Complete Game Notes (30-page PDF)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 15-ranked Slippery Rock University football team will host undefeated third-ranked California University (Pa.) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium to decide the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division.
 
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 SRU Athletic Communication.
• Live Streaming Video  |  Provided by SRU Athletic Communication.
• 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 Rock Athletics Digital Network, created and operated by the SRU Athletic Communication Office.
 • Search for "Rock Athletics Digital Network" in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku and Android TV devices to download the app. Each of the remaining regular season SRU football games will be available on the app.
 
MOBILE APP
• Fans can also watch all PSAC football games on the PSAC Sports Digital Network mobile app that is available for free in the app stores on Apple and Android devices.
 
TICKETS (For advance tickets, Call 724-738-2021 or stop by the Athletic Office in Morrow Field House)
• Tickets can be purchased on game day. The stadium gates will open at 11:30 a.m.
• Tickets can also be purchased in the SGA Bookstore during the week and Saturday morning.
• Chair-back Reserved Seat - $15
• Reserved Bench Seat - $15
• Adult General Admission - $10
• Students Ages 6-High School – $5
• Children Ages 6 and Under – FREE
• SRU Students – FREE with valid student ID
• Students from Other Colleges - $5 with valid student ID
 
COVID-19 FAN INFORMATION
• Fans should not attend any events if you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms or feeling ill.
• Masks are REQUIRED inside all buildings on the SRU campus, regardless of vaccination status.
• Fans are encouraged, but not currently required, to wear masks at SRU outdoor events.
• Fans are encouraged to social distance when possible at events.
 
PARKING
• Parking is available in the lots surrounding the stadium
• Parking spaces are $10 in all tailgating lots ($25 for motorhomes, large vehicles)
• Shuttles will circle the parking lots to assist with transportation to the gates
• Campus Map  |  Stadium is #52 on Map
 
VISITING FAN PARKING
• Visiting fans can park together and tailgate in the Stadium Lodge lot. Lot opens at 10 a.m.
• GPS Address: 246 Harmony Road, Slippery Rock, PA
• Visiting fans can enter the game through gate six, located at the field hockey/lacrosse building just below the lodge parking area, which provides direct access to the visiting bleachers.
• Campus Map  |  Visitor parking is at building #51. Entry gate is at building #53.
 
TAILGATING
• Tailgating is allowed in paid lots three hours before kickoff (lots open at 10 a.m.)
• No Tailgating at halftime
• All Tailgaters must enter game at kickoff
• Tailgaters must vacate the lots 90 minutes after the game ends
• No hard liquor or glass bottles
• Adhere to all campus tailgating rules found HERE.
 
STUDENT GATE PROCEDURES
Students should still bring their valid ID to enter the game through the student gate, but will also need to use the CORE application on their cell phones. Login to your CORE account to access the event QR code that will be scanned at the gate. Only CURRENT students will be allowed to enter through the student gate. To speed up entry into the game, students should download the app in advance and be prepared to scan their code at the entry gate.
 

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SENIOR DAY
Saturday will mark The Rock's annual "Senior Day" game as it is the final regular season home game, and could be the final home game in the careers of the SRU seniors. Slippery Rock will honor 17 players, five interns and three athletic training students during a pregame ceremony that will begin at 12:25 p.m. Senior cheerleaders and members of the marching band will also be recognized during the game.
 
LOOKING AT THE SENIOR CLASS
The four(+) year members of this year's senior class enter their final regular season home game with a 40-8 overall record and a 19-4 record in home games over the last four seasons. This senior class are one win away from their third straight PSAC West title and are eyeing a third straight trip to the NCAA Playoffs.
 
The players 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.
 
THE GAME
No. 15 Slippery Rock is looking for its third PSAC West title in a row and its seventh trip to the PSAC Championship in the last 10 seasons. Cal U enters as one of just four unbeaten teams left in Division II and is carrying its highest national rank ever at No. 3. The Vulcans are looking to become the first PSAC West winner not named Slippery Rock since IUP claimed the title in 2017.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES
Slippery Rock owns a 49-33-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1905. The Rock have won three straight, seven of the last nine and are 13-2 in the last 15 games played at SRU. This year's game marks the 12th of the last 14 meetings in which at least one of the two teams is ranked in the top 25 at the time of the meeting. At least one team has been receiving votes or ranked nationally in every game since 2007.
 
• First Meeting: 1905 (Cal won 53-0)
• Last Meeting: 2019 (SRU won 31-28)
• Current Streak: SRU +3
• at Cal: SRU leads 20-20-2
• at SRU: SRU leads 29-13-1
• Most Points Scored by Cal: 53 (1905)
• Largest Win Margin by Cal: 53 (1905)
• Most Points Scored by SRU: 81 (1915)
• Largest Win by SRU: 81 (1915)
• Last Cal Win: 2016 at Cal (52-26)
 
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 47-12 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 46 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.
 
Gary Dunn is in his fifth season as the head coach at his Alma Mater, where he owns an impressive 42-12 record. Dunn, who played for the Vulcans from 1991-94 before embarking on his coaching career, led the team to the NCAA playoffs in each of his first two seasons. Prior to returning to Cal, he spent six seasons as the offensive coordinator at Duquesne and served as the offensive coordinator for 11 years at Morehead State at the FCS level.
 
SUPER REGION RANKINGS
Slippery Rock moved up one spot to No. 7 in the second set of regional rankings announced this week. The top six remain unchanged, while positions 7-10 are all different this week from the first set of rankings. SRU still controls its own destiny, as wins in the next two weeks would certainly guarantee a playoff spot and likely even lead to a home game. There will surely be a shakeup next week as No. 1 Bentley travels to No. 6 New Haven and No. 4 Cal U travels to No. 7 Slippery Rock. No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 2 Kutztown and No. 3 Shepherd all play against teams with winning records this week as well.
 

Rank	Team	W-L	SOS	This Week
1	Bentley	8-0	0.478	at #6 New Haven
2	Kutztown	8-1	0.536	at West Chester
3	Shepherd	8-1	0.555	vs. E. Stroudsburg
4	Cal U	8-0	0.444	at #7 Slippery Rock
5	Notre Dame (Ohio)	8-1	0.522	at UNC Pembroke
6	New Haven	7-1	0.495	vs. #1 Bentley
7	SLIPPERY ROCK	8-1	0.418	vs. #4 Cal U
8	Shippensburg	7-2	0.521	vs. Lock Haven
9	Tiffin	6-2	0.517	at Walsh
10	Findlay	6-3	0.545	vs. Ashland

 
SRU RESULTS AGAINST THE REGIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock has played no games against the other nine teams listed in the second set of regional rankings. That will change the next two weeks as SRU gets two teams in the top four with No. 4 Cal U this week and either No. 2 Kutztown or No. 3 Shepherd next week, depending on the results of this week.
 
A LOT TO PLAY FOR
While the SRU vs. Cal U game typically has PSAC Western Division title implications, rarely has the game come in the last week of the regular season and been a winner-take-all game. This week's winner will represent the PSAC West in next week's PSAC Championship game at Kutztown after the Golden Bears have locked up at least a share of the Eastern Division crown. A Slippery Rock win this week would mean SRU and Cal U are technically "co-champions" of the Western Division, while a Cal U win this week would make the Vulcans the outright champions. The game also has significant NCAA postseason implications.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock held steady at No. 15 in this week's American Football Coaches Association rankings. The Rock opened the year ranked No. 5 and were ranked between fifth and eighth for the first seven weeks of the season before sliding to No. 17 after a loss Oct. 16, which marked the first time Slippery Rock was ranked outside the top 15 since November of 2018. The Rock were ranked in the top 10 from Sept. 23, 2019 through Oct. 18, 2021. SRU is also ranked No. 16 in the D2football.com poll this week. Cal U is ranked No. 3 in the AFCA poll and No. 13 in the D2football.com poll. Both polls are available on page nine of the PDF notes linked above.
 
SRU AGAINST THE TOP FIVE / TOP THREE
Slippery Rock has played 21 total games in program history against teams officially ranked in the top five of the respective national polls used at the time of the game. The Rock are 5-16 in those games with the most recent win coming 47-44 in overtime against No. 5 Cal U at SRU in 2017. Slippery Rock has played 10 total games against top three ranked opponents and is 1-9 in those games with the lone win coming in 1998 over No. 2 IUP. This game will mark just the second time since 2000 that SRU will play a top three opponent.
 
LAST MEETING WITH CAL U  |  Box Score
No. 10 Slippery Rock never trailed in a thriller at The Rock in 2019, but needed a Jake Chapla 24-yard field goal as time expired to escape with a 31-28 win over Cal U that locked up the PSAC West title for SRU back on Nov. 2, 2019. SRU led 7-0, 14-7 and 28-14, but Cal U rallied and tied the game each time, including scoring on a 21-yard TD pass from Josh Dale to JaQuae Jackson with 1:14 to play that made it 28-28. Dale threw just one pass after coming on in relief after starting QB Noah Mitchell left the game in the fourth quarter. SRU used just 1:10 and went 70 yards on the ensuing drive before Chapla kicked the game-winner as time expired. SRU posted a 494-320 advantage in total offense with 281 passing yards and 213 rushing yards. Cal threw for 152 yards and ran for 168. Roland Rivers III threw for 281 yards with four touchdowns and rushed for 135 yards to lead The Rock. Henry Litwin caught four passes for 97 yards and two scores. Nelson Brown carried the load for Cal with 32 rushes for 137 yards and three scores. Mitchell completed 14-of-29 passes for 131 yards with one interception. Jackson caught three passes for 67 yards and one score.
 


BACK-TO-BACK WALK-OFF WINS AT SRU
Slippery Rock has won each of its last two home games against Cal U with walk-off field goals by kicker Jake Chapla. The Rock tied the game late to force overtime in 2017 and came away with a 47-44 win over No. 5 Cal U after Chapla booted the game-winner in OT following a missed field goal from Cal U. Then, Chapla kicked another game-winner in 2019 as time expired after SRU went 70 yards in 1:10 for the game-winning drive.
 


PSAC WEST BELONGS TO SRU THIS DECADE
Slippery Rock's loss to IUP three weeks ago marked the first SRU loss against a PSAC Western Division opponent in a stretch of 1,456 days dating back to Oct. 21, 2017. The Rock won 19 straight games in the PSAC West and didn't lose a game against its divisional rivals from Oct. 21, 2017 all the way up to Oct. 16, 2021. SRU is 25-3 against the PSAC West in its last 28 divisional games and has won six of the nine PSAC West titles dating back to 2011. SRU will finish this 10-year stretch with at least four more appearances in the league title game than the rest of the PSAC West. No other team in the PSAC West has made more than two appearances in the league title game since 2011 (IUP in 2012, 2017) and no other team in the entire PSAC has made more than four appearances in the league title game this decade (Kutztown in 2011, 2016, 2019, 2021).
 
SLIPPERY ROCK'S RECENT SUCCESS
The Rock are 32-5 since the beginning of the 2018 season and three of those five losses came in postseason games against teams ranked in the top 11 nationally. 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 three losses coming in the PSAC title game in 2018 (to No. 9 West Chester), the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018 (at No. 11 Notre Dame) and the NCAA semifinals in 2019 (to No. 4 Minnesota State).
 
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE
Rock football teams have compiled a 175-69 (.717) record the last 46 seasons in games played at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium (formerly known as N. Kerr Thompson Stadium). The Rock own a 76-24 (.760) home record since artificial turf was installed in the summer of 2003 and are 72-17 (.809) in home games since 2005. The numbers get even better in recent years, as The Rock are 54-9 (.857) at home since the beginning of the 2010 season and 41-5 (.891) since the beginning of the 2013 season.
 
ROAD WINNING STREAK HITS 11
Slippery Rock won its 11th straight road game last week with a 63-21 win at Gannon. SRU was a perfect 6-0 on the road in 2019 and has not lost a game away from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium since a 21-17 road loss in the 2018 NCAA quarterfinals at Notre Dame (Ohio) on Dec. 1, 2018. The Rock are 21-4 in their last 25 road games dating back to the start of the 2017 season and are 13-0 in their last 13 road games in PSAC West play. The last time SRU lost a PSAC West game on the road was Oct. 21, 2017, at Edinboro.
 
LAST WEEK FOR SLIPPERY ROCK
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 21-0 lead and was never challenged in a 63-21 win on the road at Gannon last week. The Rock put up 671 yards of total offense with 447 passing yards and 224 rushing yards. Noah Grover made his first career start at QB and completed 32-of-40 passes for 439 yards and an SRU single-game record of eight TD passes. Henry Litwin caught 10 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Max Maciejewski, Jermaine Wynn Jr., Cinque Sweeting and Kyle Sheets all had at least 60 receiving yards and one TD. Evyn Holtz made his first career start at running back and rushed for 109 yards on 18 carries.
 
LAST WEEK FOR CAL U
Seton Hill fumbled an early kickoff and threw a pick-six to hand Cal U 14 early points in the first eight minutes of the game and the Vulcans capitalized by racing out to a 28-0 halftime lead on the way to a 42-14 win at home last week over the Griffins. Cal posted a 347-322 edge in total offense with 355 passing yards and negative eight rushing yards. Seton Hill threw for just 136 yards on 11 completions and ran for 186 yards on 43 carries. Noah Mitchell was 27-of-43 for 339 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions. The Vulcan offense attempted just 15 rushes in the game and threw the ball 46 times with one sack. Drew Lockhart caught 10 passes for 135 yards and three touchdowns in his fifth game of the season. JaQuae Jackson caught seven passes for 121 yards and two scores as the duo combined for 17 catches, 256 yards and five scores.
 
ROCK MAKES A CHANGE AT QB
After back-to-back weeks of offensive struggles that included eight total turnovers and an average of 20.5 points in a loss to IUP Oct. 16 and a 20-17 win at Mercyhurst Oct. 23, Slippery Rock made a change under center last week and started North Dakota transfer Noah Grover for the first time this season. Andrew Koester got the ball the first eight weeks and went 7-1 with 2,318 yards, 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
 
GROVER BREAKS SRU RECORD IN FIRST START
If Grover was nervous for his first career start at SRU, you would never know it. The junior from Phoenix completed 32-of-40 passes for 439 yards with eight touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks before leaving the game 54 seconds into the fourth quarter with SRU leading 56-21. 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 last week 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 NAMED ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Noah Grover's performance last week earned him the PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week, which marked The Rock's fifth offensive weekly award of the season as SRU has now earned the honor in 50 percent of the season. Grover was also named the College Football Network DII Offensive Player of the Week and is a candidate for the D2football.com National Offensive Player of the Week that has not been announced yet.
 
HOLTZ CHANGES OFFENSIVE DYNAMIC
Slippery Rock went the first seven weeks of the season, including its lone loss, without its projected starting running back Evyn Holtz. The Portland State transfer dealt with a nagging injury for the majority of the season but made his first start at SRU last week and he made an immediate impact on the makeup of the SRU offense. Holtz averaged 6.1 yards per carry and rushed for 109 yards on 18 carries, which helped to open up the passing game. SRU was balanced on offense with 47 rushes for 224 yards and 41 passing attempts for 447 yards.
 
OFFENSE EXPLODES
After putting up a total of 677 yards of offense and 41 points in two games against IUP and Mercyhurst in weeks seven and eight, The Rock offense exploded in week nine to the tune of 671 yards and 63 points at Gannon. The 671 yards were the most for SRU in a game since setting the program record of 795 at Seton Hill Nov. 4, 2017.
 
REVERSING COURSE ON POSSESSION TIME
Slippery Rock had struggled with the time of possession all season, entering last week with opponents averaging nearly six minutes more possession per game. Over three weeks from weeks six through eight, opponents held the ball for 29 minutes and 14 seconds longer than SRU for an average of almost +10 minutes in possession per game. The Rock turned that around in a big way last week by running more than twice as many offensive plays as Gannon. SRU ran 88 offensive plays and limited Gannon to just 42 offensive plays, which led to a 41:31 to 18:29 advantage in time of possession. That one game shifted the season averages by nearly three minutes as opponents now average 31:19 of possession per game to SRU's 28:40.
 
TURNOVER PROBLEMS TAKE A BACKSEAT
Slippery Rock entered last week ranked 132nd in Division II in turnover margin after turning the ball over eight times in weeks seven and eight with four turnovers in each game. The Rock cleaned that up last week and played a perfect game in the turnover department with no interceptions or fumbles. Defensively, SRU came up with two fumble recoveries to finish +2 in turnovers last week. Entering week 10, The Rock have turned it over 16 times with nine interceptions and seven lost fumbles, while the defense has come up with 13 takeaways with nine picks and four fumble recoveries. 
 
LITWIN ONLY DII FINALIST FOR CAMPBELL TROPHY
SRU receiver Henry Litwin was announced last week as 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 GETS TO 40 CAREER TD CATCHES
Henry Litwin caught 10 passes for 127 yards and three touchdowns last week to increase his SRU career record to 40 TD catches, all of which have come in the last three seasons. The 40 touchdowns are the most by any active Division II player in the country and rank tied for 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 two weeks ago and has his sights set 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 201 catches for 3,163 yards with 40 touchdowns. His 40 TD grabs are already a career record at SRU. He 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 15 catches and 220 yards to break Greg Hopkins' career records of 215 catches for 3,382 yards at The Rock. He currently ranks second behind Hopkins in both career categories at SRU.
 
JERMAINE WYNN JR. AVERAGING 127 YARDS
Despite missing one game this year, receiver Jermaine Wynn Jr. enters this week leading Slippery Rock with 1,018 all-purpose yards for an average of 127.2 yards per game. He ranks fourth among all players in the PSAC in that category. Wynn has 596 receiving yards and six touchdowns, 273 punt return yards and one score and 126 kick return yards.
 
JERMAINE WYNN JR. BY THE NUMBERS
In 36 games in the SRU lineup, Jermaine Wynn Jr. has pulled down 190 passes for 2,680 yards and 30 touchdowns. He needs 26 catches to break Greg Hopkins' SRU career record. 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 216 catches for 3,242 yards and 36 touchdowns at the Division II level.
 
LIT-WYNN COMBINED
Through 37 games in the same lineup, Henry Litwin and Jermaine Wynn Jr. have put up almost identical numbers. They have combined for 391 catches for 5,842 yards and 70 receiving touchdowns. Since they stepped on the field together for the first time in 2018, the duo are collectively averaging 10.6 catches for 157.9 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 three players in the country with more than 3,000 receiving yards. Wynn leads all players in Division II with 3,242 yards when also counting his one year at Alderson Broaddus. Litwin is close behind in second with 3,163 yards, all of which have come in the last three years. Ohio Dominican's David Turner ranks third with 3,059 yards, but has done that on 288 catches compared to 218 for Wynn and 201 for Litwin.
 
LITWIN AND WYNN LEADING DI AND DII COMBINED
Henry Litwin's 40 TD grabs are tied with Notre Dame (Ohio) receiver Devanaire Conliffe for the most among all active Division I FBS, FCS or Division II players, while Jermaine Wynn Jr.'s 36 TD catches rank him one spot back in third among all active players in Division I or Division II in career touchdown catches.
 
SWEETING CAN DO IT ALL
Slot receiver Cinque Sweeting has scored six touchdowns in his last five games with four receiving scores and two rushing touchdowns. Sweeting has 41 catches for 420 yards with six touchdowns as part of a three-headed receiving core with Jermaine Wynn Jr. (44 catches, 596 yards, 6 TD) and Henry Litwin (47 catches, 813 yards, 11 TD). Sweeting has also rushed for 169 yards and two touchdowns (9.4 yards per carry) and has 267 combined kick return yards. He averages 95.1 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 4,013 all-prupose yards in his career, which ranks 12th among all active players in Division II. He has 1,221 rushing yards, 1,615 receiving yards, 1,066 kick return yards and 111 punt return yards.
 
SWEETING STANDS ALONE IN DII
Cinque Sweeting is the only active player in Division II with more than 1,000 career rushing, receiving and kick return yards. He enters this week with 1,221 rushing yards, 1,615 receiving yards and 1,066 kick return yards over his collegiate career. Sweeting has tallied a total of 28 career touchdowns with seven rushing scores and 21 receiving scores.
 
TIGHT ENDS BOTH SCORE
Slippery Rock got touchdown catches from both its tight ends last week with Max Maciejewski catching his third TD of the season and John Eakin grabbing the first touchdown of his career. Eakin, who is primarily used in blocking packages, has appeared in 23 career games at SRU and now has six total catches for 75 yards and one TD.
 
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 27.0 career sacks and 42.0 tackles for loss and become one of the top defensive ends in the country.
 
KUHN CLIMBING SRU CAREER LISTS
Chad Kuhn had two sacks at Mecyhurst to bring his career total to 27.0 sacks and move him up to third all-time at SRU in sacks and fifth all-time at SRU in tackles for loss (42.0). Kuhn also had another forced fumble and now has seven career forced fumbles, which is third all-time at SRU.
 
KUHN AMONG ACTIVE CAREER LEADERS IN DII
Chad Kuhn ranks fourth among all active players in Division II in career sacks (27.0) and also ranks second among all active players in Division II in forced fumbles (7).
 
McDONALD RETURNS TO LINEUP
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 sixed straight games between weeks three and nine. He returned to the lineup last week and had three tackles and a tackle for loss. In just three games this season, McDonald has 19 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, one pass breakup and one forced fumble.
 
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 is not-so-quietly having the best season of his career with a team-high 11.5 tackles for loss to go along with 4.5 sacks through nine games. 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 matched or surpassed those numbers. He and Kuhn have combined for 19.5 tackles for loss and 11.5 sacks this year.
 
ROBERTS MAKING A MARK
Slippery Rock's top lockdown cornerback, Khadir Roberts, missed three games this season with an injury but has made a big impact since returning to the lineup. Roberts has pulled down two interceptions and recovered one fumble in the last four weeks. The senior has seven career interceptions and 24 passes defended.
 
OFFENSE AMONG THE NATION'S BEST
Entering week 10 of the season The Rock rank fourth in DII in passing offense at 335.8 yards per game, sixth in total offense at 481.4 yards per game and ninth in scoring offense at 41.3 points per game. SRU ranks sixth in passing efficiency (170.0) and ninth in third down conversions (52 percent).
 
DEFENSE RANKS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
The Rock defense also ranks high nationally among Division II schools. SRU enters this week ranked ninth in the country in total defense with opponents averaging 252.2 yards per game. SRU ranks eighth in passing defense at 133.7 yards per game, 17th in scoring defense at 16.8 points per game and 12th in total first downs allowed at 128.
 
FIRST QUARTER BREAKDOWN
Slippery Rock is outscoring opponents 90-29 in the first quarter this season after outscoring Gannon 21-0 in the first period last week. The Rock are averaging 10.0 points per game in the opening quarter while opponents are scoring 3.2 points in the first 15 minutes.
 
MIDDLE FRAMES
The middle periods have been where Slippery Rock has really distanced its opponents this year. The Rock are outscoring opponents 115-57 in the second quarter and 116-34 in the third quarter for a totals of 231-91 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 12.9 to 3.8 in the third quarter.
 
10 POINTS AGAINST STARTERS IN FOURTH QUARTER
Slippery Rock has allowed 31 total points in the fourth quarter this season, but 21 of those were scored against SRU's reserves in the fourth quarter of games with the result already decided. The Rock's starting defensive unit has allowed just 10 total points in the fourth quarter through nine weeks this season.
 
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 add up to a total of 22 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 three weeks ago 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.
 
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 483 total tackles, 51.5 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: 241 total tackles, 28.5 TFL, 5.5 sacks, 2 INT. Bob's career numbers: 243 total tackles, 23.0 TFL, 6.0 sacks, 6 INT. The Vernick's have been part of 77 wins and counting. SRU is 77-20 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.
 
DEFENDING PSAC CHAMPIONS
Slippery Rock is the reigning PSAC champion after defeating Kutztown in a battle of 10-0 teams in the 2019 PSAC title game played at Kutztown. That title marked the 12th overall PSAC championship for SRU and its third since 2014. SRU is attempting to win the PSAC West and advance to the state title game for the third straight year, a feat it also accomplished from 2013-15.
 
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 five of the seven seasons dating back to 2013.
 
WINNING SEASONS STREAK
Slippery Rock has put together a winning season in each of the last 11 years, which ranks tied for the ninth best active streak in Division II. The only other program in the PSAC with more consecutive winning seasons currently is Cal U, which has strung together 16 winning seasons entering 2021. Both SRU and Cal U are already guaranteed to extend that streak.
 
STARTERS NOTES
Tim Vernick and Chad Kuhn lead all players on the roster with 43 starts. Khadir Roberts has started 40 games to give SRU three players with 40+ starts. Austin Wayt has started 37 consecutive games. Henry Litwin (35), Jeff Marx (34), Trysten McDonald (32) and Dalton Holt (31) give The Rock a total of eight players with 30+ career starts. SRU has had a total of 14 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 more in week two: OL Anthony Rebar, WR Gavyn Barnes, CB Savion Harrison, two more in week three: OL Nick Stazer and WR Kyle Sheets, one in week five: TE Max Maciejewski, one week seven: DL Jevon Lang and two in week nine: QB Noah Grover and RB Evyn Holtz.
 
CAL U QUICK HITS
• Cal U is under the direction of 1995 alumnus Gary Dunn, who has led the team to a 42-12 record in five seasons since taking over the program. Dunn is trying to win the PSAC West for the second time and the first time since his first season in 2016.
• Cal U enters this game with the No. 1 passing offense in DII (339.1 yards per game), but ranks almost last in the country in rushing (58.6 yards per game). The Vulcans are scoring 35.9 points per game and averaging 397.8 total yards per game. The offense has thrown the ball 118 more times than it has run it (333-215), leaning heavily on the arm of QB Noah Mitchell. Mitchell is completing 68% of his passes for 2,584 yards with 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions.
• Cal U has the No. 1 defense in the PSAC and one of the best in the country. The Vulcans rank No. 3 in DII in scoring defense, allowing just 11.4 points per game. Cal also ranks fourth in DII in total defense, allowing just 214.9 yards per game, seventh in rushing defense, allowing 78.8 yards per game and ninth in passing defense, allowing 136.1 yards per game.
• Cal runs its offense through its four-wide set of talented receivers, which includes Tyson Hill (44 rec, 693 yds, 1 TD), JaQuae Jackson (51 rec, 659 yds, 8 TD), Derek Lockhart (29 rec, 504 yds, 7 TD in 5 games) and Cam Tarrant (41 rec, 345 yds, 4 TD).
• RB Kyle Brunson is the leading rusher with 229 yards on 76 carries (3.0 yards per carry, 28.6 yards per game) with three touchdowns. Cal has scored seven rushing TDs and 23 passing TDs.
• Cal has also scored four defensive touchdowns this year, all on interception returns, and has one punt return TD. Jermal Martin Jr. has three interceptions and two returned for touchdowns. He also has the lone punt return TD this year and has been a PSAC Athlete of the Week three times. Kavon Morman and Noah Dillow each have a pick-six. Dillow also leads the team with 60 tackles and 10.0 TFL.
• PK Anthony Beitko is 13-of-14 on field goal attempts this year with a long of 48 yards. His lone miss of the year was a blocked attempt.
 
UP NEXT
If The Rock win this week against Cal U, they will travel east next Saturday to Kutztown University for a rematch of the 2019 PSAC Championship. If Cal U wins this week, Slippery Rock will travel south next week to Shepherd for what would be a must-win game to close the regular season.  



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