DETROIT – The 10th ranked Slippery Rock University football team scored touchdowns on its first eight possessions and ran away with a 62-37 victory over Wayne State University Thursday night from Tom Adams Field in Detroit, opening the season with a win for the 11th consecutive year.
 
The Rock offense was unstoppable with their starters on the field, scoring the first 35 points of the game and putting up touchdowns on all seven offensive possessions of the first half to lead 49-14 at the break. Roland Rivers III connected with Jermaine Wynn Jr. on a 78-yard touchdown strike on the second play of the second half to make it 8-for-8 in touchdown drives for the offense.
 
Slippery Rock pulled its starters early in the third quarter, but inserted them back late in the third after Wayne State reeled off 16 unanswered points. The starters scored in just three plays with Rivers hitting Wynn again to make it 9-for-9 in touchdowns when the starting offense was on the field. That strike made it 62-30 heading to the fourth quarter.
 
The Rock cruised to the finish line with 522 yards of total offense, which included 407 passing yards and 110 yards on the ground. Wayne State's offense hit its stride in the second half and finished with 509 total yards, including 261 passing and 248 rushing.
 
Rivers stood out all night and put together a season-debut for the record books, accounting for seven total touchdowns and a nearly perfect quarterback rating. He completed 23-of-30 passes for 405 yards with six touchdowns, while adding 67 rushing yards and one score on just nine carries.
 
Wynn finished his night with eight catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Henry Litwin added seven catches for 122 yards and two scores. Cinque Sweeting caught five passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns and Victor Talley grabbed two passes for 41 yards.
 
Charles Snorweah rushed for two touchdowns and finished with 19 yards on the ground. Braden Fochtman added 21 rushing yards. SRU used a running back by committee approach, with four backs getting work in the game.
 
Brad Zaffram recorded the lone takeaway for the defense when he intercepted a tipped pass early in the first quarter. Dalton Holt and Peyton Remish each finished with eight total tackles, while Selvin Haynes had six tackles and Eric Glover-Williams and Tim Vernick each had five stops. Chad Kuhn and Terrell Gabriel each had one sack and Haynes, Glover-Williams and Shane Schuback each had one tackle for loss.
 
Jake Chapla booted eight extra points to break the SRU career record for made PAT kicks. One game into his senior year, Chapla has made 166 extra points, breaking the former record of 161 set by Morgan Anderson in 2000. Chapla also moved up to second on the all-time scoring list at SRU with 283 points.
 
Wayne State got 138 rushing yards and three scores from James Hill. Dakota Kupp took over at quarterback in the second half and threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns while adding 44 yards on the ground.
 
Slippery Rock will get a couple extra days of rest thanks to playing on Thursday instead of Saturday and will return to action at home against Shippensburg next Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m.
 
 
NOTES: SRU won its season opener for the 11th straight year … kicker Jake Chapla set the SRU record for career PAT kicks and now has 166 made PATs, topping Morgan Anderson's former record of 161 set in 2000 … Chapla also passed Josh Kniess for second on the all-time scoring ledger at SRU with 283 career points … he needs 35 more points to tie Stan Kennedy's school record of 318 points … Roland Rivers III threw for a career-high 405 yards and six touchdowns, marking his second career 400-yard game … he is the first SRU QB to throw for six or more TDs in a game since Don King III set the SRU record against East Stroudsburg in 2016 (7) … Rivers now has 3,126 career passing yards and sits 9th on the SRU career passing list … his 6 TD passes give him 34, moving him up to sixth on the all-time list at SRU … Jermaine Wynn Jr. and Henry Litwin each went for more than 100 receiving yards in the same game for the third time since 2018 … Wynn's 152 yards were the most for an SRU receiver since Milly Raye went for 181 against Seton Hill on Nov. 4, 2017 … Head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 27-10 overall as a head coach and is now 4-0 in season openers.



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