Moon Township, Pa. - A season-opening game against the defending NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) national champions and a full slate of Northeast Conference games highlights the 2012 Robert Morris University football schedule.

Led by 19th-year head coach Joe Walton, the Colonials will play 11 games as part of their regular season in 2012.

RMU will open its 2012 campaign on the road Saturday, Sept. 1, at North Dakota State, which finished with an overall record of 14-1 (.933) last season and defeated Sam Houston State, 17-6, to win the 2011 NCAA FCS national championship in Frisco, Texas.

The tilt against the Bison marks RMU's second game in three years at North Dakota State, as the Colonials traveled to the Fargodome for the opening round of the 2010 NCAA FCS Playoffs. Robert Morris held a 7-6 halftime lead against the Bison before NDSU rallied for a 43-17 victory.

The Colonials return home to Joe Walton Stadium after taking on North Dakota State and open their 2012 NEC schedule with a Noon kickoff against defending co-champion Albany Saturday, Sept. 8.

RMU closes out its 2012 non-conference slate with a road game at Dayton (Sept. 15) and its first-ever meeting with Patriot League foe Lafayette (Sept. 29) in a 6:00 p.m. kickoff at Joe Walton Stadium as part of the University's Homecoming festivities.

Robert Morris returns to league play in earnest Saturday, Oct. 6, at in-state rival Saint Francis. The 2012 schedule also features league road games at Bryant (Oct. 13), Wagner (Oct. 27) and Sacred Heart (Nov. 10) and home games against Central Connecticut State (Oct. 20), defending co-champion Duquesne (Nov. 3) and Monmouth (Nov. 17).

Led by Walton, the only head coach in RMU history, the Colonials own an all-time record of 106-79-1 (.573). During that span Robert Morris has claimed a league-high six NEC titles (1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2010), a pair of I-AA mid-major national championships according to Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette (1999, 2000) and two ECAC Bowl victories (1996, 1997).

In 2012, Robert Morris returns 17 starters and 40 letterwinners, including senior defensive lineman Nolan Nearhoof (Gibsonia, Pa. / Mars Area) and senior defensive back Cameron Chadwick (Vista, Calif. / College of Canyons).

A 2011 All-NEC First Team selection, Nearhoof finished with 60 tackles last season and led the Colonials with seven and-a-half sacks. He enters the 2012 campaign as RMU's active leader in tackles (137) and sacks (16) and is just four sacks shy of establishing a new RMU career record.

Chadwick paced RMU in tackles in 2011 with 80, including 32 solo stops, and also added an interception and three pass breakups en route to earning All-NEC Second Team accolades.

Robert Morris wraps up its spring season Saturday, April 14, with its annual spring scrimmage at Joe Walton Stadium. Start time is slated for 1:00 p.m.