Game notes |
Live stats |
Live audio
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team looks to record a second consecutive win and continue its reign over SRU Homecoming Games when it entertains Edinboro in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division game.
Kickoff at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
THE COACHES: George Mihalik owns a 164-102-4 (.615) career win-loss record The Rock's head coach. He is SRU's all-time leader in career wins and ranks third among active PSAC coaches, fifth on the conference's all-time wins chart and seventh among active NCAA D-II head coaches. Mihalik has compiled a 12-11-1 win-loss record vs. Edinboro since being named as SRU's head coach in 1988 and is 7-5 against the Fighting Scots in games played in Slippery Rock.
Scott Browning has compiled a 48-26 record in seven seasons as Edinboro's head coach after serving 20 seasons as a Fighting Scots assistant coach. He is 2-4 in head-to-head coaching duels with Mihalik.
HOMECOMING KING: Mihalik-coached Rock teams have won 20 of 24 SRU Homecoming Games since the former SRU quarterback was named head coach at his alma mater in 1988.
ROCK STATS AND STARS: The Rock rank sixth in the PSAC in scoring offense (34.1 points per game) and 10th in scoring defense (32.2 ppg). The Green and White have a balanced offensive attack (175.6 yards per game rushing, 194.0 ypg passing) that features junior quarterback
Nigel Barksdale. The reigning PSAC-West “Offensive Player of the Week,” Barksdale has passed for 715 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for 247 yards (#2 on team) and four TDs this fall and is expected to make his third start Saturday.
The Rock's top pass receivers are junior slotman
LaQuinn Stephens-Howling (26 receptions, 296 yards, 3 TDs), redshirt sophomore wideout
Ken Amos (20 catches, 338 yards, 1 TD), redshirt junior wideout
John Schademan (12 catches, 224 yards, 3 TDs) and freshman utilityman
Jaimire Dutrieuille (12 catches, 121 yards, 1 TD). Senior
Akeem Satterfield is The Rock's leading rusher with 575 yards and four TDs.
Junior linebacker
Gary Allen leads SRU in tackles with 60, including four tackles for loss. Redshirt senior strong safety
Marquis Knight (right) has recorded 50 tackles, while junior linebacker
Quindell Dean has 48 tackles including 5.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks and junior cornerback
Anthony Saunders has 44 tackles, two interceptions and nine passes broken up. Senior Preseason All-America defensive end
Jeff Thompson (team-high 6 TFLs and 3.5 QBS) and junior nose guard
Tony Papley (5.5 TFLs, 2.5 QBS) each have 34 tackles. Redshirt sophomore free safety
Isaiah Coleman ranks second in the PSAC in interceptions with three.
On special teams, Dutrieuille ranks second in the PSAC, ninth nationally with a 29.9 yards per punt return average and junior
James McCombie ranks third in the PSAC, 20th nationally with a 41.7 yards per punt average.
SCOUTING THE SCOTS: Edinboro scores 24.7 ppg (#11 PSAC) and allows foes 24.5 (#8 PSAC). The Fighting Scots are predominantly a passing offense as evidenced by their 272.8 ypg (#5 PSAC) and 85.3 ypg (#14 PSAC) passing vs. rushing per game averages. Junior quarterback Cody Harris throttles the offensive machine and has thrown for 1,637 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for five TDs this fall. His favorite target is junior wide receiver Marcus Johnson (36 catches, 429 yards, 4 TDs). Leading the Fighting Scots' defensive charge is senior free safety Kenny Pettis with a conference-best 78 tackles, two pass interceptions and six pass breakups. The Fighting Scots average 24.7 points per game on offense and allow opponents 24.5 points per game.
THE SERIES: The Rock have won the last two meetings and lead the all-time series by a 51-26-7 margin.
LAST YEAR'S GAME: The Rock (5-1, 3-0 PSAC-W) forced six turnovers and outscored hosting Edinboro (4-2, 1-2 PSAC-W) by a 21-3 margin in the final 25 minutes of action to record a come-from-behind, 24-23 win over the 24th-ranked Fighting Scots.
Cody Endres connected with
Devin Goda for an eight-yard touchdown with 2:22 left to play to tie the score at 23-23.
Kurt Brackman then tacked on the extra point to account for the winning margin. But the victory wasn't secure until The Rock defense forced its final turnover of the game, a fumble recovery with 0:22 left to play and Edinboro close to being in position to kick a potential game-winning field goal. Papley (left [photo) forced the fumble by Edinboro freshman quarterback Ty Stoldt and The Rock's
Brandon Burley pounced on the loose ball at The Rock 35-yard line. Stoldt made his first collegiate start in place of Harris, who was injured, and was held to only 140 passing yards on a 9-of-23 effort that included three interceptions. Endres completed 23 of 37 passes for 231 yards and three TDs and no interceptions to lead a 300-yard Rock offensive attack.
2010 MEETING: In the most-recent Rock vs. Edinboro game played in Slippery Rock,
Akeem Satterfield rushed for 147 yards and four touchdowns and The Rock defense pitched a second-half shutout to lead SRU (5-1, 2-1 PSAC-W) to a 28-14 win over 24th-ranked Edinboro (3-2, 1-2 PSC-W). The Rock defense, after allowing Edinboro 14 points and 199 yards in total offense in the first half, held the Fighting Scots to 136 yards in the final two periods. The Rock the game with a 343-335 advantage in total offense behind a balanced attack.
Ryan Sabo passed for 192 yards and Goda caught a game-high eight passes for 75 yards. Harris passed for 247 yards and one TD and rushed for a team-high 46 yards to lead the Fighting Scots' offensive effort.
AERIAL ASSAULTS: The Rock defense is prepared to again “batten down the hatches” in a season-long series of aerial assaults.
In their first seven games this fall, The Rock have faced the current No. 1, No. 3, No. 4 and No. 7 ranked passers in the PSAC in Shippensburg's Zach Zulli (389.0 ypg, 348 vs. SRU), Kutztown's Kevin Morton (325.2 ypg, 301 vs. SRU), Gannon's Liam Nadler (295.9 ypg, 325 vs. SRU) and Clarion's Ben Fiscus (226.0 ypg, 287 vs. SRU), respectively.
This week's assignment: Contain Harris, the No. 5-ranked QB at 272.8 ypg.
Next week, The Rock travel to California, Pa., to face the No. 2-ranked QB Peter Lalich, who owns a 357.2 ypg average. Then comes a “reprieve” as the final two Rock foes are led by the PSAC's No. 12 (Lock Haven's Jarrett Kratzer, 93.0 ypg) and No. 10 ranked QBs (Bloomsburg's Tim Kelly, 176.1 ypg).
The other three QBs The Rock have faced in the opening seven games are ranked second in the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (Seton Hill's Ryan Morris, 205.3 ypg, 207 vs. SRU) and 11th (Mercyhurst's Anthony Vendemia, 147.9 ypg, 143 vs. SRU) and 17th (Indiana's Mike Box (, 91.1 ypg, 98 vs. SRU) in the PSAC.
TWO COMMON FOES: The Rock and Fighting Scots have faced two common rivals this fall. Both teams beat Gannon (SRU 38-18, Edinboro 44-24) and lost to Indiana, Pa. (SRU 33-16, Edinboro 26-10).
STIFF CHALLENGES: Both teams have played a tough schedule to open the 2012 season. Three of each team's foes in the opening seven weeks of the season have won six or more games. SRU's first seven foes, which included unbeaten (7-0) Shippensburg, 6-1 Mercyhurst and 6-1 Indiana, have a 26-23 (.531) cumulative win-loss record. Edinboro's first six foes included unbeaten (7-0) Bloomsburg, 6-1 California, Pa. and 6-1 Indiana and own a 22-19 (.537) cumulative record. The Fighting Scots were idle in Week 1.
-- Compiled by Bob McComas, Sports Information Director
