Robert Morris Takeaways: Revamped Offense Fuels Hot Start to Season

MOON TWP, Pa. — Robert Morris is off to a 3-2 start to the season, and while that may not seem impressive if you have not paid any attention to the Colonials over the first month of the season, they are undefeated against non-FBS opponents and already have a Northeast Conference win under their belt.

The Colonials hot start has been fueled on the backs of quarterback Carson Haggard, wide receivers Galen Combs and Jaqai Carter, along with an opportunistic defense. Across the first five games of the season, the Colonials rank third in the NEC in points-per-game (25.6) and first in defensive points-per-game (24.6).

Let’s take a deeper dive into the Colonials’ revamped offense, the leaders of it and how Bernard Clark’s team is finding ways to win sloppy games when needed.

Revelation at Quarterback

The biggest difference between last season and the current one is Robert Morris’ quarterback situation. Last year, Clark was faced with an uphill battle after his starting quarterback went out with an injury. In total, four different quarterbacks played meaningful snaps for the Colonials which was a huge reason the season went poorly and they finished with a 3-9 record.

Enter Carson Haggard.

Haggard transferred into Robert Morris this past offseason after spending his first two collegiate seasons on the bench at Tulane followed by two more years of being mainly a backup at Abilene Christian, though he did start and win a FCS playoff game for Wildcats back in 2024.

Haggard has been a revelation at the quarterback position for Robert Morris, already guiding the Colonials to three wins, matching last year’s win total in just five games.

“The biggest thing with Carson is his leadership. I still don’t think he’s tapping into how really good he could be but he’s gonna get better,” Clark said earlier this season. “It’s the leadership he has amongst the guys and the confidence he has amongst the team that helps us a lot. He’s a great field general. He does a real good job getting us in the right position so to have him on the team is definitely a plus.”

Through the first month and some change, Haggard has completed 58% of his passes for 1,068 yard, 12 touchdowns and just three interceptions. He has also added a pair of touchdowns on the ground.

If there is more room to grow for the fifth-year senior, like his head coach believes there is, the Colonials offense should continue to have no problem moving the ball as the season progresses.

Two-Headed Monster

Now, for Haggard to have success, he needs a wide receiver, or in this case, two, to throw the ball to reliably. That is where sophomores Galen Combs and Jaqai Carter come into the equation who are each tied atop of the Northeast Conference with five receiving touchdowns on the season.

According to Clark, the duo’s growth this season is not a shocking development, but rather one rooted in maturity.

“They just needed to mature. I mean, that’s what it was with Galen and more about him maturing and getting the where he needed to be but the same thing with Jaqai,” Clark said. “Both of those guys, you are talking about two freshmen last year that came in, they were transferring, they were freshmen when they came in so they’re just learning more. They’re just growing more. More reps they get, the better they’re going to do.”

Combs did not see the field last year for the Colonials, but Carter did and was one of the lone bright spots on that offense a season ago. That led many to believe coming into the year, Carter would be the go-to guy in the offense this season.

When action started, it was Combs who put the league on notice with a breakout performance in the season opener against Wagner as he recorded four receptions for 104 yards and a pair of receiving touchdowns. He also added a special teams touchdown.

He followed that up with two more electric performances, including a 9-catch, 119-yard and touchdown performance at Akron.

Unfortunately for Robert Morris, he went onto miss the next two games, and likely tomorrow’s game as well, due to an injury.

That is when Carter started to get going for the Colonials. While the entire offense looked sluggish in the game against Buffalo, including Carter, last week’s game against Norfolk State was Carter’s coming out party as he recorded nine receptions for 171 yards and three touchdowns.

“It’s first time we got over 28 points so that’s the other thing I’m excited about,” Clark said after beating Norfolk State. “Carson and Jaqai did great. Again, like you said, without Galen, we got Noah [Schaerli] scoring touchdowns. So, we got guys there doing what we need to do, so we just got to put it all together. Still not where we need to be at. Long way to go, but we’re getting there.”

When Robert Morris gets a healthy Combs back, with the pairing of him and Carter, alongside a consistent quarterback in Haggard, there is no telling what the ceiling is for the Colonials’ offense the rest of the way.

Winning Sloppy

While the offense has looked legit, with a trio of stars emerging, and a top-three unit on the defensive side of the ball, last week’s win over Norfolk State was anything but clean. The Colonials led by as many as 17 points in the second half, yet the game still came down to a field goal at the end of the game.

Immediately after taking a 27-10 lead, it just seemed like the offense and defense started to make uncalled for mistakes which led to the near collapse.

Despite that, the offense scored the go-ahead touchdown after a lengthy drive down the field before the defense came on and held their ground as best they could which resulted in a very long potential game-winning field goal that ended up about a yard or two short. That resilience in the final minutes proved to Clark that he had a team that could win sloppy.

“Well, when you finish a game like that, what it does for you, it gets you to understand that you came out sloppy,” Clark said. “They played a whole lot better we did the second half, but we can finish. 
Now, we got to put the entire four quarters together to make we put ourselves in position.”

Even taking into account the poor second half against Norfolk State, or the 302 rushing yards allowed to Buffalo, the Colonials’ defensive metrics are some of the best across the Northeast Conference through five games.

On top of having the best defensive points-per-game, the Colonials also have recorded the most team sacks (13) across the entire Northeast Conference. They have a pair of linebackers in Amanuel Dickson (10.4) and Jake Lopinto (9.0) lead the conference in tackles-per-game and two top-five pass rushers in Asher Wilson (3.5) and David Johnson (2.5).

Once Combs returns, and Robert Morris gets back into conference play, the Colonials will be ready to show why they are legit contenders in the NEC this season, and potentially why they are deserving of their second-ever appearance inside of the AFCA Top-25.