Robert Morris University coach Joe Walton had plenty to kick about after his Colonials imploded in a 17-14 loss to visiting Bucknell yesterday at Joe Walton Stadium.

"The kicking game will kill you," he said, with a shrug. "I thought we were in pretty good shape in our kicking game. Obviously not."

The Colonials mounted a frantic drive in the final two minutes with no timeouts and were in position to send the game into overtime, but Garrett Clawson's 22-yard field-goal attempt was blocked with two seconds remaining.

Moments earlier, Robert Morris' 1-yard plunge for an apparent go-ahead touchdown was nullified by an illegal-procedure penalty. The receivers moved in different directions before the snap.

"Why they got confused, I have no idea why," said Walton, whose Colonials committed four turnovers (three lost fumbles and an interception). "We beat ourselves. I can't say it any better than that. They didn't beat us. We had a chance to win ... we didn't deliver."

Clawson also missed a 37-yard field-goal attempt early in the second quarter with the Colonials holding a 7-0 lead.

Although Bucknell (2-0) dominated the time of possession with a time-consuming running attack mixed in with short passes, Robert Morris (1-1) unleashed a quick-strike offense for long gains.

It took Robert Morris just three plays to score after free safety Mike Landers returned an interception to the Colonials' 45 at 10:03 of the first quarter.

Walton dusted off a flea-flicker buried deep in his playbook for a 43-yard touchdown pass.

Quarterback Erik Cwalinski threw a lateral across the field to halfback Myles Russ, who tossed it back to Cwalinski. With a defender charging hard, Cwalinski lofted a rainbow pass to Sherrod Evers, who caught the ball in stride on the Bucknell 5.

Bucknell tied it, 7-7, in the second quarter on Marcello Trigg's 10-yard pass to Alex Lair.

It appeared the teams were headed to intermission in a stalemate, but Bucknell's Will Carney got a second chance to make a field goal after Robert Morris was flagged for running into him on a 49-yard attempt. He then made a career-high 44-yarder to give the Bison a 10-7 lead.

"Too many mistakes," Walton said. "Too many penalties."

But it didn't take Robert Morris long to erase its deficit.

Just 30 seconds into the third quarter, Russ burst through the middle of the line and outraced defenders for a 68-yard touchdown run that pushed the Colonials in front, 14-10.

Bucknell used some trickery of its own to regain the lead, 17-14, midway in the third quarter on halfback Nolan Carney's 26-yard pass to Alex Odenbach, who made a fingertip grab deep in the corner of the end zone.

The teams traded penalties and mistakes in the fourth quarter to set the stage for Robert Morris' final missed opportunity.