INDIANA, Pa. – The eighth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team couldn't get out of its own way and watched rival Indiana (Pa.) hold off a late charge for a 20-12 win in a rain-soaked Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game Saturday from George P. Miller Stadium.
 
The Rock had no problem moving the ball all day, but squandered multiple scoring chances, including throwing two interceptions in the IUP end zone on drives where SRU had first-and-goal situations. Slippery Rock went just 1-of-3 in red zone chances, failed to convert a single PAT and struggled to get off the field on third down on defense with IUP going 10-of-16.
 
Indiana (Pa.) moves into the driver's seat in the PSAC West and improves to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in PSAC West play. Slippery Rock drops just its second divisional game since October of 2017, both to IUP, and falls to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in PSAC West play.
 
The Rock had all the momentum early in the game and was driving with first and goal at the IUP five-yard line, but Noah Grover threw an interception in the end zone on the first down play to end the drive.
 
IUP capitalized with a long scoring drive that bled into the first play of the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead.
 
The squandered chances continued later in the first half as Grover threw another interception in the end zone in the second quarter after SRU had first and goal at the 10-yard line, sending the game to halftime with the hosts leading 7-0.
 
Those two missed scoring chances in the opening half proved huge in what ended up being a one-possession final score.
 
After Indiana (Pa.) scored to take a 14-0 lead in the third quarter, Slippery Rock responded with a long drive when Grover hit Jawon Hall for a short touchdown. The PAT kick was blocked, snapping a streak of 43 straight made PATs by DJ Opsatnik, making it 14-6 with 4:11 to play in the third.
 
The Hawks added one more score with a jump ball in the back of the end zone that made it 20-6 with 12:34 to play.
 
Slippery Rock battled back with a quick scoring drive when Grover hit Hall for a second touchdown, this time from 28-yards, but a bad snap on the PAT kept the score at 20-12 with 10:21 to play.
 
Neither team would score the rest of the way. The Rock defense held on a fourth and one inside the SRU five-yard line to stop IUP's best chance at scoring late in the game. Slippery Rock's offense moved the ball to near midfield twice in the final three minutes, but could not find the tying points while trying to move down field into a driving wind and rain.
 
Indiana (Pa.) finished with a 375-366 edge in total offense as the two teams put up nearly identical numbers. The Rock ran for 129 yards and threw for 237 yards, while IUP ran for 135 yards and threw for 240 yards. The separating factor in the game was the two turnovers by the SRU offense and zero turnovers by IUP, along with a 35:10-24:50 advantage in time of possession.
 
Chris D'Or ran for 101 yards on 15 carries for an average of 6.7 yards per carry, but ran it just five times in the second half as SRU went to the air while trailing. D'Or also caught four passes for 24 yards.
 
Hall caught three passes for 84 yards and two touchdowns while getting extra snaps in place of Jacob Odom, who left the game early with an injury. Kyle Sheets caught five passes for 53 yards.
 
Grover finished the game 19-of-41 for 237 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
Brandon Tuck-Hayden led the SRU defense with 10 tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss. Jake Miller had eight stops and 1.0 tackle for loss and Jalen Dangerfield had eight tackles. Jacob Williams had seven tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss before leaving the game with an injury. Dez Johnson and Daniel Tooson were each credited with 1.0 TFL to give SRU five tackles for loss.
 
IUP was paced by receiver Duane Brown, who caught 10 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns. Mak Sexton completed 19-of-29 passes for 240 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Hilton Ridley also caught one TD pass and Dayjure Stewart ran for 92 yards on 30 carries for 3.1 yards per carry.
 
Slippery Rock will look to bounce back when it returns home next Saturday to host Mercyhurst in the annual Hall of Fame Game with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
 
 


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