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LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The reigning Super Region One champion Slippery Rock University football team was picked to win the Western Division title when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll was announced Thursday.
 
The Rock received four of the six other first place votes available from the division's head coaches to sit atop the Western Division poll. Indiana (Pa.) earned three first place votes to rank second in the poll, followed by defending division champion California (Pa.) in third place. Gannon rounded out the top four with Seton Hill, Edinboro and Clarion rounding out the rest of the poll.
 
"It's nice to see the preseason polls because it means we are getting closer to the season," said head coach Shawn Lutz. "We know this poll and the preseason national polls are based on what our team did last year. We know this team is a very different team and we have our work cut out for us, but our goals in this program never change. We want to compete for a national title and the guys in our locker room are excited to get to work next week."
 
Defending PSAC champion Kutztown was picked to win the Eastern Division with all seven of the other first place votes available. East Stroudsburg was picked second and earned the one first place vote from Kutztown as teams cannot vote for themselves. West Chester was selected third with Shepherd rounding out the top four. Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, Shippensburg and Millersville filled out the rest of the Eastern Division poll.
 
Slippery Rock enters the 2025 season looking for a sixth PSAC West title in the last seven seasons and a seventh straight appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Rock went 12-2 in each of the last two seasons and have reached at least the national quarterfinals in each year. SRU won the 2024 Super Region One title before coming up just short 48-38 on the road at national champion Ferris State in the semifinals.
 
SRU has put together 15 consecutive winning seasons, which ranks ninth among all active streaks in Division II entering this fall. The Rock own the second longest active playoff streak (6) among all teams in the country, trailing only Ferris State (10).
 
Slippery Rock will open the 2025 season with a 10-hour road trip to New Hampshire for a Friday evening game Sept. 5 at Franklin Pierce University. The Rock then return home for three straight Saturday night games Sept. 13, Sept. 20 and Sept. 27 to close out the opening month of the season.
 
The full PSAC Preseason Coaches Poll and some brief notes about The Rock football team heading into the 2025 season can be found below and in the quick facts document linked above.
 
PSAC WEST PRESEASON COACHES POLL (1st place votes)
1. SLIPPERY ROCK (4)
2. Indiana (Pa.) (3)
3. California (Pa.)
4. Gannon
5. Seton Hill
6. Edinboro
7. Clarion
 
PSAC EAST PRESEASON COACHES POLL (1st place votes)
1. Kutztown (7)
2. East Stroudsburg (1)
3. West Chester
4. Shepherd
5. Bloomsburg
6. Lock Haven
7. Shippensburg
8. Millersville
 
LUTZ SET FOR 30TH YEAR AT THE ROCK
Shawn Lutz enters his 30th overall year at Slippery Rock and his 10th year (ninth season of competition due to COVID) as head coach in 2025. In eight seasons in charge of the program, Lutz owns an 82-21 overall record with six trips to the NCAA Playoffs, five PSAC West titles, four trips to at least the national quarterfinals and two appearances in the national semifinals. The 82 wins are the most among all PSAC head coaches over the last eight seasons.
 
BACK-TO-BACK 12-WIN SEASONS
Slippery Rock is coming off a 12-2 overall record in 2024 after also going 12-2 in 2023. The Rock have won at least 12 games four times in the last 10 seasons and three times in the last six seasons. 
 
PSAC WEST DOMINANCE
Slippery Rock has lost just three PSAC Western Division games since Oct. 21, 2017 and is 40-3 against the Division since then, including 38-3 in the last six full seasons with five PSAC West titles over that stretch. The Rock have won or at least shared nine of the 13 PSAC West titles dating back to 2011, easily leading all programs in the Division. SRU head coach Shawn Lutz is 43-5 against the PSAC West in the last seven seasons and 46-9 against the Division in his career as head coach.
 
DEFENDING SUPER REGION ONE CHAMPS
Slippery Rock is the defending Super Region One champion after winning the region as the No. 4 seed last fall. The Rock opened the playoffs with a 14-7 win at home against unseeded New Haven before upsetting No. 1 seed and undefeated Kutztown, 25-24 in overtime, on the road in the second round of the playoffs. It marked the second straight year SRU has knocked off the undefeated No. 1 seed in the second round after also upsetting Tiffin in 2023. The Rock then avenged their only regular season loss with a 31-13 win on the road at California (Pa.) in the national quarterfinals to win their second Super Region One title since 2019. SRU then gave national champion Ferris State its only real challenge of the postseason, leading on the road for more than three quarters before falling 48-38 in the national semifinals.
 
PLAYOFF STAPLES
Slippery Rock has reached the NCAA Division II Playoffs in each of the last six seasons and has made a playoff appearance in nine of the last 11 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, reached the quarterfinals in 2023 and made the semifinals again in 2024. Slippery Rock's current streak of six straight trips to the playoffs is the second-longest active streak among all Division II programs, trailing only Ferris State (10) for the longest active playoff streak.
 
WINNING SEASONS STREAK
Slippery Rock has put together a winning season in each of the last 15 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 20 winning seasons entering 2025.
 
RANKED FOR A LONG TIME
Slippery Rock has appeared in every weekly national poll released by the American Football Coaches Association since the final rankings of the 2018 season, a streak that stretches more than five full years. The Rock closed the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in the final national poll, marking the highest postseason ranking in program history. The AFCA preseason poll has not been released yet, but The Rock were ranked No. 3 in the Lindy's Sports College Football Preview Magazine that was released this summer.
 
NEW OPPONENT FOR OPENER
After New Haven made an abrupt announcement that it would move to Division I this year, Slippery Rock amended its 2025 season opener and will now play on the road at Franklin Pierce University on Friday evening, Sept. 5. It will mark the first meeting for the two schools in the sport of football and The Rock's first road game in the state of New Hampshire. The Ravens went 5-5 in 2024 and closed the season with a win over traditional Northeast 10 power Assumption. FPU has only fielded a Division II football team since 2019 with the five wins in 2024 marking the most in program history.
 
FOUR NIGHT GAMES TO OPEN SEASON
Slippery Rock will open the season with four straight 6 p.m. kickoffs, including a road game to open the year and three straight home games in weeks 2-4. The Rock have won their last 34 consecutive games that started at 4 p.m. or later and have not lost a night game at home or on the road since Sept. 29, 2012. SRU has won its last seven road night games and has not lost a night game on the road since Sept. 19, 2009. The Rock are 35-1 at home in night games since 2010 and have won 27 straight home night games since 2012. SRU is 46-9 all-time in home night games since lights were installed at Mihalik-Thompson stadium in 2003.
 
NEW QB WEEK ONE
Slippery Rock will have to replace two-time Harlon Hill finalist Brayden Long, who is now coaching at Shippensburg after graduating from SRU. The Rock enter camp with senior Northern State transfer Anthony Vespo taking the No. 1 reps. Vespo will be pushed by redshirt freshman and former All-Ohio standout DaOne Owens, who is expected to see packages in 2025. The QB competition also includes the duo that backed up Long in 2024 with David Bahm and Demeatric Crenshaw both returning, along with veteran Brad Hoffman, giving SRU one of its deepest QB rooms in recent years.
 
OFFENSIVE LINE
All-American left tackle Joe Cooper and right guard Luke Pugliese return after starting every game last year. Cooper is an NFL prospect entering the season and was one of just 10 Division II players named to the East-West Shrine Bowl watchlist entering the season. The Rock added two transfers with Division II starting experience in Matthew Prudhomme (New Haven) and Dominic Clifford (Pace), who join returners Jake Jonassen and Eli Podgorski as frontrunners for playing time on the offensive line.
 
OFFENSIVE SKILL POSITIONS
The week one offense won't include any skill positions starters from the national semifinals, either due to graduation or the transfer portal. All three of SRU's top receivers transferred to Division I schools, including graduate student Logan Ramper, who went to the Power 4 level at WVU. The Rock also lost two highly productive running backs and one of the best tight ends in the country with Chris D'Or, Idris Lawrence and Kam Kruzelyak all graduating. Carson Heckathorn, who played significant minutes in 2024, is expected to take over the starting tight end role. Returning receivers Xander McClure, John Sabo and Latrell Sutton are expected to compete with transfers Reggie Fleurima (Northwestern) and Joseph White (Missouri Baptist) for key roles in the passing game. Returners JayJay Jordan, Quentin Harrison and Luke McCoy are expected to see significantly increased roles in the running game.
 
DEFENSIVE LINE
SRU officially returns just one starter from the defensive line last year in tackle Trever Valenti, but The Rock also return two week one starters from last year after Brian Young Jr. and Daniel Tooson were both injured in the 2024 opener and missed the rest of the season. SRU must replace a pair of All-Americans in Todd Hill, the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year and a national finalist for the Lineman of the Year last year, and Munchie Johnson, who started 53 straight games. A pair of transfers are expected to be a big part of that with first team All-PSAC East player Brett Kwoka coming over from Shepherd and NFL prospect Dylan Christley transferring in from Maricopa. Returners Mehki Twillie and Nick Frisco, along with redshirt freshman Jett Franz give SRU a deep defensive line rotation entering camp.
 
LINEBACKERS
Both primary starters in The Rock's 4-2-5 setup are back this year with All-PSAC honoree Jacob Snow and Teddy Gregory expected to start at linebacker. They'll be joined by WVU transfer Tyler Cain, returner Tyree Johnson, who started a trio of games in 2024, and Albany transfer Samuel Knipe to round out the linebacking depth.
 
SECONDARY
SRU lost a pair of All-Americans in Josh Stokes at corner and Eddie Faulkner IV at safety, but returns Academic All-American safety Michael Henwood and the fastest man in PSAC history in cornerback Kanye Thompson, who ran 10.1 seconds in the 100-meter dash last spring. They will be joined by Frostburg State transfer cornerback Anthony Smith, returning safety Ben Lane and University of Penn graduate transfer Grant Parker to headline a secondary unit that also welcomes back Kwalil Shepperson, Joshua Hayes and a group of hungry returners and redshirt freshmen who will compete for playing time.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
Slippery Rock lost its kicker, punter, longsnapper, holder and primary return specialist from a year ago. True freshman kicker Billy Lech, the WPIAL Kicker of the Year last fall, is expected to compete for a starting role right away. The Rock also return a trio of kickers with college experience, including Kevin Roberts, who was the primary placekicker in 2023. Kanye Thompson is expected to see an elevated role in the return game, along with several other skill position players that will get opportunities. Freshman Lucas Benson and returner Joseph Reed will compete for the longsnapping role.
 
FEATURED EVENTS ON THE SCHEDULE
The Rock will host just five home games during the regular season in 2025. The Sept. 13 season opener against Shepherd will be the annual Hall of Fame game with the SRU Hall of Fame Class of 2025 being inducted that weekend. The Sept. 13 game will also be the nightcap to the annual Slippery Rock VillageFest, with an all-day festival taking place in downtown Slippery Rock leading up to the game. The Sept. 20 game against Shippensburg will be the annual Salute to Military and First Responders game. Homecoming is set for Oct. 18 against Indiana (Pa.) and SRU will celebrate its senior class on Senior Day Nov. 1 against Clarion. The 2025 PSAC title game will take place Nov. 15 with the East Division winner hosting this fall.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Season ticket packages and season reserved parking renewals are on sale now (information available here). Single-game tickets and reserved parking will go on sale Monday, Aug. 11.'

PSAC NETWORK OFFERS FREE LIVE VIDEO
While many conferences in Division II have gone to a pay-per-view model in 2025, the PSAC and Slippery Rock will continue to offer fans free viewing of all PSAC mandated contests. Slippery Rock's only regular season game that will be behind a paywall will be the opener at Franklin Pierce, which will require a FloSports subscription to watch the game. The remaining nine regular season games will be available for free on the Rock Athletics Digital Network and the PSAC Sports Network. The Rock Athletics Digitial Network can be accessed on any web browser on any phone, tablet or computer and can also be accessed with any Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV or Android TV streaming devices. Simply visit the app stores on those devices and search for "Rock Athletics Digital Network" to download the application for free to enjoy live Rock football games on your connected TV. 

THE ROCK STATION TO CARRY ALL GAMES
Slippery Rock will continue its partnership with The Rock Station, 97.7 FM, with Bob Cupp and Glenn Thompson returning to call the action for all home and away games in 2025. Each live audio broadcast will be available for free online at 977rocks.com and over the air on 97.7 FM in Butler County. Each game will include a 15-20 minute pregame show with an interview with head coach Shawn Lutz. 





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