Complete Game Notes (30-page PDF)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 19-ranked Slippery Rock University football team will travel to No. 6 Notre Dame College (Ohio) Saturday for a noon kickoff in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
 
Below you will find all pertinent information regarding tickets, parking and live coverage, along with complete game notes.
 
LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE
• Live Stats  |  Provided by Notre Dame Sports Information.
• Live Streaming Video  |  Provided by Notre Dame Sports Information.
• Live Audio (Online and Radio)  |  Provided by The Rock Station 97.7 FM (Butler County).
• Twitter  |  All scoring information and in-game updates.
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV
• Fans can watch the game live and on-demand for free on the Mountain East Digital Network.
 • Search for "Mountain East" in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and Android TV devices to download the app.
 
WATCH ON THE SRU CAMPUS CABLE NETWORK
• The game will be shown on the SRU cable network for all TVs connected to the network on campus. The game will air on digital channel 6-1. If you don't see the channel currently, make sure to run a scan for channels through your TV's settings and the channel should appear.
 
TICKETS
• No advance tickets will be sold. Tickets only available on game day.
• Adults - $10
• Students - $5 (with ID)
 
PARKING
• Free parking is available in the lots surrounding the stadium.
• Tailgating is allowed in certain areas.
• Notre Dame Gameday Info and Policies
 

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THE GAME
An injury-plagued 19th-ranked Slippery Rock team that has been without the services of up to seven starters in recent weeks will look to get through the first round of the NCAA Playoffs for the third year in a row. Notre Dame enters the playoffs as the highest ranked team in the region at No. 6 and will be looking to reach at least the second round of the playoffs for the third straight year as well.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will mark just the third meeting between the two teams with all three coming in the last three seasons and all three coming in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. This is the first time the game will be played earlier than the NCAA Quarterfinals as Notre Dame and SRU have played for the regional title in each of the last two years. Both teams won their home game by one possession scores in the first two meetings.
 
• First Meeting: 2018 (NDC won 21-17)
• Last Meeting: 2019 (SRU won 65-59)
• Current Streak: SRU +1
• at NDC: NDC leads 1-0
• at SRU: SRU leads 1-0
• Most Points Scored by NDC: 59 (2019)
• Largest Win Margin by NDC: 4 (2018)
• Most Points Scored by SRU: 65 (2019)
• Largest Win by SRU: 6 (2019)
• Last NDC Win: 2018 at NDC (21-17)
 
COACHING MATCHUP
Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz is in his 26th overall year at The Rock and his fifth season as head coach, where he owns a 48-13 record. Lutz was the PSAC West Coach of the Year in both 2018 and 2019 and was the Don Hansen Football Gazette Division II National Coach of the Year in 2019. The 48 wins are the most among all PSAC head coaches since the 2016 season. Lutz was an assistant at SRU for 20 years before taking over the program in 2016. He served four years as the associate head coach and eight as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach before taking over. Lutz has been a member of the coaching staff for 11 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.
 
Mickey Mental is in his first full season as the head coach at Notre Dame after spending 11 seasons as an assistant on the staff. He took over when Mike Jacobs left NDC for another Division II head coaching job at Lenoir Rhyne. Mental coached Notre Dame to a 5-0 record as one of the few teams in DIvision II that attempted to play games during the spring of 2021 and has the team 10-1 this fall for a 15-1 overall record. Mental played college football at Division III Baldwin Wallace.
 
GAME CAPTAINS
Slippery Rock will send out two senior leaders this week as game captains, in addition to The Rock's four regular season captains. As recognition for their outstanding contributions over their careers, injured seniors Jermaine Wynn Jr. and Dalton Holt will serve as game captains. Both seniors had their SRU careers ended over the last three weeks by serious injuries. Holt started in 32 games over four years, while Wynn started in 29 games in three seasons.
 
SUPER REGION ONE PLAYOFF FIELD
There was no movement in the top six spots in the region between the rankings last week and the final playoff field. Kutztown held the No. 1 spot after winning the PSAC title and earned the first round bye. Shepherd stayed at No. 2 and will host No. 7 Findlay in the opening round. Notre Dame stayed at No. 3 and will host No. 6 Slippery Rock and New Haven stayed at No. 4 and will host No. 5 Bentley in the only first round rematch from the regular season in the opening round. Findlay was the one change from last week's rankings, knocking 9-1 Cal U out of the playoffs via earned access.
 

Rank	Team	DII W-L	ROUND ONE
1	Kutztown	10-1	BYE
2	Shepherd	10-1	Home vs. Findlay
3	Notre Dame (Ohio)	10-1	Home vs. Slippery Rock
4	New Haven	9-1	Home vs. Bentley
5	Bentley	9-1	Away at New Haven
6	SLIPPERY ROCK	9-2	Away at Notre Dame
7	Findlay	8-3	Away at Shepherd

 
BREAKING DOWN THE REGIONAL RANKINGS
Kutztown is 2-0 against the other six teams in the playoffs with wins over Slippery Rock and Shepherd. New Haven is the only other team with a win over a playoff opponent with a win over Bentley earlier this year. Notre Dame did not play any opponents ranked in the top 10 in the region this year. Slippery Rock went 1-1 against the top 10 with a loss to No. 1 Kutztown and a win over No. 7 Cal U, which was bumped from the playoffs by the earned access rule in Division II in favor of GMAC winner Findlay.
 
INJURIES STACKING UP
While injuries are part of every football season, Slippery Rock's recent run of bad luck in the area of injuries is impossible to ignore entering the playoffs. The Rock lost Division II's current active leader in receiving yards last week when Jermaine Wynn Jr. was injured in the first quarter. Wynn was the seventh SRU starter to go down with an injury in the last month. The Rock will enter this week without Wynn, as well as All-Region defensive tackle Jeff Marx, All-PSAC caliber safety Dalton Holt, starting running back Evyn Holtz and starting cornerback Savion Harrison. SRU is hopeful to see All-Region caliber defensive end Garrett de Bien return this week after he missed the PSAC Championship game and The Rock could possibly get back starting linebacker Peyton Remish, who has missed the last 2.5 games. If those two cannot play, The Rock will be without the services of seven significant contributors this week.
 
LAST MEETING WITH NOTRE DAME  |  Box Score
No. 8 Slippery Rock outlasted No. 13 Notre Dame in what was the game of the 2019 NCAA Playoffs as The Rock came away with a 65-59 win in the Super Region One final at SRU. The two teams racked up 1,100 yards of total offense, 11 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns, one kick return touchdown and two field goals. The game saw five different touchdowns of 50 yards or longer. NDC jumped out to a 14-0 lead and led 21-7 just 5:59 into the game, but SRU responded by closing the first half on a 42-10 run to lead 49-31 at halftime. SRU extended the lead to 59-38 with 5:43 to play in the third and held off a late rally from NDC to win 65-59. Roland Rivers III threw for 436 yards and six TDs and ran for two more. Henry Litwin caught 12 passes for 203 yards and three touchdowns. Cinque Sweeting caught five passes for 132 yards. Chris Brimm threw for 360 yards and five TDs for NDC. Jaleel McLaughlin ran for 126 yards and two scores. Marvelle Ross had 108 receiving yards and two TDs to go along with a 96-yard kick return score.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock dropped nine spots to No. 19 in the AFCA Division II national poll this week, marking just the fourth time SRU was outside the top 10 this year. SRU opened the year ranked No. 5 and was ranked between fifth and eighth for the first seven weeks of the season and moved back up to No. 10 after knocking off No. 3 Cal U in week 10. SRU is also ranked No. 18 in the D2football.com poll this week. Notre Dame is ranked No. 6 in the AFCA poll and No. 11 in the D2football.com poll. Both polls are available on page nine of the PDF notes linked above.
 
SENIOR CLASS GETS TO THIRD STRAIGHT PLAYOFFS
The four-year members of SRU's senior class enter the playoffs with a 41-9 overall record, three PSAC West titles, three PSAC title game appearances, one outright PSAC title and three trips to the NCAA Playoffs, including two trips to at least the quarterfinals and one trip to the semifinals. The SRU seniors that played their entire careers at SRU include Tim Vernick, Garrett de Bien, Khadir Roberts, De'Vijan Franklin, Henry Litwin, Chad Kuhn, Peyton Remish, Dalton Holt, Trysten McDonald, Jake Tecak and Austin Wayt.
 
KINGS OF THE WEST THIS DECADE
Slippery Rock is 20-1 against the PSAC West over the last three seasons on the way to winning three straight division titles. The Rock are 25-3 against the PSAC West over the last four years and have won six of the last eight division titles and seven of the 10 titles in the last decade. SRU made its seventh appearance in the PSAC title game since 2011 last week. No other team in the PSAC West has reached the title game more than twice in the that stretch, with IUP making two trips and Cal U making one. No other team in the entire PSAC has been to the league's title game more than four times in the last decade.
 
EVERYONE GETS A RING AT THE ROCK
Every four-year member of the SRU football program since the freshmen class of 2008 has won at least one PSAC West title in their career at SRU. Every freshman that has joined the program since 2010 has played in the NCAA Playoffs.
 
SLIPPERY ROCK'S RECENT SUCCESS
The Rock are 33-6 since the beginning of the 2018 season and four of those six losses came in postseason games against teams ranked teams. SRU has been beaten only twice in regular season play since the beginning of the 2018 season (week two at Shippensburg in 2018, week seven against IUP in 2021) with the other four losses coming in the PSAC title game in 2018 (to No. 9 West Chester) and 2021 (to No. 16 Kutztown), the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018 (at No. 11 Notre Dame) and the NCAA semifinals in 2019 (to No. 4 Minnesota State).
 
WINNING ON THE ROAD
Slippery Rock's loss at Kutztown in the PSAC title game last week snapped a streak of 11 straight road game victories that spanned more than 1,000 calendar days. SRU was a perfect 6-0 on the road in 2019 and went 5-0 this fall leading up to the PSAC title game at Kutztown. The Rock's last loss on the road prior to that was the 2018 NCAA quarterfinals at Notre Dame when SRU lost 21-17 on Dec. 1, 2018.
 
THIRD STRAIGHT AGAINST A RANKED OPPONENT
This week mark's The Rock's third straight game against a nationally ranked opponent and one of the top seven ranked teams in Super Region One. SRU handed then third-ranked Cal U its only loss of the season in week 10, which marked The Rock's first win over a top three ranked team since 1998.
 
LAST WEEK FOR SLIPPERY ROCK
No. 10 Slippery Rock fell just short 38-32 on the road at No. 16 Kutztown in the PSAC Championship game. The Rock struggled to overcome injuries, turned the ball over too many times in crucial situations and failed to turn a number of Kutztown mistakes into any points. SRU's defense came up with four takeaways, but the offense threw three interceptions, including one in the end zone, and failed to score touchdowns on four trips to the red zone. SRU managed to put up 422 total yards and 32 points against one of the nation's top five defenses, but got run over in the running game as Kutztown rushed for 389 yards on 54 carries. The Golden Bears used big plays to rack up those yards with more than 250 yards coming on just six plays. Noah Grover threw for 298 yards and two touchdowns with three interceptions. Henry Litwin caught 11 passes for 112 yards and one TD and Tim Smith rushed for a career-high 125 yards and two touchdowns.
 
LAST WEEK FOR NOTRE DAME
While SRU was playing a road game at the No. 1 ranked team in Super Region One, Notre Dame was cruising to a 72-7 home win over 1-10 Alderson Broaddus to close the regular season. The Falcons led 49-0 at halftime and finished with a 614-100 advantage in total offense with 309 passing yards and 305 rushing yards. Tyris Dickerson ran for 113 yards and four TDs on just eight carries. Idris Lawrence and Robert Singletary also averaged more than 10.0 yards per carry in the game. Chris Brimm threw for 274 yards and three TDs.
 
RUSH DEFENSE STRUGGLES
Slippery Rock had one of its worst performances in the last decade against the run last week, allowing 389 rushing yards to Kutztown and an average of 7.2 yards per carry for the Golden Bears. That total was the most rush yards against an SRU defense since Gannon ran for 399 yards in a loss to SRU on Sept. 23, 2017.
 
LITWIN SETS ANOTHER RECORD
SRU receiver Henry Litwin became the school's all-time leader in career receptions last week with 12 catches for 112 yards and one score bringing his career total to 217 receptions, which topped the former SRU record of 215 receptions that was set by Greg Hopkins and had stood since 1994.
 
LITWIN CLOSING IN ON ALL THREE RECORDS
Henry Litwin now owns the SRU career receptions (217) and receiving touchdowns (42) records and has his sights set on completing the trifecta this week. Litwin enters this week with 3,349 receiving yards over the last three seasons and is just 33 yards shy of tying Greg Hopkins' SRU record of 3,382 yards, which has stood since 1994.
 
SINGLE-SEASON TOP 10 LISTS
Slippery Rock has a number of players that have found their way onto single-season Top 10 lists with their performances this fall. Andrew Koester's 2,318 passing yards are the eighth most in a single-season at SRU and his 23 TD passes rank seventh. Noah Grover's 17 TD passes are closing in on the top 10 list as well. Henry Litwin, who already owns the single-season records for yards, catches and TDs from 2019, currently ranks ninth in receiving yards (999) and receptions (63) and fifth in receiving TDs (13). DJ Opsatnik's 50 PAT kicks rank sixth. Jermaine Wynn Jr.'s 301 punt return yards rank sixth and Chad Kuhn's 9.0 sacks are one shy of the top 10 list.
 
GROVER BREAKS SRU RECORD IN FIRST START
Slippery Rock made a QB change in week nine and went to North Dakota transfer Noah Grover. The junior from Phoenix completed 32-of-40 passes for 439 yards with eight touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks against Gannon while barely playing three full quarters in his first game as the starter. The eight TD passes broke the SRU single-game record of seven that was set by Don King III against East Stroudsburg in 2016.
 
MOST TD PASSES IN DII IN SIX YEARS
Noah Grover's eight TD passes against Gannon are the most by any Division II quarterback in more than six full years. The last DII QB with at least eight TD passes in a game was East Stroudsburg's Matt Soltes, who threw nine in a five-overtime game against Shippensburg Oct. 3, 2015. The last DII player to throw eight TD passes in regulation was Colorado School of Mines' Harlon Hill winner Justin Dvorak, who threw eight against South Dakota Mines on Sept. 5, 2015.
 
GROVER THROUGH THREE STARTS
Noah Grover has started the last three weeks and is averaging a whopping 401.0 passing yards per game in those weeks. Grover has completed 87-of-127 (68.5%) attempts for 1,203 yards with 14 touchdowns in those games. The Rock offense is averaging 44.3 points and 548.3 yards per game over those three games, two of which came against nationally ranked opponents that owned top five defenses nationally.  
 
OFFENSE PERFORMING WELL AGAINST TOP DEFENSES
Slippery Rock has faced two back-to-back top 10 ranked defenses in each of the last two weeks and is averaging 35.0 points and 487.0 yards of offense in those games. Cal U entered week 10 ranked No. 4 in total defense (214.9 yards), No. 9 in passing defense (136.1 yards) and No. 3 in scoring defense (11.4 points). SRU threw for 466 yards, posted 552 total yards and scored 38 points in that game. Kutztown entered last week ranked No. 4 in scoring defense (12.1 points), No. 8 in total defense (251.9 yards) and No. 5 in rushing defense (71.8 yards). SRU scored 32 points, ran for 124 yards and put up 422 yards of total offense in that game.
 
TOP 25 IN TOTAL OFFENSE AND TOTAL DEFENSE
Slippery Rock enters this week ranked in the top 25 in Division II in both total offense and total defense. The Rock's offense ranks third in the nation in passing (344.2 yards per game), 11th in scoring (40.2 points per game) and ninth in total offense (482.5 yards per game). SRU's defense ranks seventh against the pass (142.1 yards per game) and 22nd in total defense (282.0 yards per game).
 
LITWIN ONLY DII FINALIST FOR CAMPBELL TROPHY
SRU receiver Henry Litwin is the only Division II football player among the 13 national finalists from all levels of football for the 2021 National Football Foundation's Campbell Trophy, known in college football as the "Academic Heisman." Litwin will be honored Dec. 7 in Las Vegas alongside the 2020 and 2021 College Football Hall of Fame Inductees and will receive at least an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship. Slippery Rock is the only PSAC school to ever have a finalist for the Campbell Trophy and is one of only eight Division II schools to ever have multiple finalists after Marcus Martin was also the DII representative in 2017.
 
LITWIN HAS 42 TD CATCHES IN THREE YEARS
Henry Litwin grabbed another TD last week to increase his SRU career record to 42 TD catches, all of which have come in the last three seasons. The 42 touchdowns are the most by any active Division II player in the country and rank fourth all-time at SRU among TDs by any position player. Litwin is the only receiver in the top eight in all-time touchdowns at SRU with the other seven all being running backs.
 
LITWIN TOPS 3,000-YARD MILESTONE
Henry Litwin became the second player in SRU history to surpass 3,000 receiving yards at The Rock earlier this fall and has his sights on the SRU record now. Litwin's career story is remarkable. A walk-on at SRU, he played primarily on special teams in his freshman season in 2017, finishing the year with no catches. After moving into a starting role in 2018, Litwin has racked up 217 catches for 3,349 yards with 42 touchdowns. He leads all players in Division II in yardage and touchdowns over the last three years. Litwin set single-season records at SRU last fall for catches (103), yards (1,509), touchdowns (21) and scoring (128 points) on his way to All-America honors. Litwin needs 34 yards to break Greg Hopkins' career record 3,382 yards to become the SRU career record holder in receptions, yards and touchdowns.
 
THREE-HEADED MONSTER
Slippery Rock boasts the best 1-2-3 punch in the country at the receiver position in Henry Litwin, Jermaine Wynn Jr. and Cinque Sweeting. The trio has combined for 170 catches for 2,386 yards and 28 touchdowns this fall while sharing the ball pretty evenly. Entering this week, Litwin leads the way with 63 catches for 999 yards and 13 TDs. Wynn has 56 catches for 774 yards and eight TDs and Sweeting has 51 catches for 613 yards and seven TDs. Over the last two seasons, the trio has 421 catches for 6,073 yards and 73 touchdowns over 25 games, which averages out to 16.8 receptions for 242.9 yards and 2.9 touchdowns per game.
 
SEVEN RECEIVERS IN TRIPLE DIGITS
Slippery Rock has seven total players with at least 100 receiving yards and 10 or more catches this season. In addition to the trio listed above, Max Maciejewski has 359 yards and four scores in just seven games, Kyle Sheets has 333 yards and three scores, Chris D'Or has 247 yards and three scores and Gavyn Barnes has 126 yards in seven games.
 
CANNOT REPLACE A JERMAINE WYNN JR.
Slippery Rock's emotional leader on the field and one of the country's best receivers, Jermaine Wynn Jr., suffered a serious injury last week in the first quarter that will end his SRU career. Wynn leads all active players in Division II in career receiving yards and ranks third among all active players in career touchdown catches. This fall, Wynn averaged 122.4 all-purpose yards with 56 catches for 774 yards and eight touchdowns to go along with 301 punt return yards and one return score.
 
JERMAINE WYNN JR. BY THE NUMBERS
In 38 games in the SRU lineup, Jermaine Wynn Jr. pulled down 202 passes for 2,858 yards and 32 touchdowns. He is just 13 catches shy of No. 2 all-time at SRU and 142 yards shy of becoming the third SRU player with 3,000 career yards. Wynn grabbed 95 passes for 1,339 yards and 15 touchdowns last year, ranking him second behind only Henry Litwin on the SRU single-season ledger in catches and touchdowns and third in yards. He also caught 26 passes for 562 yards and six touchdowns as a freshman at Alderson Broaddus in 2017 to bring his collegiate career totals to 228 catches for 3,420 yards and 38 touchdowns at the Division II level.
 
LIT-WYNN COMBINED
Through 39 games in the same lineup, Henry Litwin and Jermaine Wynn Jr. have put up almost identical numbers. They have combined for 419 catches for 6,207 yards and 74 receiving touchdowns. Since they stepped on the field together for the first time in 2018, the duo averaged 10.7 catches for 159.2 yards and 1.9 touchdowns per game. They are the second and third SRU players to ever top 2,500 receiving yards in a career and are the only two SRU players to ever reach 30 career TD catches.
 
WYNN JR. AND LITWIN RANK 1-2 IN DIVISION II
Jermaine Wynn Jr. and Henry Litwin are currently ranked first and second among all active players in Division II in career receiving yards. They are two of just five players in the country with more than 3,000 receiving yards. Wynn leads all players in Division II with 3,420 yards when also counting his one year at Alderson Broaddus. Litwin is close behind in second with 3,349 yards, all of which have come in the last three years. Ohio Dominican's David Turner ranks third with 3,080 yards, but has done that on 291 catches compared to 230 for Wynn and 217 for Litwin.
 
LITWIN AND WYNN LEADING DI AND DII COMBINED
Henry Litwin's 42 TD grabs are the most among all active Division I FBS, FCS or Division II players, while Jermaine Wynn Jr.'s 38 TD catches rank him third among all active players in Division I or Division II in career touchdown catches. Squeezed between them is Notre Dame's Devanaire Conliffe, who has 41 TD catches in 45 games.
 
SWEETING CAN DO IT ALL
Slot receiver Cinque Sweeting has scored seven touchdowns in his last seven games with five receiving scores and two rushing touchdowns. Sweeting has 51 catches for 613 yards with seven touchdowns, has also rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns (9.4 yards per carry) and has 335 combined kick return yards. He averages 101.5 all-purpose yards per game to rank second on the team behind Wynn.
 
SWEETING OVER 4,000 CAREER YARDS
Cinque Sweeting started his career at Seton Hill and played two years primarily as a running back before transferring to Slippery Rock before his junior season. Counting his two years at Seton Hill, Sweeting has racked up a total of 4,274 all-purpose yards in his career, which ranks 12th among all active players in Division II. He has 1,221 rushing yards, 1,808 receiving yards, 1,134 kick return yards and 111 punt return yards.
 
SWEETING STANDS ALONE IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Cinque Sweeting is the only active four-year player from any level of NCAA football with more than 1,000 career rushing, receiving and kick return yards. The only other player at any level of NCAA football that meets those marks is Baylor's Trestan Ebnar, who has played 57 games in five seasons. Sweeting enters this week with 1,221 rushing yards, 1,808 receiving yards and 1,134 kick return yards over his collegiate career. He has tallied a total of 29 career touchdowns with seven rushing scores and 22 receiving scores.
 
FROM QB TO ALL-AMERICAN DEFENSIVE END
All-American DE Chad Kuhn played quarterback in high school at Kiski Area. He didn't play a single defensive snap in his football career before coming to Slippery Rock and accepting the challenge of moving to the defensive side of the ball. Since then, Kuhn has racked up 29.0 career sacks and 45.0 tackles for loss and become one of the top defensive ends in the country.
 
KUHN CLIMBING SRU AND PSAC CAREER LISTS
Chad Kuhn had one sack and two TFL last week to bring his career total to 29.0 sacks and 45.0 tackles for loss, which ranks him third all-time at SRU in sacks and fourth all-time at SRU in tackles for loss. Kuhn's 29.0 career sacks are the sixth most by any player in the PSAC dating back to 2000. Kuhn also has seven career forced fumbles, which is third all-time at SRU.
 
KUHN AMONG ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS IN NCAA
Chad Kuhn ranks third among all active players in Division II and eighth among all active players from any level of NCAA football in career sacks (29.0). He also ranks seventh among all active players in Division II in forced fumbles (7).
 
DE BIEN HAVING A BREAKOUT SENIOR YEAR
Slippery Rock has a formidable combo at the DE position with Garrett de Bien opposite Chad Kuhn. De Bien was not-so-quietly having the best season of his career with a team-high 12.5 tackles for loss to go along with 5.5 sacks through 10 games, but had to miss last week with an injury. His previous career highs for a single-season were 8.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, which came over 14 games in 2019. De Bien has already surpassed those numbers. He and Kuhn have combined for 23.5 tackles for loss and 14.5 sacks this year.
 
GETTING MORE TURNOVERS
Slippery Rock forced eight turnovers total over the first seven weeks of the season. Over the last four weeks, however, The Rock have forced at least two turnovers each week and have a total of 11 turnovers in that stretch. SRU is coming off a season-best four takeaways against Kutztown, but The Rock turned those four turnovers into zero points while Kutztown turned three SRU turnovers into 17 points.
 
McDONALD BATTLES BACK INTO FORM
Slippery Rock starting linebacker Trysten McDonald, who missed most of 2019 after suffering a season-ending injury, was poised for a breakout return this year and was among the leaders of The Rock defense early this season, but missed six straight games between weeks three and nine. He returned to the lineup three weeks ago. In just five games, McDonald has 35 tackles and 5.0 tackles for loss this fall, averaging 1.0 TFL per game. Over his career, McDonald has 30.5 tackles for loss in 34 games played.  
 
OPSATNIK GETTING IT DONE IN KICKING GAME
DJ Opsatnik was a perfect 2-for-2 on field goal attempts last week with kicks from 32 and 26 yards. Opsatnik has made his last five field goal attempts, all in the last four weeks, and is now 8-for-10 on the year.
 
BUTTS HAS HIS BEST GAME
Punter Kyle Butts went toe-to-toe with one of the nation's best punters last week and actually outperformed the Kutztown kicker. Butts booted six punts for an average of 42.7 yards per kick with a long of 60 and four of the six kicks landing inside the 20-yard line. Butts has slowly been increasing his season averages and is up to 38.5 yards per punt with 10 fair catches, 13 kicks inside the 20 and four punts over 50 yards.
 
FIRST QUARTER BREAKDOWN
Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 121-43 in the first quarter this season and is 6-1 when scoring first this fall. The Rock are averaging 11.0 points per game in the first quarter while allowing just 3.9 points.
 
MIDDLE FRAMES
The middle periods have been where Slippery Rock has really distanced its opponents this year. The Rock are outscoring opponents 122-77 in the second quarter and 136-37 in the third quarter for a total of 258-114 over the second and third quarters. The most impressive periods for SRU have been the first period after halftime, as The Rock are outscoring opponents by an average of 12.4 to 3.4 in the third quarter.
 
FRESHMEN EVERYWHERE
Counting the players that redshirted in 2019, the recruits that joined the program for 2020 but had their season canceled and the true freshmen that joined the program in the fall of 2021, Slippery Rock has three classes of players that are listed as freshmen in terms of their football eligibility. All of those classes, plus recent injuries to the SRU starters, add up to a total of 26 freshmen on this week's two-deep that are listed as either a starter or the backup.
 
MARX SHUT DOWN FOR SEASON
Slippery Rock defensive tackle Jeff Marx started 34 straight games before missing his first career start in week seven against IUP. Marx will miss the rest of the season with an injury, which will leave a tough hole to fill in the defense. Marx is a two-time first team All-PSAC selection and The Rock's primary run-stuffer.
 
FIRST ZERO IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Middle linebacker and team captain Tim Vernick will be wearing the number zero on his jersey this year to become the first SRU player to ever wear the zero in an NCAA competition. The number was not previously allowed as a jersey number in football, but the NCAA changed that rule this year and will now allow the number zero.
 
END OF THE VERNICK ERA
This fall will mark linebacker and captain Tim Vernick's final season at SRU and with that the end of a streak of eight consecutive years where a member of the Vernick family has been the middle linebacker at SRU. Tim's older brother, Bob Vernick, was an All-Region selection and also served as team captain while playing from 2013-16. The Vernick brothers have contributed 498 total tackles, 52.0 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks and eight interceptions to The Rock football defense over the last eight seasons. Tim's career numbers so far: 256 total tackles, 29.0 TFL, 5.5 sacks, 2 INT. Bob's career numbers: 243 total tackles, 23.0 TFL, 6.0 sacks, 6 INT. The Vernick brothers have been part of 78 wins. SRU is 78-21 with a Vernick brother in the lineup over the last eight seasons.
 
CAPTAINS
Slippery Rock named its four team captains for the 2021 season back in April: Receiver Henry Litwin, center Austin Wayt, linebacker Tim Vernick and defensive end Chad Kuhn are the team captains.
 
GRADUATES PLAYING ONE MORE SEASON
With the 2020 season being canceled and players retaining their eligibility, this fall will see a large number of student-athletes that have already graduated playing collegiate football. Slippery Rock is no exception, as a total of 13 of The Rock's players have already earned their undegraduate degrees: D.J. Adediwura, Kyle Butts, Garrett de Bien, Andrew Koester, Chad Kuhn, Henry Litwin, Trysten McDonald, Hunter Merritt, Cinque Sweeting, Jake Tecak, Tim Vernick, Austin Wayt, Jahmal Wynter.
 
DEFENDING SUPER REGION CHAMPIONS
Slippery Rock is the reigning Super Region One champion after defeating Notre Dame in the regional final and NCAA quarterfinals in 2019 to reach The Rock's first national semifinal since 1998.
 
PLAYOFF STAPLES
Slippery Rock has reached at least the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Playoffs in each of the last two seasons with a trip to the Super Region One final in 2018 and a Super Region title and a trip to the NCAA semifinals in 2019. The Rock have reached the NCAA Playoffs in six of the eight seasons dating back to 2013.
 
WINNING SEASONS STREAK
Slippery Rock entered this fall with a winning season in each of the last 11 years, which ranked tied for the ninth best active streak in Division II entering 2021. The only other program in the PSAC with more consecutive winning seasons currently is Cal U, which had strung together 16 winning seasons entering 2021. Both SRU and Cal U will extended that streak this fall.
 
STARTERS NOTES
Tim Vernick and Chad Kuhn lead all players on the roster with 45 starts. Khadir Roberts has started 42 games to give SRU three players with 40+ starts. Austin Wayt has started 39 consecutive games. Henry Litwin (37), Jeff Marx (34), Trysten McDonald (34) and Dalton Holt (32) give The Rock a total of eight players with 30+ career starts.
 
FIRST CAREER STARTS
SRU has had a total of 17 players make their first career start this season with five in week one: RB Tim Smith, LT Yuriy Hryckowian, DT Munchie Johnson, LB Isaiah Manning and LB Cody Ross, three in week two: OL Anthony Rebar, WR Gavyn Barnes, CB Savion Harrison, two in week three: OL Nick Stazer and WR Kyle Sheets, one in week five: TE Max Maciejewski, one in week seven: DL Jevon Lang, two in week nine: QB Noah Grover and RB Evyn Holtz, one in week 10: DB DaShaun Wright and two in week 11: DL Matt Wilwohl and DB Hunter Merritt.
 
NOTRE DAME QUICK HITS
• Notre Dame is under the direction of Mickey Mental in his first full season as head coach. Mental, who was an assistant at NDC for 11 seasons, is 10-1 in his first full year in charge. The Falcons join SRU and Kutztown as the only three teams from Super Region One to be making a third straight playoff appearance.
• Notre Dame shared the MEC title this fall with new DII member Frostburg State with matching 10-1 records. The Falcons were beaten by only Charleston during the season and that 38-28 loss came back on Oct. 2. NDC then edged out Frostburg 23-21 the following week. Since then, NDC has won each of its last five games by at least 20 points and was relatively unchallenged in a MEC that saw only three teams win more than six games this fall (NDC, Frostburg, Charleston). The Falcons have outscored their last three opponents by a combined score of 162-14.
• NDC is strong on both sides of the ball, but has really excelled in the turnover department. The Falcons enter this week ranked No. 2 in DII in turnover margin at +1.6 turnovers per game. That is thanks to a total of 17 passes intercepted, which ranks third in DII, while throwing just four total picks on offense, the sixth lowest mark in DII. NDC has also blocked five punts this fall, the second most in DII.
• NDC scores 41.9 points per game on 448.6 yards of offense with 196.7 rushing yards and 251.9 passing yards per game. Opponents average just 15.9 points and 275.4 yards per game with 89.6 rushing yards and 185.7 passing yards per game. The rushing averages are lowered significantly by Notre Dame's 39 total sacks this fall.
• QB Chris Brimm will be playing his third game against SRU. He is completing 64% of his passes for 2,712 yards with 25 TDs and just four INT this year. Brimm also has four rushing scores. His top pass catcher is Devanaire Conliffe with 54 grabs for 909 yards and 11 TDs, nearly double the yardage of any other receiver. Davis Patterson (30 catches, 459 yds, 3 TD), Jeremy Hamilton (32 catches, 405 yds, 1 TD) and CJ Kiss (16 catches, 242 yds, 4 TDs) are also heavily involved in the pass game. 
• RB Tyris Dickerson averages 5.3 yards per carry and has 879 yards with nine TDs on the ground. Idris Lawrence averages 5.8 yards per carry with 664 yards and six scores in a split backfield.
• LB Guam Lee leads the defense with 78 tackles, 23.0 TFL, 9.0 sacks, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. DE Noah Harris-Lyles has 20.5 TFL and a team-high 10.5 sacks as those two have combined for 19.5 sacks. Antoine Holloway II has a team-high six INTs.
 
UP NEXT
If Slippery Rock were to upset Notre Dame this week, The Rock would play the winner of No.2 seed Shepherd and No. 7 seed Findlay in the second round next week. If Shepherd wins, that game will be at Shepherd. If The Rock and Findlay both pulled off upsets, SRU would host Findlay next week.



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