Complete Game Notes (28-page PDF)

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team will travel to Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio this Saturday for a noon kickoff in the third round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
 
Below you will find all pertinent information regarding tickets, parking, tailgating and live coverage, along with complete game notes.
 
LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE
• Live Stats  |  Provided by Notre Dame sports information.
• Live Streaming Video (FREE)  |  Provided by Notre Dame.
• Live Audio (Online and Radio)  |  Provided by The Rock Station 97.7 FM (Butler).
• Twitter  |  All scoring information and in-game updates.
 
TICKETS
• Tickets will be available at the stadium beginning at 10 a.m.
• General Admission - $8
• SRU Students - $4 with valid ID
• Seating is extremely limited. Arrive early for the best chance at guaranteeing a seat. Standing room is available surrounding the field in the event the bleachers are full. Lawn chairs are allowed according to Notre Dame's stadium policy.
 
PARKING, TAILGATING AND DIRECTIONS
• Free parking is available on Notre Dame's campus.
• Tailgating is allowed. Lots open at 9 a.m.
• Click here for Notre Dame tailgating rules and information.
• Directions and Campus Maps.
 
FRIDAY NIGHT GATHERING
Rock alumni and friends in the area or traveling to the game on Friday are invited to stop by Granite City Food and Brewing (located in Legacy Village at 24519 Cedar Rd, Lyndhurst, OH 44124) for a casual meet-up around 8 p.m. Friday evening. The restaurant takes dinner reservations and has a bar area for mingling. Reservations can be made by calling 216.297.4495.
 

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THE GAME
Unranked Slippery Rock (11-2) earned the seventh and final seed in Super Region One and opened the playoffs by upsetting the No. 2 seed LIU Post and the No. 6 seed New Haven in the first two rounds, both on the road. The Rock now turn their focus to the No. 1 seed in 11th ranked Notre Dame (Ohio), which got a bye in the first round and escaped No. 5 seed Hillsdale with a 19-14 win at home last week.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will mark the first meeting between these two programs in the sport of football. In fact, of the seven other teams remaining in the Division II playoffs, SRU has never met any of them on the football field.
 
COACHING MATCHUP
Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz, who was named this fall as the PSAC West Coach of the Year, is in his 23rd overall season at The Rock and his third as head coach, where he owns a 26-9 record after posting 7-4 and 8-3 records his first two years. Prior to that, he served four years as the associate head coach and eight as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. Lutz has been a member of the coaching staff for nine of SRU's PSAC West titles. He played tight end at West Virginia University, graduating in 1996, and earned a master's degree in sport management from SRU in 2003.
 
Mike Jacobs is in his third year as the head coach at Notre Dame, where he has posted a 29-5 overall record after going 9-2 in his first year and 8-3 last fall. Jacobs is familiar with the PSAC after spending six years at California (Pa.) as a defensive line coach prior to taking the job at Notre Dame. Before his stint at Cal U, Jacobs spent three years as an offensive assistant at Purdue. He was a long snapper and offensive lineman at Ohio State, graduating in 2001.
 
TRAVEL LEGS
SRU will welcome a much shorter bus ride in round three, as Notre Dame is only about two hours away. The Rock spent 32 hours on a bus and traveled roughly 1,700 miles over a nine-day stretch for the first two rounds of the playoffs with trips to Long Island, New York and West Haven, Connecticut. Notre Dame hasn't had to travel since a Nov. 10 game at Seton Hill.
 
LOWEST SEED LEFT
Seventh seeded Slippery Rock is the only team left in the playoffs seeded lower than third. All four No. 1 seeds remain, along with two No. 2 seeds, one No. 3 and SRU. The Rock are also the only team left in the playoff field that is not ranked nationally. The final regular season national rankings for the teams left in the playoffs are Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 11, 17 and unranked SRU.
 
PLAYOFF HISTORY
Slippery Rock is in its fourth NCAA playoff appearance in the last six years and its seventh overall Division II playoff appearance. The Rock made three straight postseason tournaments from 1997-99 and again from 2013-15. SRU was 0-6 in road playoff games entering this year, but has picked up back-to-back road wins and is now 7-6 all-time in the playoffs. The Rock reached the NCAA semifinals in 1998, but have not advanced past the quarterfinals since. SRU's most recent run this deep into the playoffs was a 2015 loss in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame is in its first NCAA playoff this year and picked up a win in its first playoff game last week.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock was listed in the "others receiving votes" section of the AFCA national poll for the fourth week in a row in the final regular season rankings released two weeks ago, which will be the last set of rankings until the end of the playoffs. The Rock have been listed in the receiving votes section eight times this season, but never cracked the top 25. Notre Dame climbed slowly up the polls all year and entered the postseason ranked 11th. The complete national poll is on page eight of the PDF notes linked above.
 
SUPER REGION ONE PLAYOFF FIELD  |  NCAA DII Playoff Bracket
1. Notre Dame (Ohio)
2. LIU Post (lost to #7 Slippery Rock, 20-14 in round one)
3. West Chester (lost to #6 New Haven, 35-28 in round one)
4. Kutztown (lost to #5 Hillsdale, 40-26 in round one)
5. Hillsdale (lost to #1 Notre Dame, 19-14 in round two)
6. New Haven (lost to #7 Slippery Rock, 59-20 in round two)
7. Slippery Rock
 
ROUND TWO - Nov. 24
No. 7 Slippery Rock (59) at No. 6 New Haven (20)
No. 5 Hillsdale (14) at No. 1 Notre Dame (19)
 
REGIONAL FINAL - Dec. 1
No. 7 Slippery Rock at No. 1 Notre Dame
 
FOUR UPSETS IN SUPER REGION ONE
All three higher seeded teams lost in the first round of the playoffs in Super Region One with the Nos. 5-6-7 teams all going on the road and knocking out the Nos. 2-3-4 seeds. The upset trend continued again last week when bottom seed SRU knocked out No. 6 seed New Haven, but the trend was stopped when No. 1 Notre Dame held off No. 5 Hillsdale for a 19-14 win to become the only higher seeded team to win a game so far in Super Region One.
 
ROCK ELIMINATES THE NORTHEAST-10
Slippery Rock took care of the top two teams in the Northeast-10 Conference in the playoffs, first knocking NE-10 champion and previously undefeated LIU Post out in the first round and then knocking NE-10 runner-up New Haven out in the second round. SRU has now won six straight games against NE-10 opponents, including its last three playoff games.
 
LONG ROAD TO GET HERE
Slippery Rock lost seven starters or key players to injuries during a week two loss at Shippensburg. Included in those injuries were three captains, two of which (starting QB Andrew Koester and safety Tavarus Sample) would be ruled out for the year. SRU also lost RB Wes Hills on the second play of the game and was without his services for three weeks. The Rock also lost starting DT Wilford Clark to a season-ending injury and lost backup QB Taylor King to an ankle injury. SRU turned to third string QB Roland Rivers III in week three and battled through the injuries to win eight straight games, win the PSAC West with a 7-0 record and sneak into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. The team is still without the services of captains Koester and Sample and lineman Clark, but the rest of the injured players have returned to full strength.
 
LAST WEEK FOR SRU
Slippery Rock put together its most complete performance of the season and rolled to a 39-point win on the road at New Haven last week. The Rock scored touchdowns on their first seven offensive possessions and never gave New Haven a chance to get into the game. SRU put up 526 yards of offense, didn't punt a single time and scored four passing and four rushing touchdowns in the game. Wes Hills rushed for 188 yards and three TD in less than three full quarters. Roland Rivers III threw for 249 yards with four TD and no INT and Jake Chapla booted all eight extra points and made a 33-yard field goal.
 
LAST WEEK FOR NOTRE DAME
Notre Dame dominated No. 23 Hillsdale in the first half, holding the Chargers to less than 50 total yards of offense and putting up more than 200 yards of their own to lead 10-0 at the break. But, Hillsdale took to the air in the second half and took the lead with a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter. Notre Dame scored nine points in the fourth quarter to regain a 19-14 lead. Hillsdale marched down the field and had a look at the game-winner as time expired, but a pass slipped through the fingers of a Hillsdale receiver in the back of the end zone. Hillsdale also lost two fumbles on the Notre Dame one-yard line in the game. Notre Dame put up 458 yards of total offense with 224 rushing and 256 passing yards. Hillsdale threw for 322 yards, but was held to -2 rushing yards after the QB was sacked six times. Jaleel McLaughlin rushed for 191 yards on 31 carries. Chris Brimm threw for 234 yards with two TD and one INT.
 
ROCK LANDS 10 ON ALL-PSAC TEAM
SRU landed a total of 10 All-Conference selections, headlined by seven first teamers and head coach Shawn Lutz being named PSAC Western Division Coach of the Year. SRU's first team honorees include QB Roland Rivers III, RB Wes Hills, OL Steve Gaviglia, OL Colten Raabe, PK Jake Chapla, DT Jeff Marx and LB Brad Zaffram. The second team honorees were DB Kyle Hall, DB Eric Glover-Williams and punter Jake Chapla.
 
REPEAT ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
OL Steve Gaviglia was named to his third straight All-PSAC team as an offensive lineman after switching to offense from the defensive line following his freshman year. Gaviglia was a second team honoree in each of the last two years. Jake Chapla repeats as an All-PSAC honoree at both kicking positions with his selection to the first team as a kicker and second team as a punter. He was named to second team honors at both positions last year. Gaviglia and Chapla were the only SRU players on the roster this year to be named to the All-Conference team in 2017.
 
CHAPLA HAVING RECORD SETTING YEAR
Junior kicker Jake Chapla has already set a single-season record at SRU with 16 made field goals this year, topping John Katsaouni's 14 from 2003. Chapla also took over the outright record with 38 career made field goals, surpassing CJ Bahr and Morgan Anderson's previous record of 35. Chapla's 64 made PAT kicks this season are also a single-season record, topping his 53 from last year. He is now just five PAT shy of the SRU career record of 161, set by Anderson in 2000. Chapla also set the all-time scoring record for a kicker as his 112 points this year give him 270 career points, topping Anderson's previous kicking record for points (266). He now has his sights on Stan Kennedy's all-time scoring record (318 points). Chapla hit the three longest field goals (46, 50, 51) and the longest punt (75) in the PSAC this year.
 
HILLS GUNNING FOR RECORD ON LIMITED TOUCHES
SRU RB Wes Hills took two snaps in week two before leaving the game with an injury. He missed basically that entire game, then all of weeks three and four and half of week five before returning as the starter in week six. In just 10 full games played, Hills has rushed for 1,560 yards and climbed all the way up to second on the SRU single-season ledger. He needs just 42 yards to break the SRU single-season rushing record of 1,601 yards, which has been held by LaMonte Coleman since 1994. That fact is even more impressive in that Hills hasn't even cracked the top 10 list for single-season carries at SRU. He enters this week with 227 carries on the year, which is 25 carries shy of reaching the No. 10 spot on the ledger. Coleman took 264 carries to set the record in 1994. Hills ranks sixth in the nation in rushing yards per game (141.8) and sixth in total rushing yards (1,560).
 
HILLS CLIMBING OTHER LISTS TOO
Wes Hills enters this week ranked third in single-season history in rushing yards per game at 141.8, which is a deceiving number as it gets dragged down significantly by those two touches for five yards in week two. In the last eight weeks since returning to the starting lineup, Hills has rushed for 1,322 yards (165.3 yards per game). His 16 rushing scores this year rank fifth all-time at SRU, three shy of moving into a tie for third. Those 16 TD are the seventh most total TD scored in a single-season by a player at any position and his 96 points rank ninth for a single-season at SRU. Hills is up to 1,732 all-purpose yards, which ranks seventh all-time. He enters this week 261 yards shy of the SRU single-season all-purpose yardage record of 1,993, which was set by Marcus Johnson last fall.
 
100 YARDS RUSHING HAS BEEN KEY TO SUCCESS
Slippery Rock is 11-0 this year when rushing for at least 100 yards as a team and is 8-0 when holding opponents to less than 100 rushing yards. The Rock are 3-2 when opponents top the 100-yard rushing mark and are 0-2 when they fail to rush for 100 yards on offense.  
 
OFFENSE BOUNCES BACK
The Rock offense entered last week in a bit of a slump over the previous month. SRU were the top scoring offense in the region for most of the season and averaged close to 500 yards per game through eight weeks, but those numbers dipped to just over 450 total yards per game and the passing numbers took a big hit between weeks 9-12. SRU failed to top 200 passing yards in four straight weeks and threw five interceptions in weeks 11 and 12 alone. The offense bounced back in a big way last week, throwing for 263 yards with four TD and no INT, matching a season-high for scoring with 59 points and tallying a TD on seven straight possessions to start the game at New Haven.
 
RIVERS III LEADS BOUNCE BACK
Rock QB Roland Rivers III was electric during the regular season on the way to earning first team All-PSAC recognition. He struggled for the first time in the PSAC title game in week 11 and looked a bit off in a week 12 win at LIU Post. Rivers jumpstarted the resurgence from the Rock offense last week by playing a near flawless game. He completed 18-of-24 passes for 249 yards with four TD and no INT while not being sacked a single time. It marked his best passing effort since a 403-yard, five TD showing against Edinboro back on Oct. 13 and his first 200+ yard passing effort since a 222-yard, three TD game against Clarion Oct. 20.
 
RIVERS CLIMBING SRU LISTS
Roland Rivers III is up to fourth on the SRU single-season ledger in TD passes (27) and ranks sixth in single-season completions (180), attempts (311) and passing yards (2,544). He also ranks fourth on the single-season ledger in total offense with 3,080 total yards this season. Rivers enters this week ranked ninth in the nation in points responsible for (204), 11th in points responsible for per game (18.5) and 14th in TD passes (27).
 
RIVERS FAMILY LEADING WAY IN DIVISION II
SRU QB Roland Rivers III is one of two members of his immediate family currently leading teams in the Division II quarterfinals. Roland's younger brother Ravarius is a starting safety and the leading tackler on Valdosta State's team. Wins by both teams in the quarterfinals could potentially set up a meeting between the brothers in the NCAA semifinals. Roland played QB at Valdosta State before transferring to SRU this fall. 
 
BACK TO WHAT WORKED
Slippery Rock averaged 8.6 different receivers per game for the first 10 weeks of the season, but in weeks 11 and 12 The Rock offense had six or fewer offensive players even record stats. SRU completed passes to four or less players in those two weeks and the offensive stats dipped significantly, with SRU putting up 598 yards in those two games combined. Last week, SRU put up 526 yards after spreading the ball back out. The Rock completed passes to seven different players, had five receivers with at least three catches and got receiving touchdowns from four different players (Mike Merhaut, Dakota Clanagan, Henry Litwin, Aramis Alexander). SRU also had three different players rush for at least 30 yards (Wes Hills-188, Braden Fochtman-41, Roland Rivers III-34).
 
PERFECTLY BALANCED
As if more evidence was needed that the SRU offense was in perfect harmony last week, The Rock managed a perfectly balanced final line with exactly 263 passing and 263 rushing yards. SRU ran the ball 41 times and averaged 6.3 yards per play and threw it 29 times for an average of 9.1 yards per pass attempt.
 
CLEANING IT UP IN THE PLAYOFFS
Slippery Rock ranked dead last in the country in penalties per game, total penalty yards and penalty yards per game during the regular season. The Rock averaged more than 111 penalty yards per game and were being called for nearly 11 penalties each week. Last week, SRU took a season-low two penalties for just 23 yards. The week before, SRU was whistled for 11 penalties, but for only 68 total yards. The 91 penalty yards in the first two weeks of the playoff combined is more than 20 yards lower than what SRU averaged per game entering the playoffs.
 
SECOND HALF DEFENSE
New Haven scored a third quarter touchdown last week, which marked the first points SRU has allowed in the third quarter in the last five games. The Rock have allowed a total of 25 second half points in the last five weeks for an average of just 5.0 points per game in the second half. On the season, SRU has allowed just 44 points in the third quarter for an average of just 3.4 points per game in the third quarter. The Rock have allowed more than one touchdown in the fourth quarter only once all year and that was back in week two when Shippensburg scored two touchdowns with one total yard of offense after SRU turnovers. In total, SRU has allowed just 109 points in the second half this season (8.4 points per game). Conversely, The Rock have scored 113 points or more on offense in all but one quarter this year (114 in 1st, 193 in 2nd, 113 in 3rd, 84 in 4th).
 
SECOND QUARTER SCORING
Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents by nearly 100 points (193-96) in the second quarter this season. The Rock have scored an incredible 193 points in the second quarter and enter this week averaging 14.8 points per game in the second quarter. SRU has gotten 38% of its total scoring on the year in the second quarter.
 
NOWHERE TO RUN
Slippery Rock bottled up the ground game for LIU Post in the first week of the playoffs and held the Pioneers to 10 total rushing yards on 22 carries. SRU ranked near the bottom of Division II in rushing defense in 2017, allowing 206.8 rushing yards per game. The defense allowed 267 rushing yards to Kentucky State in the opener this fall, then held its next nine opponents to a total of 659 rushing yards, an average of just 73.2 rushing yards per game between weeks 2-10. SRU enters this week ranked 11th in the nation against the run with opponents averaging 95.0 rushing yards per game.
 
DEFENSIVE NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Rock defense enters this week ranked seventh in the country in interceptions (18) and ninth in total turnovers gained (27). SRU also ranks eighth in the nation in defensive touchdowns (4), 11th in run defense (95.0 yards per game) and 16th in red zone defense (67 percent).
 
TACKLES FOR LOSS
Slippery Rock ranks 18th in the nation in tackles for loss at 8.3 per game. The Rock have six different players with double-digit TFL on the year, including Trey Blandford (15.0), Chad Kuhn (13.0), Tim Soave (11.5), Brad Zaffram (11.5), Tim Vernick (10.0) and Trysten McDonald (10.0). SRU has 17 different defensive players with at least 2.0 TFL on the year.
 
STRONG RETURN GAME
Slippery Rock has had three punt return TD called back for penalties this year and enters week 14 without a single kickoff or punt return TD on the year. However, the SRU return game has been strong all year and was on display last week when Mark Carter and Jermaine Wynn Jr. consistently set SRU up with short fields at New Haven. The Rock rank 13th in the nation in kick return average (24.9 yards per return) and Carter ranks sixth in the nation in average kick return at 32.4 yards per return. Carter, Wynn Jr. and Eric Glover-Williams all have punt returns of at least 36 yards and kickoff returns of at least 40 yards this year. The Rock had four return touchdowns in 2017 and are still looking for their first return TD this fall.
 
RECEIVERS BY THE NUMBERS
Slippery Rock has eight players with at least 14 catches on the year and seven with at least 17. Henry Litwin and Jermaine Wynn Jr. lead the group with Wynn owning a team-high 48 grabs for 703 yards and eight TD and Litwin having 44 catches for a team-high 786 yards and eight TD. Wes Hills has 25 short yardage catches to rank third on the team ahead of Mike Merhaut, who has 21 grabs for 422 yards and four TD. Austin Scott ranks fifth on the team with 18 catches for 376 yards and two TD, but has not caught a pass in the last four games and has just two catches in his last six games. Tight ends Zach Cirillo and Aramis Alexander have combined for five TD grabs with Alexander owning three and Cirillo having two.
 
STARTERS NOTES
Only eight total players on the SRU roster entered the year with at least 10 career starts under their belts. RT Steve Gaviglia is the most experienced player with 34 career starts, including 24 straight. LT Chris Larsen has started 29 games and WR Mike Merhaut has started 17 as the most experienced offensive players. Defensively, LB Trysten McDonald has started 24 straight games and DB Kyle Hall has started 23 games. LB Tim Vernick has started 20 games the last two years, while DL Chad Kuhn and Trey Blandford and CB Khadir Roberts have all started 19 games the last two years. A total of 19 different players have made their first start at SRU at some point during this season.
 
NOTRE DAME QUICK HITS
• Notre Dame won the Mountain East Conference with a perfect 10-0 record and enters this week with an unblemished 12-0 overall record to become the third undefeated team SRU has played in the last four weeks.
 
• NDC ranks second in the nation in run defense, allowing just 62.6 rushing yards per game. The Falcons held Hillsdale to -2 rushing yards last week. NDC also has the No. 1 ranked red zone defense in the country with opponents scoring just 47 percent of the time. NDC also ranks first in the nation in fumbles recovered (18), third in turnovers gained (31) and sixth in sacks (3.6 per game).
 
• Offensively, NDC leans on the ground game and ranks seventh in the nation at 274.8 rushing yards per game. The offense ranks 18th nationally in total offense (462.8 yards per game) and 13th in sacks allowed (0.8 per game). The passing offense averages 188.0 yards per game to rank 108th in the nation.
 
• RB Jaleel McLaughlin, a true freshman, carries the offense. He leads the nation in total rushing yards (2,074) and ranks second in rushing yards per game (172.8), third in all-purpose yards per game (192.1) and ninth in rushing TD (17). McLaughlin is one of the two Harlon Hill Trophy finalists to come out of Super Region One this year. He has already carried the ball 310 times in 12 games (25.8 carries per game).
 
• Chris Brimm is completing 56 percent of his passes for 2,128 yards with 21 TD and just seven INT. Marvelle Ross is far and away the top target with 67 catches for 1,013 yards and nine TD. No other player has more than 32 catches. Ross also averages 15.5 yards per punt return and has taken three punts back for TD this year. Zaire Mitchell ranks second on the team with 375 yards on 26 grabs with four TD. 
 
• Sha'haun Williams leads the defensive line and ranks fourth in the nation in sacks with 16.0 sacks and 20.5 tackles for loss. Vincent Ellis also has 9.5 sacks and 11.5 TFL and Derrick Brumfield has 12.0 TFL. Curtis Collins is the top tackler on the team (82) and Jeffrey Thomas ranks second in the nation in passes defended with 27 breakups.
 
• Kicker Tanner Harding has made 8-of-13 FG attempts this year with a long of 42 yards. Harding also handles the punting, which may be the one area NDC has struggled this year. The Falcons rank 162nd in the nation in net punting with an average net punt of 26.5 yards per kick.
 
UP NEXT
A win would send SRU to the NCAA semifinals for the second time in program history, where it would almost certainly end up on the road Dec. 8 against an unknown opponent. The NCAA re-seeds the four Super Region champions and announces those matchups on Sunday. A loss would end The Rock's season with an 11-3 overall record, marking the third most wins in program history.
 


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