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ERIE, Pa.  – A plethora of mistakes proved to the undoing of the Slippery Rock University football team Saturday afternoon in opening-week action of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division schedule.

The Rock converted only two of six "red-zone" scoring opportunities into points, committed four turnovers, were penalized 16 times for 143 yards and lost the special-teams battle in the process of absorbing a 38-27 loss to Gannon University on the rain-saturated artificial turf at GU Field.

The combination of those factors allowed the hosting Golden Knights (2-1) to negate a 419-308 total yardage advantage for The Rock, who went down to defeat for the first time in three games this fall.

The loss was SRU's sixth consecutive in games played in the City Erie and third consecutive at Gannon. The Rock are also 0-3 in road trips to Mercyhurst.

The Rock will look to bounce back and regain their winning ways next Saturday when they host Mercyhurst in a 6 p.m. divisional game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium as part of SRU Athletic Hall of Fame Day festivities.

Leading The Rock offensive effort at Gannon was senior quarterback Nigel Barksdale, who completed 15 of 38 pass attempts for 250 yards and two touchdowns, but also threw a pair of interceptions.

Redshirt junior tight end Julian Harrell made the most of his two pass receptions as he caught 14- and 32-yard TD tosses from Barksdale. Redshirt senior wide receiver John Schademan had team-high totals of six catches for 123 yards.

Redshirt sophomore running back Brett Crenshaw, who had a team-best 61 rushing yards on six carries, scored the first Rock TD when he sprinted 55 yards on the second play of the game. Redshirt junior Teddy Blakeman (7 carries, 36 yards) ran two yards for the final SRU touchdown.

Defensively, senior nose tackle Tony Papley recorded nine tackles and an interception. Junior safety Austin Miele and redshirt sophomore Derek Morgan each also recorded nine tackles, while senior linebacker Quindell Dean recorded eight tackles and an interception.

Gannon's winning attack was led by running back Jansen Jones, who rushed for 181 yards on 38 carries, including a pair of touchdowns (2 and 19 yards).

Quarterback Liam Nadler, who entered the game tied with Barksdale for the conference lead in passing yards, completed 14 of 26 passes for 123 yards and one TD (18 yards to Jesstin Hamm), was intercepted twice, and ran for a two-yard TD.

The Golden Knights also got a 93-yard kickoff-return TD from Quad Law and a 44-yard field goal from Donnie Mann.

Law's TD jaunt with 7:38 left in the third quarter was the first of two long kickoff returns recorded by the hosts. Justin Caliste returned a kick 63 yards to The Rock 33 yard line set up the scoring drive that gave the Golden Knights a 35-27 lead with 14:49 left to play in the game.

A Rock special-teams mistake also gift-wrapped Gannon's first touchdown shortly after Crenshaw had given SRU the early 7-0 lead.

A low snap from center resulted in Rock senior punter James McCombie's knee touching the soggy artificial turf at The Rock 2-yard line. One play later, Jones burst into the end zone to tie the score at 7-7 with 8:43 left in the first quarter.

The Rock's lead lasted five and a half minutes before Nadler led the Golden Knights 71 yards in 12 plays, aided by 23 yards in penalties against The Rock, to tie the score at 14-14 with 1:36 left in the first quarter.

SRU had an opportunity to regain the lead in the opening minutes of the second quarter but a potential scoring drive stalled at the Gannon 4-yard line.

After The Rock defense forced Gannon into a three-and-out series on the ensuing drive and Schademan returned the punt 36 yards to the Gannon 14, The Rock offense was back knocking at the proverbial door.

Three plays later, though, the drive stalled and junior kicking specialist Mike Wainauskis came in to attempt a 24-yard field goal, which sailed wide right with 9:46 left in the first half and left the score tied at 14-14.

Papley picked off a Nadler pass at The Rock 32 on the next Gannon possession to give the ball right back to SRU's offense.

Aided by a 48-yard Barksdale-to-Schademan pass completion, The Rock for the third consecutive possession moved the ball inside the Gannon 20. But that drive also came up dry as a Barksdale pass was picked off at the Gannon 3.

Dean got the ball back from The Rock when he intercepted a Nadler pass at the Gannon 28, but The Rock offense was only able to gain three yards in five plays and turned the ball over on downs.

The teams entered the intermission tied at 14-14.

Jones gave Gannon its first lead of the game, and The Rock their first deficit of the season, when he rambled 19 yards for a TD on the first drive of the second half. The scoring play, which came with 12:12 left in the second period, capped a seven-play, 65-yard drive by the Golden Knights.

Two Rock possessions later, Barksdale connected with Harrell for the second time to re-tie the score at 21-21 with 7:56 left in the first half. The 32-yard TD pass climaxed a four-play, 59-yard drive by The Rock.

Eighteen seconds later, though, Gannon was back on top, 28-21, thanks to Law's 93-yard kickoff return for a TD.

The Rock were in position to re-tie the score with 3:57 left in the third period when Barksdale was intercepted for the second time, this one coming in the end zone on a third-and-goal play.

Following a three-and-out by the Gannon offense, The Rock got the ball back at the Gannon 44. Seven plays later, Blakeman burst into the end zone from two yards out and The Rock was again in position to re-tie the score.

That didn't happen, though, as Wainauskis' extra-point attempt was blocked, which allowed Gannon to hold a 28-27 edge with 1:01 left in the third period.

Adding insult to the blocked PAT was the fact it came one snap after Wainauskis had successfully split the uprights, only to have the point nullified by a false start penalty against a Rock teammate.

Caliste's 63-yard return of the ensuing kickoff added salt to the wound, as it set the Gannon offense up at The Rock 33. Three plays later, Nadler hit Hamm for an 18-yard TD to extend the hosts' lead to 35-27.

Mann's 44-yard field goal with 2:23 padded the final margin.

Notes: Saturday's game marked the third time in as many weeks SRU scored a touchdown on the opening drive of a game. All of the drives lasted two or less plays … With his two TD passes Saturday, Barksdale improved his two-year Rock total to 24 and moved into a tie with Tony Nunes (1959-62) for eighth place on SRU's career TD passes list … Schademan improved his career totals to 68 receptions for 1,111 yards, which rank 20th and 16th on the respective SRU career charts. Schademan is also tied with five other players for 17th place on The Rock's career pass reception touchdowns list with eight.