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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Junior quarterback Nigel Barksdale accumulated 430 yards in total offense and had a hand in five touchdowns Saturday night in his first start for Slippery Rock University but could not lead his team to victory.

Visiting Kutztown University converted five SRU fumbles into 28 points en route to a 56-49 win in a wild Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference “crossover” game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

The Golden Bears held a 42-21 lead at halftime before The Rock scored 21 unanswered points to tie the score at 42-42 early in the fourth quarter of a game that was the rematch of last year's PSAC Championship Game, which Kutztown won by a 21-14 score in Kutztown.

Saturday's loss was the second straight suffered by The Rock, who saw their season record drop to 2-3. Kutztown, meanwhile. snapped a three-game losing streak and improved its record to 2-3.

The Rock travels to archrival Indiana, Pa. for a 2 p.m. game next Saturday, then visits Clarion for a 1 p.m. game before returning home to host Edinboro in SRU's Homecoming Game Oct. 20 (2 p.m. kickoff).

Barksdale, who assumed the starting role for injured redshirt sophomore Jared Buck, passed for 261 yards and three TDs and ran for 169 yards and two scores Saturday.

Behind Barksdale's lead, The Rock outgained Kutztown by a 561-350 margin in total yardage thanks to 310 passing yards and 251 rushing yards.

The passing and total yardage figures were the highest recorded by The Rock in five games this fall, while the rushing total was one yard shy of SRU's effort one week ago in a loss at Mercyhurst.

Junior slotback LaQuinn Stephens-Howling caught six passes for 122 yards and two TDs, senior running back Akeem Satterfield rushed for 99 yards and two TDs and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ken Amos caught three passes for 91 yards for SRU.

Kutztown's offensive attack was paced by senior quarterback Kevin Morton, who returned to action after missing the last one and a half games to pass for 301 yards and five TDs. Colby Tuell caught 10 passes for 70 yards and two TDs for the Golden Bears.

The Rock's fumble problems began on the opening series of the game as Barksdale lost control of the football after a 16-yard gain on the second play from scrimmage.

Kutztown took over possession at The Rock 45-yard line and needed only six plays to reach the end zone. Morton hit Tuell for a 12-yard TD to cap the drive at the 12:04 mark of the first period.

SRU closed the gap to one point, 7-6, with a four-play, 58-yard scoring drive in the final minute of the first period. Barksdale and Stephens-Howling hooked up for a 25-yard TD pass to account for SRU's first touchdown of the game with 14:53 left in the second quarter.

Kurt Brackman's extra-point kick was unsuccessful, which snapped a string of 44 consecutive makes by the left-footed senior and set the score at 7-6.

Morton led the Golden Bears on a six-play, 70-yard scoring drive, capped by a 15-yard TD toss to Tuell, on the ensuing possession to make it a 14-6 game with 12:51 left before halftime.

Kutztown was back on offense 90 seconds later after The Rock went three-and-out and Morton quickly led the guests on another scoring drive, this one covering 63 yards in nine plays. Morton connected with Kodi Reed for a 17-yard TD to cap the drive and give the Golden Bears a 21-6 lead with 9:12 left in the first half.

The Rock answered that Kutztown score with a four-play, 63-yard scoring march of its own to trim to gap to 21-14 with 8:03 remaining before halftime. Satterfield rambled eight yards to the end to cap the drive before redshirt freshman running back Brett Crenshaw scored on a two-point conversion run.

SRU's defensive unit forced Kutztown's offense into a three-and-out and a punt on the ensuring drive, but wound up with nothing to show for it.

The punt by Kutztown's Nathan Fehr sailed over the head of Rock punt returner Admire Carter, who had signaled for a fair catch at the SRU 17, but the ball hit the artificial turf and backward off Carter's shoulder pads. Kutztown's Kyle Ueberroth quickly pounced on the live ball.

Set up with great field position, Morton engineered a six-play, 17-yard scoring drive that pushed the Golden Bears' lead to 28-14 with 4:21 left in the first half.

The margin was stretched to 35-14 just over three minutes later when a high snap from center sailed over Rock punter James McCombie's head and into The Rock end zone, where Kutztown's Mike Garneau recovered the loose ball for a touchdown.

Barksdale and The Rock offense came right back to match 77 yards in seven plays to make it a 35-21 game with just less than one minute remaining before the intermission. Barksdale covered the final 37 yards of the drive on his own with three straight rushing attempts, the final one an 11-yard TD scamper.

Kutztown's Josh Mastromatto returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to The Rock 35 to set up a three-play scoring drive that made the score 42-21 heading into halftime. Morton threw a two-yard TD pass to Brett Fox to account for the TD.

The Rock defense forced Kutztown's offense into three-and-out series on the guests' first two second-half drives to give the Green and White offense a chance to mount a comeback.

Barksdale ran 15 yards for a touchdown on SRU's first offensive series of the second half to cap a four-play, 54-yard drive that trimmed the deficit to 42-28 with 12:05 left in the third period.

Two Rock possessions later, Barksdale hit junior running back Jimmy Zubik on a dump pass in the right flat and Zubik took the ball the final six yards to the endzone to make it a 42-35 game with 0:30 left in the third stanza. The TD toss capped a five-play, 80-yard drive by the hosts.

The Rock defense set the SRU offense up in prime scoring position on the next Kutztown drive as sophomore defensive lineman Dajour Morris grabbed an errant Morton pass and returned it five yards to the Kutztown 9.

Two plays later, Satterfield scored his second TD of the game on a four-yard run and, after Brackman added the fourth of his five extra-point kicks, the score was tied at 42-42 with 13:34 left to play in the game.

The Rock continued to control the momentum on the next two series as the SRU defense forced Kutztown into another three-and-out, which set the stage for a four-play, 60-yard scoring drive by the hosts' offensive unit to give SRU a 49-42 lead with 10:35 left to play. Barksdale and Stephens-Howling hooked up for their second TD to cap the drive, which gave The Rock their only lead of the game, albeit a short one.

Undaunted, Morton and Golden Bears responded with a 13-play, 68-yard scoring drive to tie the score at 49-49 with 6:11 left to play. Morton and Mastromatto teamed up for a 22-yard TD pass to cap the drive.

Three plays later, Kutztown had the ball back as Satterfield lost the handle at The Rock 21. Morton and the Golden Bears needed only three plays to cover the distance to the end zone. Curtis Wortham ran the final three yards to give Kutztown the lead again, 56-49 with 3:54 left to play.

The Rock appeared to be in position to tie the score at 56-56 or maybe win the game with a TD and a two-point conversion on the ensuing drive as Barksdale led the hosts on a seven-play, 59-yard drive to the Kutztown 11.

The drive ended there, though, as Stephens-Howling lost the ball after he had caught an 11-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Caleb Vescovi, who spelled Barksdale on the play after he was injured on the preceding play.

Kutztown ran out the remaining 75 seconds of the game clock to secure the win.

Notes:

Barksdale's rushing yardage total is believed to be the highest ever recorded by a Rock quarterback … Conversely, Saturday's point total was The Rock's highest ever in a losing effort. It surpassed the mark set in a 51-48 loss at Gannon in 2009 … Satterfield moved up two spots into eighth place on SRU's career rushing yardage chart Saturday. He has now rushed for 2,674 yards, three more than Chuck Sanders (1983-85). Satterfield needs 450 rushing yards to catch Ricky Porter (1978-81), who ranks seventh on that chart … Satterfield also moved ahead of Sanders and into 13th place on SRU's career all-purpose yardage chart with 3,195 yards. He trails No. 12 Scott Opalsky (1987-90) by 96 yards, No. 11 Dorrian Glenn (1998-01) by 172 yards and Coleman, who ranks 10th, by 229 yards … Satterfield remained sixth on SRU's career touchdowns list with 35 (3 behind Lamonte Coleman, 1992-94) and eighth in career scoring with 210 points (18 behind Coleman).