SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 11th ranked Slippery Rock University football team jumped out to a 28-0 lead after the first quarter and rolled to a 49-0 shutout victory over Millersville University Saturday evening from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improved to 3-0 and picked up their 16th consecutive win in a home night game and ninth straight win in the series against Millersville. The Marauders dropped to 1-2 with the loss, which marked their second straight shutout against a ranked opponent.
 
Slippery Rock's dominant defensive effort held Millersville without a first down for nearly 20 minutes of game clock as The Rock jumped out to a 42-0 halftime lead. The starters played just one series of the second half, but the reserves preserved the shutout.
 
SRU finished the night with 491 yards of total offense with 375 passing yards and 116 rushing yards. Millersville closed the night with 177 total yards of offense, with 154 passing yards and 23 rushing yards on 26 attempts.
 
Rock quarterback Roland Rivers III continued to lead an aerial attack that saw SRU enter the game with the top ranked passing offense in the country. He finished his night early after going 21-of-26 for 339 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Rivers also rushed for a team-high 37 yards to finish with 376 yards of total offense. It marked his third straight game with at least 300 yards passing, four passing TDs and no interceptions.
 
Through three weeks of the season, Rivers is completing 76.7 percent of his passes for 1,113 yards with 16 touchdowns and no turnovers.
 
His top target against Millersville was Cinque Sweeting, who caught six passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. Henry Litwin grabbed seven passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns and Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught three passes for 40 yards and one score.
 
Nassir Weaver rushed for one touchdown for the second straight week, while SRU deployed a committee backfield that saw no backs receive more than eight carries. Braden Fochtman rushed for 31 yards to lead that stable.
 
The Rock defense recorded seven sacks and 12 tackles for loss on the evening, led by 1.5 sacks each from Chad Kuhn and Jevon Lang. Lang made his collegiate debut in the second half and finished with 1.5 sacks and three total tackles. Peyton Remish, Zach Bader and Gavin Vargesko all had one sack and Shane Schuback and Tim Vernick each had a half-sack. Schuback ended the night as the leading tackler with eight total stops.
 
The SRU defense also came up with two takeaways. Khadir Roberts pulled down an early interception in the first quarter and Fochtman forced a fumble on special teams that was recovered by Edgar Parrilla II.
 
Millersville starting QB T.J. Pergine completed four passed for 14 yards in the first half before being relieved by freshman Miles Miller. Miller completed 17-of-31 passes for 140 yards in his collegiate debut. Evan Morrill was the top target, catching six passes for 81 yards.
 
Saturday night's game marked the end of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover schedule with next week being the first round of Western Division games. Slippery Rock will open PSAC West play on the road at Seton Hill Sept. 28 at 2 p.m.
 
 
NOTES: Slippery Rock won its ninth straight game against Millersville and is now outscoring the Maruaders 227-27 combined over the last four meetings … The shutout victory marked the first shutout for an SRU defense since a 75-0 win over Millersville in 2015 … SRU won its 16th straight home night game and improved to 24-1 at home in night games since 2010 … Roland Rivers III threw for 300+ yards with 4+ TD and no turnovers for the third straight week … though he has only played 15 games at SRU, Rivers is now up to third all-time in TD passes in program history with 44 … his 3,834 passing yards rank eighth all-time and his 267 completions rank ninth all-time … Rivers is on pace to set the SRU career passing TD record (currently 60, held by Nate Crookshank) in just two seasons … Henry Litwin caught two TD passes for the third straight week and moved up to 10th on the SRU career ledger with 15 TD catches … Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught one TD and has at least one TD in every game this year … Cinque Sweeting's 87-yard TD catch was the longest by an SRU player since Milly Raye went for 90 yards against West Chester Sept. 9, 2017 … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 29-10 and moved into a tie for the sixth most wins by an SRU head coach in program history.  
 
 
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