Unfortunately, with the ever-changing landscape of college athletics, local rivals are starting to become a thing of the past.
Here in Western Pennsylvania, we’ve certainly seen that with the Pitt-Penn State football game, the Pitt-Duquesne men’s basketball game, the Pitt-Robert Morris men’s basketball game and even the Duquesne-Robert Morris men’s basketball game.
It’s encouraging though that both the Pitt and West Virginia athletic departments appear to see the value of playing the Backyard Brawl, so hopefully that series will get extended.
It appears as though another smaller rivalry could be returning in the near future.
Sources told Pittsburgh Sports Now that the athletic departments from Duquesne and Robert Morris are in deep discussions about renewing the Duquesne-Robert Morris football game.
PSN has learned that although nothing is official, we could see the return of that game starting in 2025 and the interesting angle is that current talks have them playing the game at Acrisure Stadium.
Once again, the contract has not been signed yet, but, both sides are optimistic that this will be finalized soon, and we’ll see the return of Duquesne vs. RMU football.
The longtime FCS rivals have not played since the 2019 season, when RMU won, 41-21 at Joe Walton Stadium in Moon Township. Duquesne plays football in Northeast Conference, where Robert Morris was an all-sports member until 2020. When RMU left the NEC for the Horizon League in 2020, the schools were expected to play one another as a non-conference game that fall. But the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the fall 2020 FCS season and when it was played in the spring, only conference games were played.
With RMU starting the 2021 fall schedule as a full member of the Big South conference, and both teams seeking more games against FBS opponents, scheduling one another hasn’t been a priority.
The teams have played 21 times since 1994, when RMU established its football program. Duquesne leads the all-time series, 13-8.
