SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team saw winning streaks of 19 straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division games and 25 straight games against unranked opponents snapped with a 48-21 home loss to Indiana University (Pa.) on Homecoming Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock drop to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in PSAC West games with their first loss in the division since Oct. 21, 2017. Indiana improves to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in PSAC West games. SRU remains alive in the quest to repeat as PSAC champions, but will likely need to win out in the division and get a Cal U victory over IUP next week, as the best chance for SRU to represent the West in the title game now is likely via a tiebreaker, where IUP, Cal and SRU all finish with one loss and are 1-1 against each other. In that scenario, based on PSAC tiebreaker rules, SRU would represent the West in the league title game.
 
Slippery Rock struggled to move the ball and turned it over twice in the first half, which Indiana capitalized on both times and turned into touchdowns for an early 14-point swing. The Crimson Hawks dominated the time of possession in the opening half and held the ball for more than 21 minutes to less than nine minutes for SRU while jumping out to a 24-7 lead at halftime. The Rock managed just 60 total yards of offense in the first half and 36 of those yards came on a trick play with receiver Kyle Sheets throwing to Henry Litwin.
 
Indiana kept the pressure on with 10 quick points in the first four minutes of the third quarter, which included recovering an onside kick attempt while leading 31-7.
 
The final stats show both teams with 18 first downs, but the game was never that close. Indiana finished with a 438-334 advantage in total offense with SRU going for 274 of those yards in the second half while trying to get back into the game. The Rock threw for 264 yards and rushed for 70 yards, while the Crimson Hawks threw for 312 yards and ran for 126 yards.
 
Slippery Rock turned the ball over four times with three interceptions and one lost fumble. Indiana turned it over just once with its first interception of the season.
 
Andrew Koester struggled to get comfortable with the pass rush from Indiana, which finished with three sacks. Koester missed on his first nine pass attempts and was 1-for-10 with an interception at halftime as SRU struggled to get going early. He finished his day 20-of-45 for 228 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.
 
Cinque Sweeting caught nine passes for 79 yards and one touchdown and added 91 kick return yards to lead SRU with 193 all-purpose yards. Henry Litwin caught three passes for 57 yards and one score and Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught four passes for 51 yards. Kyle Sheets threw a 36-yard pass and caught a 37-yard pass.
 
Tim Smith rushed for 40 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries to lead the ground game for SRU.
 
Tim Vernick and Peyton Remish both tallied 10 tackles and a half tackle for loss to lead the defense. Dalton Holt added nine tackles and one tackle for loss. Selvin Haynes had eight tackles and two pass breakups, Khadir Roberts recorded one interception and Garrett de Bien had one sack.
 
IUP quarterback Harry Woodberry completed 23-of-36 passes for 312 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Former five-star recruit Irvin Charles, who signed at Penn State in 2015, caught three touchdown passes and dropped what would have been a fourth. Duane Brown had six catches for 136 yards and one touchdown.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back after its first PSAC West loss in 1,456 days when The Rock travels to Erie, Pennsylvania next Saturday for a noon kickoff at Mercyhurst University.
 
 
GAME NOTES: SRU saw its streak of 19 straight PSAC West wins snapped with its first divisional loss since Oct. 21, 2017, a stretch of 1,456 days … SRU also saw a streak of 25 straight wins against unranked opponents snapped as IUP was the first team listed outside the top 25 in this week's national rankings … IUP defeated SRU for the first time since 2017 … SRU is now 5-3 in its last eight meetings with IUP … the teams were playing on one of their Homecomings for the fourth straight meeting … both teams are 2-2 in those meetings with SRU winning in 2018 and 2019 and IUP winning in 2017 and 2021 … Shawn Lutz dropped to 45-12 as SRU head coach … SRU alumnus Paul Tortorella won his second game against his Alma Mater to improve to 2-2 against SRU … Saturday marked just the fifth home loss for Slippery Rock in its last 46 home games dating back to the beginning of the 2013 season (41-5) … Henry Litwin extended his SRU career record to 36 touchdown catches … Litwin now has 2,983 career receiving yards and needs just 17 more to become the second player in program history with 3,000 receiving yards … he caught a pass from a familiar arm Saturday with fellow receiver Kyle Sheets throwing a 36-yard pass to him … Sheets was Litwin's quarterback in high school when they played at Conneaut Area Senior High.
 
 

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