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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Slippery Rock University's football team goes in search of its second win of the season Saturday when it hosts Shippensburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference "crossover" game.
Kickoff of the "White Out Night" game, SRU's home opener, at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium is set for 6 p.m.
The game will cap off a full day of events as part of SRU's Family Weekend and the borough's VillageFest events in downtown Slippery Rock.
Live coverage: The SRU Sports Information Office will provide live audio, statistical and Twitter updates on Saturday's game via the links posted above. The live audio feed will be furnished by WLER-FM 97.7 (Butler), the official station for Rock football, with Bob Cupp and Glenn Thompson handling the play-by-play and color commentary duties. WSRU-TV, Slippery Rock's student television station, also plans to offer a free live videocast of the game via the link posted above.
Last week: The Rock rode a record-setting passing performance by senior quarterback
Nigel Barksdale to a 51-36 season-opening win at Northwood University in Midland, Mich. Barksdale, who subsequently received PSAC-West and D2Football.com Player of the Week honors, passed for a school-record six touchdowns and 465 yards (#2 all-time in Rock history). Four Rock receivers caught four or more passes and had 96 or more passing receiving yards.
Shippensburg, which had been ranked in virtually every preseason national poll, was handed a 33-0 setback at Shepherd University in its season-opening game.
The series: The Rock and Red Raiders meet for the 43rd time. SRU owns a 39-21-2 advantage in the all-time series, which was renewed a year ago with Shippensburg claiming a 55-35 win on it home field.
The coaches: George Mihalik has compiled a 168-103-4 record in 26 seasons as The Rock's head coach. Mihalik ranks second among active PSAC head football coaches, fourth among active NCAA Division II head coaches and fifth on the PSAC's all-time wins list. Mihalik is 13-7-1 against Shippensburg and 30-18-1 all-time vs. PSAC-Eastern Division teams.
Mark Maciejewski (pronounced muh-CHESS-key) has compiled an 18-7 record in three seasons as Shippensburg's head coach after serving 10 seasons as a Red Raiders assistant coach. Maciejewski is 1-0 against The Rock.
A year ago: [Boxscore] Shippensburg rode a 348-yard, four-touchdown passing effort by junior quarterback Zach Zulli, the eventual national Player of the3 Year, to a 55-35 win over the visiting Rock in Week 2 action. Behind Zulli's leadership, Shippensburg amassed 566 yards in total offense in the game, 352 passing and 214 rushing. The Rock finished the game with 436 total yards, 223 passing and 213 rushing.
Putting up big numbers: The Rock enter this week's game ranked first in the 16-team PSAC in total offense (675.0 yards per game), passing offense (472.0 yards per game) and scoring offense (51.0 points per game). SRU ranks third, sixth and ninth, respectively, among 166 NCAA Division II teams in those respective categories.
Nation's top punter: Rock senior
James McCombie, last week's Beyond Sports Network's Punter of the Week, currently leads the nation with a 53.3 yards per punt average. McCombie unleashed a career-best-tying 74-yard boot last Saturday, the 22nd time in his four-year career he sent the ball flying more than half the length of the field.
Saunders sets the tone: Senior cornerback
Anthony Saunders returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown to headline The Rock's defensive effort last Saturday. The "pick-six" was Saunders' third in four seasons with The Rock. Junior safety
Austin Miele recorded a team-high nine tackles for The Rock, while senior middle linebacker
Gary Allen, SRU's leading tackler a year ago, made eight stops.
Scouting the Red Raiders: Shippensburg's offensive attack revolves around Zulli, who earned the Harlon Hill Trophy last fall as the nation's top Division II player. Zulli, who passed for 4,747 yards and 54 TDs last fall, had a sub-par, 140-yard passing effort last week in a losing effort at Shepherd. Junior wide receiver Trevor Harman is Zulli's top target after catching 75 passes for 1,200 yards and 19 TDs last fall. Harman had five catches for 79 yards last week at Shepherd. As a team, the Red Raiders gained only 217 total yards in the losing effort. Defensively, Shippensburg is led by Preseason All-America end Jake Metz, who returned an interception for a TD last year against The Rock. Senior defensive back Mike Goode recorded a team-high 11 tackles last Saturday. The Red Raiders' defense allowed 387 yards in total offense at Shepherd.
Up next: The Rock travel to Gannon University in Erie to open their PSAC-Western Division schedule next Saturday. Kickoff is set for noon.
