Complete Game Notes (PDF)
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The fourth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team will open the 2025 season Friday evening with a 6 p.m. kickoff on the road at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire.
Below you will find all pertinent information regarding tickets, parking and live coverage, along with complete game notes.
LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE
•
Live Stats | Provided by Franklin Pierce
•
Live Streaming Video | Provided by Franklin Pierce
•
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 this game on the FloSports apps.
• Search for "FloSports" in the app stores on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku devices to download the app. You will have to login to your FloSports subscription to watch the game.
* This game will be produced by Franklin Pierce
FLOSPORTS PAY-PER-VIEW GAME $$
Fans must have a FloSports subscription to watch this game and can only access the live video on the FloSports website linked above or the FloSports mobile or television apps. There are no single-game purchase options. Fans must subscribe for at least one month to be able to watch the game. Monthly subscriptions to FloSports are $19.99 per month or $107.88 per year. Discounts ($9.99 per month) are available to subscribers with .edu email addresses. Signup information available
HERE.
ONLY PAY-PER-VIEW GAME
This will be the only regular season game for Slippery Rock that is behind a paywall. Slippery Rock will not charge fans to view any home games and each of the remaining nine regular season games are scheduled to be available for free on the
Rock Athletics Digital Network and the PSAC Sports Digital Network, beginning Sept. 13 against Shepherd.
TICKETS
•
Purchase Tickets Online Here (game day walk-up sales also available)
• Adults - $10
• Children 12+ / Seniors 65+ - $5
• Children under 12 – FREE
PARKING / FACILITY INFO
• Sodexo Field – 40 University Drive, Rindge, N.H.
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Parking Info
THE GAME
No. 4 Slippery Rock will open the 2025 season on the road against a new opponent with a rare Friday night game at upstart Franklin Pierce, which enters just its sixth season of Division II football this fall.
ALL-TIME SERIES
This will mark the first meeting between the two schools in football.
SRU AGAINST THE NORTHEAST 10
This will mark the first-ever meeting between Slippery Rock and Franklin Pierce in the sport of football. Slippery Rock has won its last eight games against teams from the Northeast 10 and hasn't lost to a team from the NE10 since a 49-21 loss to No. 2 New Haven in the NCAA Playoffs in 1997. The Rock defeated Merrimack (former NE10 team that is now an FCS school) in 2010, New Haven in 2015, 2016, 2018 and twice in 2024 and Assumption in 2015 and 2022 in their last eight games against the NE10. This game will mark the first game against an NE10 team since SRU knocked 2024 NE10 champion New Haven out of the NCAA Playoffs in the first round last fall.
COACHING MATCHUP
Slippery Rock head coach
Shawn Lutz is in his 30th overall year at The Rock and his 10th year (ninth season) as head coach, where he owns an 82-21 record with nine straight winning seasons, five PSAC West titles and six 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 82 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.
Russell Gaskamp is in seventh year and sixth season as head coach at Franklin Pierce, where is the only coach in program history. Gaskamp was hired to launch the program at the NCAA Division II level prior to the 2019 season and has a record of 12-39 over the previous five seasons. He led the team to a program record five wins in 2024 and the first .500 season (5-5) in school history. Gaskamp also spent five seasons as head coach at Oklahoma Panhandle State from 2012-16, going 21-30. He is a 1999 graduate of the University of Texas, where he was an offensive lineman from 1994-98.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock closed the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in the AFCA Division II national poll and enters this season ranked No. 4 in the preseason national poll. The Rock also rank No. 9 in the D2football.com poll. Both national polls are available on page nine of the PDF notes linked above.
FIRST GAME IN NEW HAMPSHIRE
The season opener at Franklin Pierce will mark the first time Slippery Rock has played a game in the state of New Hampshire. The road trip is close to 10 hours by bus, so The Rock will leave two days early and depart SRU after practice Wednesday afternoon to cover half of the distance Wednesday night. The team will then practice Thursday on the way to New Hampshire.
HOW DID WE GET HERE
Slippery Rock was originally scheduled to open this season on the road at New Haven after playing the Chargers twice in 2024. New Haven made a late announcement in the spring that the school would move to the Division I level beginning this fall. With SRU only having 10 games already, playing New Haven would have meant only nine Division II games this year. The Rock elected to drop New Haven and find a 10th game against a Division II opponent, which opened up the chance to play Franklin Pierce for the first time ever.
FRANKLIN PIERCE QUICK HITS
• The Ravens are coming off the best season in a young program history with a 5-5 overall record last year that included a big win over Assumption and a close loss to NE10 champion New Haven.
• FPU boasted one of the top offenses in the NE10 last year, led by a passing attack that ranked first in the league at 293.6 passing yards per game.
• QB Adrian Parker was the NE10 Offensive Player of the Year last fall after throwing for 2,888 yards with 22 TD and just seven INT in 10 games while completing 62 percent of his passes.
• FPU used a running back committee a year ago with no players on the roster reaching 100 carries on the year.
• Austyn Howe is the top returning target in the pass game after catching 48 passes for 675 yards and seven TD in 2024.
• FPU scored 31.2 points per game and allowed 26.6 points in 2024. The Ravens offense put up 419.9 yards per game with 126.3 on the ground. Opponents went for 318.2 yards per game with just 85.6 rushing yards and 232.6 passing yards per game.
• FPU attempted just five field goals (1-for-5) in 2024, but still scored points on 34 of 40 trips to the red zone.
• LB Geno Facchetti returns to lead the defense after tallying 45 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks in 2024.
SRU QUICK 2024 RECAP
Slippery Rock won the 2024 Super Region One title and reached the national semifinals before finishing the year with a 12-2 overall record and a final national ranking of No. 3, which marked the highest postseason ranking in program history. The Rock fell 48-38 on the road at eventual national champion Ferris State in the semifinals, becoming the only team in the playoffs to give the Bulldogs a scare.
FPU QUICK 2024 RECAP
Franklin Pierce put together the best season in its short program history, going 5-5 overall and finishing a year with a .500 record for the first time ever. The Ravens had one of the top passing attacks in the country in just their fifth season of existence after beginning a Division II program in 2019. The Ravens were picked to finish third in the Northeast 10 Conference in the preseason coaches poll announced earlier this summer.
CAPTAINS
Slippery Rock has named four captains for the 2025 season with the team voting for two offensive players and two defensive players to serve as captains. The offensive captains are quarterback
Anthony Vespo and offensive tackle
Joe Cooper, while the defensive captains will be safety
Michael Henwood and linebacker
Jacob Snow.
15 STRAIGHT SEASON-OPENING WINS
Slippery Rock is looking to lock up a season-opening win for the 16th consecutive season. The last time SRU failed to win its first game of the season was back in 2008 on the road at Seton Hill. The Rock are 6-0 on the road and 9-0 at home over the last 15 season openers.
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 under head coach
Shawn Lutz.
PICKED ATOP THE PSAC WEST AGAIN
Slippery Rock was picked first in the PSAC West preseason coaches poll announced earlier this summer. Rivals Indiana (Pa.) and California (Pa.) were picked second and third. The Rock will host both of their biggest rivals at home this year with Cal visiting Sept. 27 and IUP heading to SRU for Homecoming Oct. 18.
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. SRU then avenged its only regular season loss with a 31-13 win on the road at California (Pa.) in the national quarterfinals to win its second Super Region One title since 2019. The Rock 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.
BACK-TO-BACK YEARS WITH WINS OVER NO. 1
Slippery Rock has knocked off the undefeated No. 1 seed in Super Region One in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs in both of the last two seasons. The Rock took down No. 1 Tiffin on the road in 2023 and defeated No. 1 Kutztown on the road in 2024.
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.
STAPLES IN THE NATIONAL POLL
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 six full years. The Rock closed the 2024 season ranked No. 3 in the final national poll, marking the highest postseason ranking in program history, and will open the 2025 season ranked No. 4 in the preseason national poll released by the AFCA.
FOUR NIGHT GAMES TO OPEN SEASON
Slippery Rock will open the season with four straight 6 p.m. kickoffs in the month of September, including a road game to open the year and three straight home games in weeks 2-4.
WE LOVE NIGHT GAMES
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.
LONG WINS PRESTIGIOUS HONOR
Slippery Rock's QB last fall,
Brayden Long, earned even more plaudits this summer when he repeated as the PSAC Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year before being named the Overall NCAA Division II Academic All-American of the Year. He became the first SRU student-athlete in any sport to win that honor. He also became the first football player in PSAC history to be recognized and just the second male athlete from the PSAC to ever be named the overall Academic All-American of the Year. Long is now coaching at Shippensburg and will return to The Rock on the opposing sideline Sept. 20.
COOPER NAMED TO EAST-WEST SHRINE BOWL WATCHLIST
SRU left tackle
Joe Cooper picked up a high honor entering this fall when he was named as one of just 10 players in Division II on the East-West Shrine Bowl Watchlist. Cooper, at 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds, has already received visits from multiple NFL teams.
COOPER AND KWOKA ON D2 ELITE 100 LIST
Slippery Rock landed two players on the D2football.com Elite 100 list entering this season with left tackle
Joe Cooper and defensive lineman
Brett Kwoka both being recognized. Cooper has started 28 straight games on the offensive line, while Kwoka moves to SRU after earning first team All-PSAC honors as a defensive lineman at Shepherd University in 2024.
VESPO WINS THE JOB
Northern State senior transfer
Anthony Vespo emerged from camp as the starting QB. Vespo was also voted as a team captain by his teammates. He started three games at Northern State in 2023, throwing for 618 yards and four touchdowns, before suffering an injury that sidelined him for the rest of his time in South Dakota. The Rock also named redshirt freshman
DaOne Owens as the backup QB entering the season. Owens is a gifted dual threat lefty that was among the top QB prospects in the state of Ohio in 2023.
OFFENSIVE LINE
The offensive line this year will be a mix of returning veterans and newcomers, headlined by All-American left tackle
Joe Cooper and right guard
Luke Pugliese, who both started every game last year.
Matthew Prudhomme is expected to be the starting center after joining Slippery Rock from New Haven, where he was the starting center last fall. Veteran SRU product
Eli Podgorski has emerged as the frontrunner for the left guard position and could become the second Podgorski to start at left guard for SRU after his older brother, Ryan Podgorski, started 31 games from 2016-19. Veteran returner
Jake Jonassen is the likely starting right tackle on what is expected to be a deep and talented offensive line unit.
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
Joe 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 with Jordan likely to get the No. 1 touches.
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. All-PSAC East player
Brett Kwoka came over from Shepherd and returners
Mehki Twillie and
Nick Frisco, along with redshirt freshman
Jett Franz, give SRU a deep defensive line rotation. Twillie and Frisco are likely to see the starting lineup in week one.
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 and returner
Tyree Johnson, who started a trio of games in 2024. Snow tallied 54 tackles with 5.5 tackles for loss while Gregory racked up 57 tackles with 3.0 TFL in 2024.
SECONDARY UNIT
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 returning veterans
Ben Lane,
Joshua Hayes and
Kwalil Shepperson, along with Frostburg State transfer cornerback
Anthony Smith, Wheeling transfer cornerback
Michael Dahn and University of Pennsylvania graduate transfer
Grant Parker to headline the secondary unit. Henwood ranked second overall on the team in tackles with 72 in 2024 while leading the team in solo stops (42) and interceptions (3).
SPECIAL TEAMS OUTLOOK
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 handle the placekicking duties. Lech booted a 54-yard field goal in a game last fall during his senior year of high school. The Rock also return a trio of kickers with college experience, including
Kevin Roberts, who was the primary placekicker in 2023. Speedsters
Kanye Thompson and
JayJay Jordan are both expected to see an elevated role in the return game.
STARTERS NOTES
Slippery Rock returns only 15 players that have ever started a game at The Rock, including five players with at least 10 career starts and six total players that started the 2024 national semifinal game at Ferris State.
Joe Cooper leads all players on the team with 28 starts, while
Daniel Tooson leads the defense with 21 starts. Cooper has the longest active streak on the team at 28 straight starts, followed by
Luke Pugliese and
Michael Henwood with 14 straight starts.
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock returns home for three straight night games to close out the month of September, first hosting Shepherd University next Saturday at 6 p.m. Next week's game is the annual Hall of Fame Game with the Rock Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2025 being inducted Friday night and recognized at halftime Saturday. The game is also the nightcap to the annual Slippery Rock VillageFest, which will take place all day Saturday in downtown Slippery Rock.
TICKETS FOR HOME GAMES
You can get your tickets and reserve a pregame tailgating spot for any of the five SRU regular season home games
HERE. You can also purchase a season ticket or parking package
HERE.
FEATURED EVENTS ON THE SCHEDULE
The Rock will host just five home games during the regular season in 2025, including three straight home night games in weeks 2-4. The Sept. 13 game against Shepherd will be the annual Hall of Fame Game and the annual Slippery Rock VillageFest. 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 close out its regular season home games Nov. 1 with Senior Day against Clarion. The only home date with no special events attached is the PSAC West opener against California (Pa.) Sept. 27. That game will be televised live by WKBN (Youngstown, Ohio).
To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).
