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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 15th ranked Slippery Rock University football team battled back from an early deficit to defeat rival Indiana University (Pa.) 40-39 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Saturday night.
 
The victory vaulted Slippery Rock into first place in the PSAC West standings after previously undefeated Clarion was beaten Saturday at California. The Rock are now 7-1 overall and 4-1 in PSAC games and locked in a three-way tie with Indiana (5-2, 4-1 PSAC) and Clarion (7-1, 4-1 PSAC). Slippery Rock owns the tiebreaker over Indiana now and still has a home date with Clarion set for Nov. 7.

The Rock used an all-around complete effort in earning the win, getting an outstanding performance from the offense, the defense and the special teams. Slippery Rock ran 101 offensive plays for 511 yards, including a balanced attack of 269 rushing yards and 242 passing yards. The defense forced four turnovers, all fumbles, and came up with two fourth down stops in the fourth quarter to deny Indiana a chance to retake the lead.
 
The Rock special teams recovered a muffed punt late in the game and Andrew Huska was perfect on the night, kicking a 33-yard field goal and going 5-for-5 on extra point tries. He also booted five of seven kickoffs out of the end zone for touchbacks and punted six times for 36.7 yards on average, including a 45-yarder into a driving wind and rain late in the fourth.
 
Indiana played a solid game on both sides of the ball, but struggled with special teams all night. The Crimson Hawks missed a 31-yard field goal, missed two extra points wide left, including one that would have tied the game in the fourth quarter, had another extra point blocked and averaged just 23.0 yards per punt.
 
Indiana entered the game averaging 328.3 rushing yards per game and Chris Temple was leading the PSAC at 154.6 yards per game. The Crimson Hawks managed 186 rushing yards and Temple was held to just 51 yards on 18 carries for an average of 2.8 yards per carry.
 
The top rusher in the game proved to be Slippery Rock's Shamar Greene, who carried the ball 40 times for 192 yards and one touchdown. He became the ninth rusher in school history to hit 3,000 career yards and is now at 3,006 yards for his career. Dante Nania added 32 rushing yards and one score and Julian Durden chipped in 30 yards and two touchdowns.
 
Nania also completed 21-of-37 passes for 242 yards with one touchdown and one interception, a pass that was ripped out of the hands of his receiver and stood as the only SRU turnover in the game.
 
Taishan Tucker caught seven passes for 93 yards to lead the receivers. Marcus Carter caught a 49-yard touchdown pass and finished with 72 yards on three catches and Cornelius Raye caught six passes for 44 yards.
 
Marcus Martin, John Conglose, Bob Vernick and Alfon Cook all recovered fumbles for the SRU defense. Martin also forced one fumble, as did Titus Howard. Delmar Henderson, starting at safety for Derrick Fulmore, finished with nine tackles. Mike Grata also had nine stops and recorded 2.5 tackles for loss. Howard and Teven Williams each had eight tackles and Bob Vernick recorded one sack.
 
Indiana was paced by quarterback Lenny Williams, who accounted for nearly all of his team's offensive yards. He threw for 364 yards on 22-of-33 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions and he ran for 140 yards and one TD on 15 carries. He also lost two fumbles.
 
Walt Pegues caught a game-high 14 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown and Swahneek Brown added a 25-yard TD catch. Temple ran for three touchdowns, all goal-line plunges.
 
Slippery Rock scored on the opening possession of the game and then recorded a safety on Indiana's first possession to jump out to a 9-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. It looked like The Rock would break the game open with another TD drive on their next possession, but a TD run from Shamar Greene was called back due to sideline interference and SRU was held without points.
 
Indiana capitalized and marched down the field to get its first points with a 25-yard pass to Brown to make it 9-7 with 5:52 to play in the first quarter.
 
The Crimson Hawks took their first lead of the game less than two minutes later when Pegues caught a 50-yard pass from Williams to make it 13-9 with 4:06 to play in the first quarter after the extra point sailed wide left.
 
Indiana added to its lead with 1:42 left in the quarter to cap a 20-0 run when Temple plunged in from one-yard out to make it 20-9 after one quarter.
 
Slippery Rock battled back and got a 46-yard TD run from Greene early in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 20-16 with 11:48 to play in the half.
 
Indiana answered with another TD run from Temple to push the lead out to 26-16 after the extra point was blocked by Mike Kope with 7:21 to play in the opening half.
 
Slippery Rock pushed back with 14 unanswered points to close the half and retake the lead at the break. Durden rushed in from three yards out after Greene broke a 39-yard run on fourth down and then Carter pulled in a 49-yard TD toss from Nania with 2:13 to play to make it 30-26.
 
Indiana took the opening possession of the second half 75 yards and went back on top with another TD run from Temple to make it 33-30 in favor of the Crimson Hawks with 11:20 to play in the third.
 
Slippery Rock responded again, this time tying the game at 33-33 with 7:29 to play in the third when Huska connected on his first career field goal from 33 yards out.
 
The Rock retook the lead for good with 11:44 to play in the fourth quarter with another Durden TD run, his 14th of the season, that capped a 39-yard drive after an Indiana fumble gave SRU a short field.
 
Indiana battled back one more time as the teams traded momentum all night, this time with Williams breaking through for his first big run of the night, a 45-yard TD with 10:56 to play in the game. The extra point missed wide left again, keeping SRU out front.
 
Indiana had two chances late in the game, moving the ball into SRU territory near midfield, but the SRU defense held on fourth down both times, including with less than two minutes to play.
 
The victory was the 14th straight home win for Slippery Rock, which has now won the last three games against Indiana and has now beaten the Crimson Hawks at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium the last three times.
 
The Rock will now turn their focus to winless Edinboro for next Saturday's matchup on the road. The game, set for a noon kickoff, will be televised on ESPN3 for the third straight week.
 
 
 NOTES: George Mihalik picked up his 192nd career victory … Mihalik is now 4-1 against current Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti … Shamar Greene ran for more than 100 yards for the fifth time in six games this season … he became the ninth running back in SRU history to surpass 3,000 career rushing yards and now has 3,006 yards in 2.5 years at The Rock … Julian Durden now has 14 rushing touchdowns this season, tied for ninth most in program history … Dante Nania has completed 153 passes this year, the seventh most in SRU program history … he has attempted 268 passes, also seventh in single-season history … Nania has throw for 1,870 yards, the 11th most in program history in a single-season … Jaimire Dutrieuille now has 148 career catches, the third most in SRU history, and has now caught a pass in 38 of his 41 career games … Andrew Huska made his first career field goal at SRU … He has handled placekicking the last three weeks and has not missed an extra point … Slippery Rock has won its last 14 home games and is 27-4 at home since the beginning of the 2010 season … The Rock have now won 15 of the last 16 home night games.