Robert Morris Colonials (3-5, 2-4 Big South) at
Monmouth Hawks (6-3, 5-0 Big South)
Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021; 12:05 p.m.
Kessler Stadium, West Long Branch, N.J.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
ESPN+
Matt Harmon (Play by Play); Emory Hunt (Color Analyst)
DIRECTIONS TO KESSLER STADIUM
Directions to Monmouth University and Kessler Stadium can be found here:
TICKET INFO:
For tickets call 732-263-5735 or visit MonmouthHawks.com for online sales
Day of game tickets can be purchased at the Austin Family Box Office 

A LOOK AT THE GAME

• Today is the final regular season home game  for the Hawks where 19 seniors will be honored pregame. The Hawks are looking to close out the home portion of the schedule with a winning record for the fifth consecutive season. Robert Morris comes to West Long Branch looking for its first road win of the season.
• Monmouth brings the Big South's highest scoring offense to the game, averaging 32.6 points per game overall. Tony Muskett ranks first or second in every passing category and has two of the best wideouts in the conference in Lonnie Moore IV and Terrance Greene Jr. The running game was anchored last week by grad student Owen Wright and freshman Jaden Shirden with the duo combining for 180 yards and three TDs.    
• Robert Morris followed in Monmouth's footsteps to the Big South from the Northeast Conference after joining the Horizon League in all of its other sports. The Colonials have secured two conference wins in their first full season in the Big South with victories over Hampton and Charleston Southern. Robert Morris is one of the most disciplined teams in the league, ranking first in turnovers penalty yards against and first in turnovers lost. 
• The game will air on ESPN+with Matt Harmon (pxp) and Emory Hunt (analyst) on the call.

 
TODAY'S PROMOTIONS
COME TO WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FRIDAY NIGHT GET A FREE TICKET VOUCHER: Anyone in attendance at Monmouth women's basketball home opener on Friday night (11/12) against Navy will get a voucher for a free ticket to Saturday's football game against Robert Morris.


THE COACHING MATCHUP
Kevin Callahan, the 2019 and 2020 Big South Coach of the Year, is in his 29th season at Monmouth as the Hawks' head coach. Callahan owns a 172-128 career coaching record, all with Monmouth. Coming into the season, Callahan's 172 victories ranks him 6th among active coaches in the Football Championship Subdivision. He is one of two FCS coaches with 150+ wins all at one institution and his 29 years as a head coach is the seventh most among active coaches. The only coach in Monmouth history, he has led the Blue & White to six conference championships, in 1996, 1998, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2020-21 and its first at-large playoff berth in 2017. Callahan has earned conference coach of the year accolades in 1998, 2003, 2006, 2019 and 2020 and was named as an Eddie Robinson Award finalist in 2017 (10^th), 2019 (4^th) and 2020-21. Prior to arriving in West Long Branch, Callahan served as defensive coordinator at Colgate for eight seasons and at Wagner for three years. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach at Albany (1977-79) and Syracuse (1980) before becoming a Seahawk assistant in 1981.
 
Bernard Clark is in his fourth season at the helm of the Colonials, as he leads RMU out of the NEC era and into the Big South. Clark led one of the best turnarounds in program history in 2019. RMU opened the season 0-3 but won seven of its final nine games of the year to record its first winning season since 2010 with an overall mark of 7-5 (.583). Included in that record was a ledger of 6-1 (.857) in the Northeast Conference (NEC) as RMU finished second in the league standings. For those efforts, Clark was tabbed the 2019 NEC Co-Coach of the Year and was also a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award. Clark, a 1989 Miami graduate, was a third round pick in the NFL and spent time in the Arena League. He has had coaching stops at FIU, UAlbany, Liberty University, Colorado State, Hampton and Pittsburgh.
 
INSIDE THE MU-RMU SERIES
21st Overall Meeting
Overall Record: 10-10
    West Long Branch: 4-5
    at Robert Morris: 6-5
First Meeting: Sept. 10, 1994
Last Meeting: Oct. 4, 2014
Longest MU Win Streak: 4 gms
Longest RMU Win Streak: 3 gms
Largest MU W Margin: 31 pts
Largest RMU W Margin: 37 pts
Smallest MU W Margin: 1 pt
Smallest RMU W Margin: 1 pt
Shutouts: 1
Overtime Games: 0
 
MONMOUTH AGAINST THE BIG SOUTH

• Since starting up Big South league play in 2014, Monmouth owns an 25-14 conference record, however is 21-2 since 2017.
• The Hawks own a 7-1 record against Gardner-Webb, 3-0 against Campbell, 5-1 against CSU and 2-4 vs Kennesaw State. The Hawks are also 1-0 against Hampton (3-0 overall) in conference competition. MU is 1-0 against North Alabama as well as North Carolina A&T.
• The Hawks won their first Big South Title in 2019 going undefeated for the first time since joining the league.
• MU was 0-3 against members of the Big South prior to joining the league, including dropping a home and home series with Coastal Carolina and a non-conference tilt with the Flames. The Hawks were also 4-2 against PC.
• With the win over North Alabama Monmouth has won five consecutive conference games for the second time in program history (matching 2019).

 
THE MONMOUTH-ROBERT MORRIS SERIES

• Today's game is the 21st game played between the Hawks and the Colonials. Monmouth started football in 1993, one year later RMU followed by starting its division I program.
• From 1994 until 2014 the Hawks and Colonials have played every year except once, the lone exception coming in the 2001 season when the game after September 11 was canceled.
• The two teams are tied 10-10 in the series history, however the Hawks have won three straight games against the Colonials. Each team has registered multiple game win-streaks, with Monmouth owning the longest at four consecutive games from 2003 to 2006.
• The Hawks and Colonials are back in the same conference for the first time since 2012, the last year Monmouth competed as a member of the Northeast Conference. Between the two of them, the Hawks and Colonials won the Northeast Conference title 11 times.

 
THE PRODIGAL SON RETURNS
Managing the Monmouth running backs will be a coach familier to the Colonials in Sam Dorsett. Dorsett starred for the Colonials after running for 3,847 yards and 29 touchdowns - which still stands as a record to this day. The Hollywood, Florida native was enshrined in the RMU Hall of Fame in 2009. He helped lead the Colonials to back to back NEC Titles in 1999 and 2000, earning All-American honors in 2001. Dorsett got his coaching start at his alma mater, recruiting and mentoring Miles Russ who earned NEC Offensive Player of the Year honors and eventually broke Dorsett's rushing yards and all-purpose yardage records. Prior to coming to West Long Branch, Dorsett spent a year coaching at Saint Francis where he led the Red Flash to the 12th ranked rushing unit in the FCS.
 
MONMOUTH IN THE MIDST OF BIG SOUTH STREAKS
The Hawks have won 15 consecutive Big South games, which is the second-longest in league history and just behind the record of 16 held by Liberty (2006-09). Monmouth has won nine-straight Big South road games, which surpassed the old conference record of eight held by Kennesaw State from 2017-19. Meanwhile, the Hawks have scored 30-plus points during their 15-game Big South win streak - the longest in league annals and bettering the old mark of 13 established by Liberty from 2009-11.
 
OWEN WRIGHT AND LONNIE MOORE COMBINE FOR SIX TDS
Lonnie Moore IV caught three TD passes last week against UNA, while Owen Wright had two rushing scores and caught a third in the win over the Lions. The duo became the first set of Big South teammates with three touchdowns in the same game since Kennesaw State's Darnell Holland and Chandler Burkes each scored three times against MU in 2018.
 
DID YOU KNOW?
Monmouth quarterback Tony Muskett has had five multi-touchdown passing games in 2021, which is tied for first in the Big South. Muskett has also thrown a touchdown pass in 12 consecutive games which is the longest streak in the Big South Conference.

Social Media Links:
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Monmouth's YouTube page (YouTube.com/monmouthhawks)