DETROIT, Mich. – The fifth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team shook off the rust from a 628-day layoff and rallied back to edge hosting Wayne State University 24-21 in the season opener Thursday night from Tom Adams Field.
 
The Rock open the year 1-0 for the 12th consecutive season and picked up their 21st straight night-game victory in the process. Wayne State, which entered the game receiving votes in the Division II preseason national poll, opens the year 0-1.
 
Thursday night's win was vastly different than the 2019 victory over the Warriors, when SRU scored 62 points and ran away with the game, as the win wasn't secured until the final seconds. The Rock trailed three times in the game and after rallying back from all of those deficits still had to come up with a game-saving stop in the final minute.
 
Slippery Rock overcame a 14-10 halftime deficit and scored 14 points in the third quarter to lead 24-21 heading to the fourth. Those scores both came on the ground with Tim Smith punching in a two-yard touchdown run and Andrew Koester breaking free for a 26-yard score with 1:15 to play in the third.
 
Neither team would put together a scoring drive in the final period, but Wayne State had the best chance and it came in crunch time down the stretch.
 
The Warriors got a hand on an SRU punt for a partial block and took over at the SRU 38-yard line with 4:18 to play. The hosts marched down to the six-yard line and had first and goal with less than a minute to play with a chance to take the lead.
 
Rock linebacker Isaiah Manning, making his first career start, made a stop on first down after Wayne State gained just two yards. Garrett de Bien came up with a second down stop at the one-yard line to prevent a touchdown on the next play. Manning then joined with Cody Ross to come up with a tackle for loss on third down, forcing Wayne State back to the three-yard line. With less than 25 seconds to play, the Warriors elected to go for it on fourth and goal from the three rather than try a game-tying field goal. That decision was likely made as a result of missing two field goals and an extra point earlier in the contest. Manning and de Bien forced the quarterback out of the pocket to the right sideline on fourth down and tackled him for a two-yard loss with 18 seconds left to seal the win.
 
As expected after a 628-day gap between games, Slippery Rock struggled with consistency throughout the night, but were able to overcome some mishaps. The Rock turned the ball over two times, once with a fumble deep in their own territory and another time with an interception on the Wayne State goal line that stalled a drive. The Rock also allowed two fourth down conversions that Wayne State converted to touchdowns and had one punt blocked.
 
The Warriors opened the scoring with 9:05 to play in the first quarter when Avery Hall rushed in from two yards out.
 
Slippery Rock took its first lead of the game, 7-6, on the next series when Henry Litwin made a highlight reel one-handed touchdown catch from 39 yards out that is likely to make SportsCenter's Top 10. DJ Opsatnik kicked a 25-yard field goal to extend the lead to 10-6 with 5:31 to play in the opening half before Wayne State responded with another touchdown drive to close the period. After a conversion on fourth and one from the eight yard line, Jake AmRhein connected with Myren Harris to put Wayne State up 14-10 at the break.
 
Smith put SRU back on top with his two-yard run with 5:45 to play in the third, but again Wayne State answered, this time with a 78-yard drive via six rushing plays with Avery Hall breaking free from 33 yards out to make it 21-17 in favor of the Warriors with 3:05 to play in the third.
 
Koester completed a long pass to Jermaine Wynn Jr. on the next series and then broke free himself for a 26-yard score with 1:15 to play in the third that accounted for the final points of the night.
 
Slippery Rock finished the night with a 403-303 advantage in total offense after throwing for 314 yards and rushing for 89 yards. Wayne State rushed for 247 yards and threw for 56 yards.
 
Koester completed 24-of-38 passes for 314 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also was the leading rusher for SRU with 10 carries for 54 yards and one score.
 
Litwin caught eight passes for 159 yards and one touchdown. Wynn Jr. grabbed seven passes for 66 yards, Cinque Sweeting caught five passes for 45 yards and Kyle Sheets grabbed three passes for 34 yards.
 
Dalton Holt made 11 tackles, including nine solo, to pace the defensive effort. Manning finished with 10 stops and 1.0 tackle for loss. Trysten McDonald had nine total tackles and led the team with 3.0 tackles for loss. Khadir Roberts and Chad Kuhn each recorded one sack and Selvin Haynes had the only takeaway of the game for the defense with an interception.
 
Hall rushed for 86 yards and two touchdowns for Wayne State, while Harris rushed for 85 yards and caught one touchdown. AmRhein completed 9-of-20 passes for 56 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
 
Slippery Rock will return home for the next two weeks for PSAC crossover games with East Stroudsburg set to visit Sept. 11 at 6 p.m. and Lock Haven traveling to SRU Sept. 18 for a 6 p.m. game.
 
 
NOTES: Slippery Rock won its season opener for the 12th straight year … SRU won its 21st straight night game and has not lost a game that started at 4 p.m. or later since Sept. 29, 2012 … Shawn Lutz improved to 40-11 as SRU's head coach in the first game of his fifth season at the helm … SRU improved to 3-2 all-time in the series against Wayne State and 2-1 on the road in Detroit … Andrew Koester made his first start at QB since Sept. 8, 2018 … Koester threw for over 300 yards for the first time in his career … Henry Litwin increased his SRU career TD receptions record to 30 … His 159 yards marked his 12th career 100+ yard receiving game … Litwin passed Milly Raye for No. 2 on the career receiving yards chart at SRU and now has 2,509 career yards … Chad Kuhn had 1.0 sack to bring his career total to 21.0, moving him into a tie for ninth all-time at SRU … SRU is ranked No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association national poll … Wayne State was receiving votes in the national poll.



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