2024 Rock Football Schedule

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team was ranked 10th in the preseason Division II national poll published in the annual Lindy's Sports College Football Preview magazine that is available on newsstands now. Tight end Kam Kruzelyak and cornerback Josh Stokes were named to Preseason All-America honors and running back Idris Lawrence was named the "Newcomer of the Year."
 
Slippery Rock has been ranked in the Lindy's Sports preseason poll in every year since 2019 and cracked the top 10 this year after finishing the 2023 season ranked No. 10 in the American Football Coaches Association national poll. The Rock were one of just 12 teams in Division II to be ranked in every poll released in 2023 and finished the year with a 12-2 overall record and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals.
 
SRU enters the 2024 season with hopes of earning a sixth straight trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Rock enter the year tied with Colorado School of Mines for the second longest active streak of playoff appearances in the nation.
 
Defending national champion Harding sits atop the Lindy's Sports poll, followed by Central Missouri, Pittsburg State, Ferris State and Valdosta State. Colorado School of Mines is No. 6 with Grand Valley State, Central Washington, Kutztown and Slippery Rock rounding out the top 10.
 
Kutztown and Slippery Rock are the only two schools from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference to be mentioned in the poll. Charleston from the Mountain East Conference comes in at No. 21 to round out the three total teams from Super Region One that are mentioned.
 
The Rock landed two players on the Preseason All-America team with Kruzelyak and Stokes both being picked to second team honors.
 
Kruzelyak was a first team All-PSAC and All-Region honoree last fall before also picking up All-America honors from the Don Hansen Football Gazette. He caught 46 passes for 465 yards and four touchdowns last fall, averaging 35.8 yards per game. He also played a major role in blocking for a run game that averaged 185.0 yards per game and racked up 42 touchdowns on the ground.
 
Stokes was left off the All-PSAC team despite leading the PSAC West in interceptions, but made up for that snub when he was named to multiple All-America teams and picked up a first team All-Region nod as well. He finished the 2023 season with five interceptions and 11 pass breakups while ranking third on the SRU roster with 82 total tackles, including a team-high 52 solo stops.
 
Slippery Rock also took home one of the four major award recognitions in the magazine with incoming running back Idris Lawrence being named the "Newcomer of the Year." Lawrence will play his final season of eligibility at The Rock after the closure of Notre Dame College (Ohio), where he was a standout for three seasons. Last fall, Lawrence was a first team All-MEC selection after rushing for 1,145 yards in just nine games, averaging 6.1 yards per carry. In three seasons at the Division II level, Lawrence has racked up 3,042 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns. In 30 career games, he is averaging 5.8 yards per carry and 101.4 yards per game.
 
Lawrence will join a potent offense captained by quarterback Brayden Long, who returns this fall after finishing fifth in the final voting for the 2023 Harlon Hill Trophy as the Division II Player of the Year. Long was the PSAC and Super Region One Athlete of the Year in 2023 after throwing for 3,808 yards with 35 touchdowns and just six interceptions while completing 69.3 percent of his passes.
 
Slippery Rock returns 33 players on the offensive side of the ball including six starters from 2023. The biggest question mark for the offense will be how quickly the new offensive line can come together after The Rock graduated four All-PSAC linemen following the 2023 season.
 
The defense is much more experienced with 33 players returning, including nine starters from last fall. That group includes Stokes and All-American safety Eddie Faulkner IV, as well as All-PSAC defensive tackle Munchie Johnson.
 
Slippery Rock will play a tough schedule in 2024 and will open with back-to-back games against teams that made the NCAA Playoffs in 2023. The Rock will host Northeast-10 Conference champion New Haven in the opener Sept. 7 and will then travel to PSAC East power Shepherd Sept. 14. The Rock will open PSAC West play at home Sept. 28 against Edinboro before traveling to IUP in week five, giving SRU three opponents in the first five weeks that have been annual contenders for NCAA Playoff berths in recent years.
 
The Rock will play just 10 regular season games after the unexpected departure of Mercyhurst from the PSAC left an opening Oct. 26. SRU will host five games with New Haven (Sept. 7 – Hall of Fame), Edinboro (Sept. 28 – VillageFest), Gannon (Oct. 12 – Homecoming), Seton Hill (Nov. 9 – Senior Day) and Bloomsburg (Nov. 16 – or PSAC title game) set to be the five home opponents. The road games will be played Sept. 14 at Shepherd, Sept. 21 at Shippensburg, Oct. 5 at IUP, Oct. 19 at Cal (Pa.) and Oct. 31 at Clarion with The Rock and Golden Eagles set to meet on a rare late-season Thursday evening in Clarion. The full 2024 season schedule is available HERE. Season ticket and parking packages and single-game tickets will go on sale later this summer.
 
LINDY'S SPORTS PRESEASON TOP 25
1. Harding
2. Central Missouri
3. Pittsburg State
4. Ferris State
5. Valdosta State
6. Colorado Mines
7. Grand Valley State
8. Central Washington
9. Kutztown
10. Slippery Rock
11. Minnesota State
12. Lenoir-Rhyne
13. West Florida
14. Virginia Union
15. Indianapolis
16. Western Colorado
17. Ouachita Baptist
18. Augustana
19. Texas-Permian Basin
20. Minnesota Duluth
21. Charleston (W.Va.)
22. Henderson State
23. Northwest Missouri State
24. Delta State
25. Benedict




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