KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The fourth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team came out flat and never recovered on the way to a 31-7 loss at Kutztown University in the 2023 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship game Saturday from Andre Reed Stadium.
 
Slippery Rock drops to 10-1 overall and will now wait to learn its playoff fate with the NCAA Selection Show Sunday evening at 6 p.m. on ncaa.com. SRU entered this week ranked No. 1 in the region, but will drop out of that spot after Tiffin stayed undefeated with a win Saturday. Kutztown won its ninth straight game after opening the year 0-2 and improves to 9-2 overall.
 
Saturday's game went sideways for SRU from the opening quarter after The Rock could not flip the field position and failed to garner a single first down over the opening 15 minutes. Kutztown jumped out to a 14-0 lead with an average starting field position near midfield and used a methodical running game to keep the SRU offense off the field. The Golden Bears tacked on a short field goal just before half to lead 17-0 and then put the game out of reach on the first drive of the third quarter with a 4th-and-12 conversion that led to another TD that made it 24-0 midway through the third.
 
Slippery Rock's potent offensive attack was limited to just 68 total yards in the first half and finished with its worst performance of the season. The Rock threw for 182 yards, rushed for 47 yards and turned the ball over three times with interceptions after coming into the game with just two interceptions all season. SRU avoided a shutout with a touchdown pass to Kyle Sheets with 58 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. The seven total points were the fewest by SRU in a game since a 28-3 loss to California (Pa.) Oct. 16, 2010.

Kutztown finished the game with 412 total yards of offense with 275 rushing yards, 137 passing yards and no turnovers.
 
SRU QB Brayden Long was named the PSAC Champion Scholar Award winner during a pregame ceremony for owning the highest GPA of all players in the game. The junior QB owns a perfect 4.0 GPA as a sport management major with 102 credits earned. He would finish the toughest outing of his career completing 27-of-46 passes for 182 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.
 
Chris D'Or caught five passes for 34 yards and ran for 13 yards on just three carries. Sheets caught three passes for 31 yards and one touchdown and Kam Kruzelyak caught six passes for 31 yards. Khalid Dorsey ran for 31 yards on seven carries as SRU ran the ball just 15 total times in the game.
 
Kyle Kudla led the SRU defense with 10 tackles. Selvin Haynes and Eddie Faulkner IV each had nine tackles and Josh Stokes and Andrew Vince each had eight stops. Vince added 1.0 tackle for loss Stokes had two pass breakups.
 
Kutztown was led by running back Darryl Davis-McNeil, who was named the game's MVP after rushing for 146 yards and two touchdowns. Judd Novak threw for 137 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 80 yards.
 
At 10-1, Slippery Rock is all but guaranteed to be heading to the NCAA Playoffs for the fifth straight season and still has a strong case to earn one of the top four seeds and a home game next Saturday in the opening round. The NCAA will announce the official playoff field Sunday evening at 6 p.m. at ncaa.com.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock lost its second straight PSAC title game appearance, both at Kutztown, and dropped to 1-3 all-time against KU in the PSAC title game … all four PSAC title games between SRU and KU have been played at Kutztown (2011, 2019, 2021, 2023) … SRU was playing in its eighth PSAC title game since the game was reinstated in 2008, the most of any team in the PSAC (Kutztown is second with five appearances) … SRU finishes the regular season at 10-1 for a second straight 10-win season and the fourth 10-win season in the last five years … SRU drops to 17-4 all-time as a top-5 ranked team … SRU is hoping to qualify for the NCAA Playoffs for the fifth straight season … entering this year, SRU was tied for the third-longest active streak of playoff appearances in Division II … SRU scored its lowest output in a game in more than a decade dating back to a 3-point effort on Oct. 16, 2010 against Cal (Pa.) ... Cohen Russell extended his streak of games with at least one catch to 24 straight games … Kyle Sheets caught three passes for 31 yards and one TD to bring his season total to 1,028 yards, making him the 10th player in SRU history to reach 1,028 yards in a season … his 15 TD catches are tied for No. 2 all-time at SRU.



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