 record in 2019, including 6-1 in the Northeast Conference. Clark was named 2019 NEC Co-Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award.

The Colonials return 12 starters from 2019, including All-NEC first-team running back Alijah Jackson and second-team linebacker Aniello Buzzacco. Jackson was second in the NEC in rushing (88.3 yards per game) and Buzzacco led the NEC and was fifth in the FCS with 131 tackles.

RMU also returns four of its five starters on the offensive line, including center Eric McAllister II, seniors Trevor Hicks and Dylan Young and redshirt junior Bussy Remaley.