Monday morning recap: A closer look at Bryant's win over RMU

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University football team defeated Robert Morris, 24-13, on Saturday afternoon at Beirne Stadium. BryantBulldogs.com takes a closer look at some of the notes and notables from Saturday's game.

With the win, the Bulldogs wrapped up their home schedule with a 4-1 record. It is the third-straight winning season at home and the 14th time in 18 years.

Bryant is now a combined 12-3 at home over the last three years.

The Black and Gold are now 17-10 at home against Northeast Conference opponents.

The win also guaranteed that the Bulldogs will finish .500 or better in the NEC for the eighth time in eight years. Bryant has finished .500 or better in league play in each of the last 12 years under head coach Marty Fine.

The Bulldogs' honored their 29-member senior class on Saturday, as well. It was the first win on Senior Day since 2012 when the Black and Gold defeated Sacred Heart.

Bryant's defense shined on Saturday, holding Robert Morris to just 98 yards of total offense, 27 total passing yards and a 1-for-15 showing on third down. It is the first time since Nov. 22, 2008 that Bryant has held an opponent to less than 100 yards of total offense. That day, the Bulldogs held Saint Francis U. to just 58 yards of offense and a mere 23 yards passing.

Senior Marquise Watson (Hillside, N.J.) made history on Saturday, becoming Bryant's all-time leader in tackles with 253. He broke Jason Riffe's record of 249 with a tackle for a loss in the second quarter. Watson has appeared in all but one game over the course of his career (41 total) and is averaging 6.2 tackles per game in his career.

Watson has been extremely active over the last four weeks, finishing with six or more tackles in all four games. He now has 50 tackles on the season, the most for any defensive linemen in the NEC.

Sophomore Thomas Costigan (Stamford, Conn.) filled up the stat sheet again, posting a team-leading seven tackles, three tackles for a loss, a sack, a forced fumble and a QB hurry.

Over the last two weeks, Costigan has 17 tackles, four tackles for a loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an interception. He currently leads the NEC in forced fumbles per game with 0.33.

Freshman Jesse Nemerowicz (Hudson, Mass.) finished with six tackles as well, and is now fifth in the NEC with 71 stops (7.9 per game). The 71 tackles are a Bryant freshmen record.

Senior Charles Wingate (Englewood, N.J.) intercepted his second pass of the season and the seventh of his career. The seven interceptions are tied for seventh all-time in Bryant history.

Freshman Tomas Wright (St. Augustine, Fla.) had a season-high two sacks against the Colonials. He is now tied for the team lead with 4.5 sacks this season. The 4.5 sacks are the second-most by a freshmen in Division I history.

Senior Dalton Easton (Miami, Fla.) completed 18-of-28 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns. He didn't throw an interception for the second-straight week and completed 60-percent or more of his passes for the third time this season.

Easton moved to within 142 passing yards of tying Charlie Granatell's program record of 6,984. His 6,842 career passing yards are the eighth-most in NEC football history.

Easton also recorded several other milestones on Saturday. He broke Granatell's program record for career passing attempts (979) and registered his third-straight season with 20+ passing touchdowns.

Senior Taylor Barthelette (East Longmeadow, Mass.) led the receivers with six catches for 93 yards. He now has 41 catches for 668 yards this season. The receiving total is the sixth-most in a single-season in program history.

Classmate Mitchell Baxter (Cumberland, R.I.) caught his first-career touchdown pass on Saturday. The five-yard TD reception proved to be the game-winning score. It was one of two catches for Baxter on the afternoon.

Junior Matt Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) caught the other TD pass from Easton, a screen-pass that he turned into a 23-yard score. It was Sewall's fifth TD reception this year and his seventh total TD.

Senior Ricky Perez (Miami, Fla.) continued his strong senior year with a dominant performance Saturday. He kicked a 50-yard field goal at the end of the first half to make it 10-3. It was his second field goal of 50+ yards this season. Perez made a program-record 51-yarder against Montana State.

Perez also made a huge play in the fourth quarter when he kicked off from the Bryant 20 and was still able to pin RMU at the 11. Two series later, he pooched a punt that the Bulldogs downed at the RMU 3.

Perez is now 8-for-10 (80%) on field goals this season and 26-of-27 (96%) on PATs. He has 50 points this season, the most on the Bulldogs.