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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 23rd ranked Slippery Rock University football team opened the 2022 season with a convincing 42-10 victory over Wayne State University in non-conference action Saturday night from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock picked up a win in their season opener for the 13th straight year and won their home opener for the 14th straight season. Wayne State dropped its third straight season opener to SRU in a four-game series that will conclude next fall when the Warriors play at The Rock in week one again.
 
Saturday's outcome felt decided by the end of the second quarter after Slippery Rock scored on its first four offensive possessions and raced out to a 35-3 lead at halftime.
 
SRU outgained Wayne State 285-109 in the first half and finished the game with a 407-241 advantage in total offense after throwing for 276 yards and rushing for 131 yards in a balanced effort that saw 29 pass attempts and 27 rush attempts. Wayne State ran for 137 yards on 40 carries and threw for 104 yards on 36 attempts.
 
Quarterback Noah Grover led a dominant new-look offense that didn't appear to miss a beat despite losing three of the best receivers in program history to graduation. Grover connected on 20-of-28 passes for 276 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for 18 yards and one score before being pulled from the game before the fourth quarter started.
 
Grover connected with six different receivers, including his former North Dakota teammate Jacob Odom, who led The Rock with eight catches for 97 yards. Cohen Russell pulled down two catches for 82 yards and two touchdowns, scoring on passes of 74 and eight yards. Russell also provided a big spark in the return game with a 37-yard punt return and a 58-yard kickoff return on the first play of the game to finish with a game-high 177 all-purpose yards.
 
Kyle Sheets caught three passes for 37 yards and one score, Max Maciejewski caught four passes for 29 yards and Jawon Hall pulled down a 31-yard reception.
 
Chris D'Or led a balanced rushing attack with seven carries for 52 yards, including a 32-yard touchdown. Isaiah Edwards rushed for 24 yards and one TD on four carries, Tim Smith ran for 19 yards and Chris Wells and Grover both ran for 18 yards.
 
Former Wayne State captain Brandon Tuck-Hayden had a stellar debut at Slippery Rock, leading the defense against his former team with 10 total tackles, a half-tackle for loss and a pass breakup. Jalen Dangerfield added seven tackles and one pass breakup and Brandon Bischof tallied six tackles and one tackle for loss. D.J. Adediwura spent most of the night in the Warriors' backfield and finished with five tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and four additional QB hurries.
 
The Rock defense came up with two takeaways on the night with defensive tackle Jeff Marx grabbing a tipped-pass interception after Dez Johnson tipped the initial pass and Ali Abdul-Hakim pulling down an interception.
 
The defense limited Wayne State to 3.2 yards per play and spent more than 10 minutes more on the field than the offense, as the Warriors ran 76 plays and posted a 35:47-24:13 edge in time of possession.
 
Russell kickstarted the game and put a jolt into the stadium when he nearly broke the opening kickoff before being tackled in Wayne State territory after a 58-yard return. Grover hit Sheets from 14 yards out a few plays later to make it 7-0 just 2:48 into the game.
 
Russell ignited another scoring drive with a 32-yard punt return into Wayne State territory and The Rock increased the lead to 14-0 when D'Or broke free for a 32-yard scamper just 4:32 into the game.
 
SRU put together the most impressive drive of the game on its next series, marching 99 yards in just 2:02 when Grover hit Russell on a 74-yard bomb to make it 21-0 before 10 minutes had elapsed in the game.
 
Wayne State stopped the bleeding with a field goal to open the second quarter, but SRU tacked on two more touchdowns with Grover rushing in from the one-yard line and Russell catching an eight-yard strike to send the game to halftime with SRU leading 35-3.
 
The Rock salted the game away when Edwards rushed in to make it 42-3 with 1:51 to play in the third quarter.
 
Slippery Rock will hit the road next week for a key early season showdown at West Chester, which opened the year with a 17-16 win over 2021 NCAA playoff qualifier Bentley Friday night.
 
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock won its 13th straight season opener and hasn't lost the first game of the season since 2008 … The Rock won their home opener for the 14th straight season and have not lost the first home game of the year since 2005 … SRU won its third straight game against Wayne State to improve to 4-2 in the all-time series … this marked just the second time Wayne State has played at Slippery Rock with the only other time coming in 1985 … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 49-14 in the first game of his sixth season coaching (seventh year – sixth season due to COVID) … SRU won its 26th straight night game and has not lost a game that kicked at 4 p.m. or later since Sept. 29, 2012 … SRU won its 20th straight home night game and is now 28-1 at home in night games since 2010.
 
 


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