Moon Township, Pa. - According to a poll of league head coaches, the Robert Morris University football team has been picked to finish third in the Northeast Conference (NEC) in 2011.
The Colonials received one first-place vote in the preseason poll and are coming off a 2010 campaign in which they posted an overall record of 8-3, including a 7-1 mark in the NEC, and claimed their league-high sixth NEC championship.
RMU shared the 2010 NEC regular-season championship with 2011 preseason favorite Central Connecticut State, which received five first-place votes in the preseason poll and also finished 8-3 overall and 7-1 in the NEC in 2010. Robert Morris earned the NEC's inaugural bid to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Playoffs in 2010 thanks to a 42-24 head-to-head victory over CCSU at Joe Walton Stadium.
Tabbed to finish second in the NEC in 2011 is Duquesne (7-4, 5-3), which received a pair of first-place votes. Following CCSU, Duquesne and RMU in the poll are Albany (6-5, 4-4), Bryant (7-4, 4-4), Monmouth (3-8, 3-5), Wagner (5-6, 3-5), Sacred Heart (4-7, 2-6) and Saint Francis (1-10, 1-7).
Robert Morris returns nine starters in 2011, including six on offense. The Colonials enter the 2011 season having posted a record of 13-3 (.813) in their last 16 games dating back to the 2009 campaign, including a record of 12-1 (.923) against league foes over that span.
"Every year is a challenge, especially in the Northeast Conference," head coach Joe Walton said. "We had a group of players that came together last season to do something special, but this group has to form its own identity, and that starts in the locker room. The great thing is we have a group of returning players that have gone through the experience of what it takes to be a championship team, and how we come together and who steps up as leaders will ultimately determine how successful we'll be."
Five Colonials were named to the 2011 All-NEC Preseason Team, including Jeff Sinclair (Natrona Heights, Pa. / Highlands). The 6'3", 190-pound junior signal caller tied an RMU single-season record for touchdown passes in 2010 with 22, finishing 128-for-257 (49.8 percent) passing for 1,920 yards. Sinclair enters the 2011 season with a record of 13-5 (.722) as RMU's starting quarterback.
Joining Sinclair on the 2011 All-NEC Preseason Team are senior tight end Shadrae King (McKeesport, Pa. / McKeesport), senior offensive lineman Logan Miles (Scottdale, Pa. / Southmoreland), junior defensive lineman Nolan Nearhoof (Gibsonia, Pa. / Mars Area) and senior return specialist Anthony Coleman (Cheltenham, Md. / St. John's College High School).
King, 6'3" and 225 pounds, enters his final season of eligibility in 2011 with career totals of 94 receptions for 1,174 yards and 16 touchdowns. He is 19 catches shy of establishing a new career record for receptions and needs six touchdown catches in 2011 to establish a new career record. King, who was named to the 2011 FCS Preseason All-America Second Team by both The Sports Network/Fathead.com and Phil Steele, finished with 43 catches for 531 yards and seven touchdowns last season.
The 6'3", 295-pound Miles started all 11 games at center for the Colonials in 2010 and anchored an offensive line that allowed RMU to compile 2,021 yards rushing last season, a single-season school record. For those efforts Miles earned a spot on the 2010 All-NEC Second Team.
Nearhoof led the Colonials in sacks a year ago with five and-a-half and finished tied for fifth in tackles with 49. The 6'2", 280-pound junior owns career totals of 77 tackles and eight and-a-half sacks and became the third student-athlete from the football program in 2010 to be named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA).
Coleman enters the 2011 campaign owning RMU career records for kick returns (69) and kick return yards (1,470) and currently ranks 10th all-time at Robert Morris with 2,265 career all-purpose yards. In 2010 he finished with 1,130 all-purpose yards thanks to 34 kick returns for 708 yards while also posting 22 receptions for 350 yards and five touchdowns from his wide receiver position.
Led by the only coach in the history of the program in Walton, RMU opens its 18th intercollegiate football training camp Tuesday, August 9, at Joe Walton Stadium. The Colonials will open the 2011 season Saturday, Sept. 3, with a Noon tilt against Dayton at Joe Walton Stadium.
