MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – RMU fell to West Virginia 45-3 on Saturday afternoon at Milan Puskar Stadium in the 2025 season opener.
The Mountaineers scored the lone touchdown of the 1
st quarter on their opening drive, with quarterback Nicco Marchiol running it in from 10 yards out at the 10:15 mark to cap an 83-yard drive.
WVU added to their lead with a 27-yard field goal by Kade Hensley at the 11:44 mark of the 2
nd quarter. Robert Morris got on the scoreboard with a 36-yard field goal from
Jayson Jenkins with 3:08 remaining in the quarter, sending the game into halftime trailing 10-3.
West Virginia's Jahiem White scored two rushing touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. The first was a 1-yard run with 11:21 remaining, and the second was a 4-yard run at the 5:21 mark. This made the score at the end of the 3rd quarter to 24-3.
The Mountaineers continued their offensive momentum in the 4th quarter with three touchdowns. Cam Vaughn caught a 46-yard touchdown pass from Marchiol with 13:52 left in the game. This was followed by a 26-yard touchdown run by Cyncir Bowers at the 10:16 mark. The final score of the game came from a 59-yard touchdown run by Scotty Fox Jr. with 3:15 remaining.
Zach Tanner completed 7 of 21 passes for 70 yards. The rushing attack was distributed among
Ethan Shine gaining 20 yards on eight carries,
Donta Whack rushing for 17 yards on 10 attempts, and
Xavier Goulbourne adding 14 yards on eight carries.
Defensively,
Patrick McDonnell led the team with 12 total tackles.
Jakari Patterson made six total tackles and two tackles for loss.
Nathan Carabatsakis contributed five tackles and half a sack.
The defense recovered four of the five fumbles by West Virginia, with McDonnell, Patterson, Carabatsakis and
Mitchell Robinson Jr. each recovering a fumble.
Next up, RMU makes the 60-mile quick trek to face Youngstown State on September 6.
NOTES
- McDonnell's 12 tackles is his personal-best
- Patterson set a career-high with six tackles
- In his first game as a punter, Jenkins averaged 41.2 yards per kick and five balls inside the 20.
- The listed attendance was 57,093
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