Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team will travel to California (Pa.) Saturday for a 3 p.m. kickoff that will decide sole possession of first place in the PSAC West.
 
Below you will find all pertinent information regarding tickets, parking, facility info and live coverage, along with complete game notes.
 

Week 7: Slippery Rock at California (Pa.)
The Rock (6-0, 3-0)	Cal Vulcans (5-1, 3-0)
Complete Game Notes (PDF)	-
Depth Chart	Depth Chart
Roster	Roster
Schedule	Schedule
Statistics	Statistics
Coach: Shawn Lutz	Coach: Gary Dunn
Program Records	Program Records
PSAC Standings  |  PSAC Stats Leaders  |  PSAC Schedule

 
LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE
• Live Stats  |  Provided by Cal Sports Information
• Live Streaming Video  |  Provided by Cal Student TV
• Live Audio (Online and Radio)  |  Provided by The Rock Station 97.7 FM (Butler County).
• X (formerly Twitter)  |  In-game updates and highlights.
 
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. All 10 regular season SRU football games will be available on the app.
* This game will be produced by Cal's student TV station. The game will be simulcast on the PSAC and Rock Athletics Digital Networks.
 
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
• No presale tickets. Cash or card accepted at the gates on game day.
• General Admission - $10
• Students - $5
• Children 12 and Under - FREE

 PARKING / FACILITY INFO
• Adamson Stadium
• Address: 170 California Road, Brownsville, PA 15417
• Parking is $5 per car (CASH ONLY!)
 

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THE GAME
Sole possession of first place in the PSAC West is on the line when No. 6 Slippery Rock travels to California (Pa.) Saturday for a 3 p.m. kickoff on Homecoming at Adamson Stadium.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES  |  Game-by-Game Scores
Slippery Rock owns a 52-33-3 advantage in the all-time series that dates all the way back to 1905. The Rock have won six straight games in the series and are 10-2 in the last 12 meetings. This will mark the fifth straight year and the 15th time in the last 17 meetings that at least one of the two teams is nationally ranked at the time of this game. SRU has lost just once against an unranked Cal team since 2006 with a 48-26 loss on the road in 2014.
 
• First Meeting: 1905 (CAL won 53-0)
• Last Meeting: 2023 (SRU won 42-21)
• Current Streak: Slippery Rock +6
• at CAL: SRU leads 21-20-2
• at SRU: SRU leads 31-13-1
• Most Points Scored (CAL): 53 (1905)
• Biggest Win Margin (CAL): 53 (1905)
• Most Points Scored (SRU): 81 (1915)
• Biggest Win Margin (SRU): 81 (1915)
• Last SRU Win: 2023 at SRU (42-21)
 
COACHING MATCHUP
Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz is in his 29th overall year at The Rock and his ninth year (eighth season) as head coach, where he owns a 76-19 record with five PSAC West titles and five trips to the NCAA playoffs. Lutz was the PSAC West Coach of the Year in 2018, 2019 and 2023 and was the Don Hansen Football Gazette Division II National Coach of the Year in 2019. The 76 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 has been a member of the coaching staff for 13 of SRU's 20 PSAC West titles. Lutz 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 ninth year (eighth season) as the head coach at his Alma Mater, where he owns an impressive 61-22 record. Dunn, who played for the Vulcans from 1991-94 before embarking on his coaching career, has led Cal to a winning record in every year he has been head coach. He guided the Vulcans to two NCAA Playoff appearances in 2017 and 2018. 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.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock held steady at No. 6 in the AFCA Division II national rankings this week. The Rock also moved up one place to No. 7 in the D2football.com media poll this week. Both national polls are available on page nine of the PDF notes linked above.
 
CAL QUICK HITS
• Cal was picked to finish second in the PSAC West in the preseason coaches poll.
• The Vulcans have won five straight games after opening the year with a 23-19 loss on the road at Charleston, which is now 6-0 and up to No. 13 in the national poll.
• This will be just the second home game for Cal this season after the Vulcans played on the road in five of the first six weeks.
• Cal is coming off back-to-back one-possession wins over Clarion (31-27) and Seton Hill (28-21) the last two weeks. The Vulcans also beat Lock Haven 27-20. Four of their six games have been close games decided by one possession scores.
• Cal is scoring 32.0 points per game and putting up 414.0 yards of offense per game with 269.8 passing yards and 144.2 rushing yards per game. Opponents score 21.0 points per game and average 318.8 yards of offense with 208.2 passing yards and 110.7 rushing yards.
• QB Davis Black leads the PSAC West in passing yards and TDs with 1,576 yards and 13 TD passes to go along with three INT. He has also rushed for four TD.
• RB Bobby Boyd Jr. has 440 yards and five TD and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
• WR Eric Willis III is one of the most dynamic players in the PSAC and leads the team with 37 catches for 520 yards with four TD.
• PK Anthony Beitko is one of the top kickers in Division II and is a perfect 6-for-6 on FG attempts this year.
• Cal has racked up 15 sacks on the year with Armani Caraballo leading the way with 4.0 sacks and 5.0 TFL. Khalil Taylor is the top tackler with 37 stops and Rashan Murray leads the PSAC West with 11 passes defended with nine pass breakups and two interceptions.
 
SRU IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS
SRU has been ranked in every national poll since the final poll of the 2018 season was released. This week's game will be the 60th straight game SRU plays as a ranked team. The Rock have appeared in the top 10 in the national rankings for at least one week in each of the last five seasons and have earned a top 10 ranking in seven of the last eight complete seasons.
 
SINGLE-DIGIT RANKINGS
Slippery Rock has reached a single-digit ranking in seven of the last eight seasons and is a season-high No. 6 for the second week in a row. The Rock were ranked as high as No. 4 last season. The highest ranking in program history was a No. 2 ranking in 1999. SRU has been ranked in the single digits in 15 different seasons since 1962.
 
13 UNBEATEN TEAMS LEFT
Slippery Rock is one of just 13 Division II teams that remain undefeated entering this week. Four of the 13 teams reside in Super Region One with Slippery Rock (6-0) and Kutztown (6-0) representing the PSAC and Frostburg State (6-0) and Charleston (6-0) representing the Mountain East Conference. Frostburg and Charleston play each other this week.
 
HOMECOMING TRIO
This week marks the third Homecoming game SRU will play in during a stretch of three straight weeks. The Rock took down IUP on its Homecoming two weeks ago, won their own Homecoming game against Gannon last week and now travels to California (Pa.) for the Vulcans' Homecoming.
 
THIRD YEAR IN A ROW SRU AND CAL PLAY ON HOMECOMING
This week's game will mark the third year in a row these two teams will meet in a Homecoming game. They played last year on Slippery Rock's Homecoming (42-21 SRU win) and played in 2022 on Cal's Homecoming (42-24 SRU win). These teams are meeting on one of their respective Homecomings for the seventh time in the last 16 seasons. SRU has won the last three Homecoming meetings between the teams with the most recent Cal win coming at its 2014 Homecoming game.  
 
REGULAR SEASON ROAD WARRIORS
The Rock have lost only one regular season road game in the last four plus seasons dating back to the beginning of the 2019 season. That lone loss came in week five of the 2022 season at Indiana (Pa.). Other than that, SRU's only road losses in the last five years have either been in the PSAC Championship game or the NCAA Playoffs. The Rock are 21-1 on the road in weeks 1-10 dating back to 2019.
 
REGULAR SEASON WINNING STREAK
Slippery Rock enters this week with the second longest active regular season winning streak in Division II and the sixth-longest streak among all levels of NCAA football. The Rock have won 16 straight games in the regular season, which does not count conference championship and NCAA postseason games. The only Division II team in the country with a longer streak is Harding, which has now won 21 straight. The only Division I team with a longer streak is FBS school Liberty at 17 straight. The top five ahead of SRU are D3 Mount Union (69), D3 North Central (41), D2 Harding (21), D3 DePauw (19) and D1 FBS Liberty (17). The Rock are tied with D3 Grove City, located just eight miles from SRU, for the sixth longest active streak with 16 straight regular season wins.
 
LOOKING FOR FIFTH 7-0 START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Slippery Rock is 6-0 for the fourth time in the last five seasons. The Rock are looking for a 7-0 start for the third time in the last five seasons and just the fifth time in program history. SRU won its first 10 games last fall, a program record 13 straight games to open the 2019 season and finished both the 1939 (8-0) and 1924 (9-0) seasons undefeated. The Rock's dominant teams of the late 90s never went 7-0 to open a season because they opened week one with losses to Division I teams.
 
LAST MEETING WITH CAL – OCT. 21, 2023
Cal took a 13-7 lead midway through the second quarter before No. 7 Slippery Rock scored 35 straight points to pull away for a 42-21 win in The Rock's Homecoming game last year. SRU put up 532 yards of total offense with 299 passing yards and 233 rushing yards while limiting Cal to 226 yards of total offense with 102 passing yards and 124 rushing yards. The Vulcans turned the ball over four times with three interceptions and one lost fumble. Brayden Long threw for 299 yards with one TD and no INT while also rushing for a score. SRU had a trio of running backs with one TD, including Chris D'Or, who ran for 95 yards on just 11 carries. SRU also scored on defense with Jalen Dangerfield returning an interception for a TD. Cal QB Davis Black completed 7-of-22 passes for 102 yards with three interceptions while also rushing for three TD. Eric McKan III rushed for 99 yards. Eric Willis III had a team-high three catches for 16 yards.
 
LAST WEEK FOR CAL
Bobby Boyd Jr. broke free for a 23-yard touchdown run with 14 seconds left to lift Cal to a 28-21 win on the road at Seton Hill last week. The Vulcans posted a 355-314 edge in total offense with 251 passing yards and 104 rushing yards. Seton Hill threw for 149 yards and ran for 165 yards. Davis Black completed 20-of-31 passes for 251 yards with two TD and one INT. Boyd ran for 72 yards and two scores on 17 carries and Eric Willis III caught eight passes for 134 yards and two TD, including a 75-yard score, on the way to being named PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Week.
 
LAST WEEK FOR SLIPPERY ROCK
Slippery Rock scored touchdowns on its first five offensive possessions and didn't punt a single time on the way to a 35-17 win over Gannon last week on Homecoming. The Rock put together three touchdown drives of 73 yards or longer, including a 99-yard drive to open the scoring. SRU posted a 448-286 edge in total offense with 319 passing yards and 129 rushing yards. Brayden Long threw for 319 yards with three passing TD and one rushing TD to go along with no interceptions and no sacks. Chris D'Or ran for 78 yards on just 10 carries and Idris Lawrence rushed for a touchdown. Logan Ramper, Mike Solomon and JayJay Jordan all caught TD passes and Teddy Gregory Jr. paced the defense with 10 tackles.
 
KINGS OF THE WEST
The Rock have now won 15 straight PSAC West games and have lost just two divisional games since Oct. 21, 2017, going 38-2 against the Division since then, including 36-2 since the beginning of 2018 with five straight PSAC West titles. The Rock have won or at least shared nine of the 12 PSAC West titles dating back to 2011, easily leading all programs in the Division. SRU head coach Shawn Lutz is 41-4 against the PSAC West since 2017 and 44-8 against the Division in his career as head coach.
 
NO SACKS AGAIN
Slippery Rock did not allow a sack last week against Gannon and has now gone three straight games without allowing a sack. SRU has given up just two total sacks this year and both were in a week three win at Shippensburg. The Rock have gone five of their six games this year without allowing a sack.
 
NO TURNOVERS AGAIN
Slippery Rock won the turnover battle for the fourth time in six games last week and did not turn the ball over at all for the third time in six games. SRU has turned it over just five total times in six games while coming up with 12 takeaways.
 
RAMPER MAKES RETURN TO LINEUP
WR Logan Ramper was the top returning receiver from last season, but did not dress the first four games this fall and played only one snap in week five at IUP while returning from a preseason injury. Ramper saw his first serious action of the season last week and made an immediate impact, catching a 21-yard TD pass and finishing with three catches for 43 yards. Ramper, at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds, immediately made SRU more dynamic in the passing game with his return.
 
JAYJAY WANTS TO PLAY
RB JayJay Jordan transferred in from Wilkes after last fall with the goal of becoming The Rock's starting running back for the future. With the addition of Idris Lawrence over the summer, SRU initially planned to redshirt Jordan to save a year of eligibility. That plan changed as SRU began looking for ways to get more explosive on offense entering week five. Jordan agreed to burn that redshirt and his impact has been immediate. He has played both in the backfield and in the slot and caught his first TD at SRU last week with a 44-yard deep ball over the top. Jordan has also rushed for 22 yards and 7.3 yards per carry on just three carries and is expected to play a bigger role in the offense moving forward.
 
NO PUNTS
Slippery Rock did not punt the ball a single time last week against Gannon, marking the first time all season SRU has not punted once in a game.
 
NO FIELD GOALS
Slippery Rock has gone three straight weeks without a made field goal after opening the year 3-for-3 on the first three attempts. The Rock officially had no attempts last week because Gannon took a penalty on a field goal attempt that was blocked and SRU decided to go for it on fourth down after the penalty. Since opening the year 3-for-3, The Rock have gone 1-for-4 over the last four weeks in field goal attempts and have not officially attempted a field goal since a 37-yard miss against Edinboro three weeks ago.
 
10+ TACKLES TWO WEEKS IN A ROW FOR GREGORY
Redshirt freshman LB Teddy Gregory Jr. had 10 tackles last week and has now put together back-to-back games with at least 10 stops. In just his first season of collegiate football, Gregory finds himself leading SRU in total tackles (43) and solo tackles (22).
 
OFFENSE LIMITING NEGATIVE PLAYS
SRU enters this week ranked third in the nation in fewest sacks allowed (0.33 per game), fifth in the nation in fewest interceptions thrown (1), sixth in the nation in fewest tackles for loss allowed (3.5 per game) and 15th in the nation in fewest turnovers lost (5).
 
OFFENSIVE LINE GETTING THE JOB DONE
The new-look offensive line was the biggest question mark entering this year with four new starters and only LT Joe Cooper returning from 2023. That group, which includes Cooper (LT) and new starters Marshall Futrell (LG), Cade Cameron (C), Luke Pugliese (RG) and Nathan Waltman (RT) has answered the call in a big way, allowing just two total sacks through six games.
 
ROCK RUSHERS LEADING PSAC WEST
Slippery Rock's RB duo of Idris Lawrence and Chris D'Or rank first and second in the PSAC West in average yards per carry this season with Lawrence averaging 5.8 yards per carry and D'Or averaging 5.4 yards per carry. No other running backs in the PSAC West are averaging above 4.8 yards per carry.
 
SOLOMON LEADS PSAC IN TD GRABS
Mike Solomon enters this weekend tied for first in the PSAC with five TD catches on the year. Solomon has 12 total catches for 163 yards, giving him a TD grab on 42 percent of all his catches.  
 
HILL LEADS PSAC
DE Todd Hill enters this week ranked first in the PSAC in tackles for loss (10.0) and tackles for loss per game (1.67) while also ranking first in the PSAC in sacks (5.5) and sacks per game (0.92.). He ranks seventh nationally in sacks per game and 15th nationally in tackles for loss per game.
 
MUNCHIE MOVING UP SRU LISTS
DT Munchie Johnson started his 45th straight game last week and tallied 2.0 tackles for loss, moving him up to No. 13 all-time at SRU with 35.0 career tackles for loss.
 
JOHNSON CLOSING IN ON 50 STARTS
Munchie Johnson's 45 starts are the most by any player currently playing in the PSAC. Johnson ranks 10th among all active players in Division II in career games played and ranks second among all active defensive linemen in Division II for the most career games played, trailing only the 47 by Lenoir-Rhyne defensive tackle Andre Jefferson.
 
INSIDE-OUTSIDE COMBO ON DEFENSIVE LINE
The duo of DE Todd Hill and DT Munchie Johnson have combined for 68 tackles, 17.5 TFL, 8.5 sacks and 10 QB hurries through six games.
 
STOKES CLIMBING PASSES DEFENDED LIST
CB Josh Stokes enters this week ranked third in the PSAC in passes defended with eight. All eight of those are pass breakups as Stokes has yet to grab an interception this year. He enters this week with 28 career passes defended, needing three more to crack the all-time top 10 at SRU.
 
MOST ACCURATE PASSER IN SRU HISTORY
QB Brayden Long ranks first in SRU program history in completion percentage at 67.8 percent, completing 460-of-678 passes for 5,347 yards with 48 TD and just seven INT. He also ranks No. 2 among every current active QB in Division II with only 2023 Harlon Hill Trophy winner Zach Zebrowski from Central Missouri owning a higher career completion percentage, by one-tenth of a percent (67.9%).
 
LONG AS A STARTER
Brayden Long is 18-3 as the SRU starting QB with all three losses coming against Kutztown, including his first career start in 2022 and two games in 2023. He is a perfect 18-0 against every other team he has faced and is a perfect 10-0 in PSAC West games.
 
LONG'S CAREER RANKS
QB Brayden Long ranks No. 1 at SRU in completion percentage (67.8%), No. 4 in completions (460), No. 4 in passing TD (48), No. 4 in passing yards (5,347), No. 4 in passing attempts (678) and No. 5 in total offense (5,473).
 
RUNNING BACK TANDEM
Slippery Rock's running back duo of Chris D'Or and Idris Lawrence have combined for 851 rushing yards and 177 receiving yards through the first five weeks, accounting for 171.3 yards of offense per game. Lawrence is averaging 5.8 yards per carry on 71 touches with D'Or averaging 5.4 yards per carry on 82 touches. They both rank in the top eight in the PSAC in total rushing yards this year with D'Or ranked No. 5 at 439 yards and Lawrence ranked No. 8 at 412 yards. They are both averaging well above 5.0 yards per carry for their entire careers and have combined for 5,768 rushing yards at the Division II level.
 
LAWRENCE FIFTH AMONG ALL D2 BACKS
RB Idris Lawrence enters this game with 3,470 career rushing yards, which ranks fifth among all active players in Division II and first among all active players in the PSAC. Lawrence is averaging 98.9 rushing yards per game over 35 career games, which ranks fifth among all players in Division II.  His 5.8 yards per carry over 597 touches ranks 10th best in Division II.
 
D'OR CLOSING IN ON 2,500/3,500 CLUB
RB Chris D'Or comes into this week with 2,298 rushing yards and 3,442 career all-purpose yards. He needs 373 more rushing yards to crack the all-time top 10 at SRU and 235 more all-purpose yards to crack the top 10 in that category. D'Or can become the eighth player in SRU history with 2,500 rushing yards and 3,500 all-purpose yards with 202 more rushing yards and 58 more all-purpose yards.
 
KRUZELYAK PASS CATCHING STREAK
TE Kam Kruzelyak has caught at least one pass in 18 straight games and has multiple catches in 16 straight games. He ranked third on the team in catches with 46 grabs for 465 yards in 2023 and is second on the team with 22 catches for 195 yards and two scores this year.
 
McCLURE HAS CAREER-HIGH
WR Xander McClure grabbed three passes for a career-high 66 yards last week, which included a 44-yard highlight reel play where he spun away from multiple tackles. McClure has increased his receiving yards in each of the last three weeks and now has 170 yards on 12 catches this season with at least one catch in every game.
 
WILSON A DYNAMIC PLAYMAKER
Despite being just six games into his sophomore season, WR Kylon Wilson is already up to No. 4 all-time in SRU history with 1,176 career kickoff return yards. He is also finding his groove as a pass catcher and has at least six catches and 77 or more yards in three straight games. He leads SRU in all-purpose yardage with 707 yards this year for an average of 117.8 yards per game.
 
KANYE CAN RUN WITH IT
DB Kanye Thompson has stepped into the punt return role and given SRU a spark the last two weeks. He had a 37-yard return at IUP that set up a TD drive and had a 31-yard return last week against Gannon to set up another TD drive. Thompson, who is the fastest man in the PSAC in the last two decades, is in his first season with an increased role on the football roster. He was dominant on the track in 2024 when he won PSAC titles indoor in the 60-meter dash and outdoor in the 100-meter dash, setting a new SRU record with a time of 10.27 seconds in the 100m. That time is the second-fastest 100m time in PSAC history.
 
UNDEFEATED WITH A TOUGH SCHEDULE
Slippery Rock's strength of schedule entering this week is .571 when counting the win-loss records of all six opponents so far. When combined with The Rock's winning percentage (1.000), SRU currently owns the second-highest overall win percent plus strength of schedule in the entire region at 1.571. Only Kutztown at 1.586 is better. Slippery Rock is the only team in Super Region One with at least three wins over teams above .500 so far (3-0 with wins over New Haven, Shepherd, IUP) and is one of just three teams in the region that is undefeated against teams above .500 (Kutztown and Charleston are 2-0).
 
LONG DRIVES AND POSSESSION
SRU is averaging just shy of five minutes more per game of possession time than its opponents (32:21 to 27:39). That time of possession advantage has been in part thanks to SRU's ability to put together long, sustained drives. SRU has put together 11 drives that lasted more than five minutes and seven drives that lasted longer than six minutes so far in 2024, including two drives of 8:59 or longer and two TD drives that went 99 yards.
 
WE'VE PLAYED A LOT OF FOOTBALL
Slippery Rock has played 73 games since the beginning of the 2018 season, which is the most games played among all Super Region One schools. The Rock are averaging an impressive 11.0 wins per year over the last five full seasons.
 
CAPTAINS
SRU has named six captains for the 2024 season with two on offense, three on defense and one on special teams. The offensive captains are QB Brayden Long and TE Kam Kruzelyak. The defensive captains are DT Munchie Johnson, DB Eddie Faulkner IV and DB Josh Stokes. The special teams captain is LS Josh George. Long, Kruzelyak and Johnson are all two-time captains after serving as captains in 2022 as well.
 
PRESEASON RECOGNITION
Slippery Rock was ranked No. 10 in the Lindy's Sports preseason poll that was released earlier this summer. The Rock had three individual players mentioned in that publication with tight end Kam Kruzelyak and cornerback Josh Stokes being named preseason All-Americans and Notre Dame (Ohio) transfer running back Idris Lawrence being named the "Newcomer of the Year." SRU also led all schools in the region with four players named to the D2football.com Elite 100 Watch List with QB Brayden Long, RB Idris Lawrence, WR Rashawn Harvey and DB Josh Stokes earning recognition.
 
PLAYOFF STAPLES
Slippery Rock has reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs in each of the last five seasons and has made a playoff appearance in eight of the last 10 seasons. The Rock reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 2018, made the national semifinals in 2019, reached the first round in 2021, made the second round in 2022 and reached the quarterfinals in 2023. Slippery Rock's current streak of five straight trips to the playoffs is tied with Colorado School of Mines for the second-longest active streak among all Division II programs, trailing only Ferris State (9) for the longest active playoff streak in the country.
 
WINNING SEASONS STREAK
Slippery Rock has put together a winning season in each of the last 14 years, which ranks ninth among all Division II programs for the longest active winning seasons streak in the country. The only other program in the PSAC with more consecutive winning seasons currently is California (Pa.), which has strung together 19 winning seasons entering 2024. The Rock are already guaranteed to extend that streak.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock will have a rare bye week next week. The team was originally scheduled to play at home against Mercyhurst, but lost that game when the Lakers decided to leave the PSAC and Division II before this season started. SRU will return to action with a Thursday night game Oct. 31 on the road at Clarion with kickoff set for 6 p.m.




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