Complete Game Notes (PDF)
 
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 14th-ranked Slippery Rock University football team will look to bounce back from just its second regular season loss since 2022 with a road trip to Gannon University for a noon kickoff Saturday.
 
Below you will find all pertinent information regarding tickets, parking and live coverage, along with complete game notes.
 

Week 5: Slippery Rock at Gannon
The Rock (3-1, 0-1)	Gannon Golden Knights (0-4, 0-0)
Complete Game Notes (PDF)	-
Depth Chart	Depth Chart
Roster	Roster
Schedule	Schedule
Statistics	Statistics
Coach: Shawn Lutz	Coach: Erik Raeburn
Program Records	Program Records
PSAC Standings  |  PSAC Stats Leaders  |  PSAC Schedule

LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE
• Live Stats  |  Provided by Gannon Media Relations.
• Live Streaming Video  |  Provided by Gannon Media Relations.
• 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 or the PSAC Sports Digital Network.
• 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 remaining regular season SRU football games will be available on the app.
* This game will be produced by Gannon and will be simulcast on the Rock Athletics Digital Network
 
TICKETS
• Purchase Tickets Here
• Adult General Admission - $10
• Students – $5
• Seniors – $5
 
PARKING AND DIRECTIONS - McCONNELL FAMILY STADIUM
• Address: Sassafras St &, W 5th St, Erie, PA, 16507
• Free parking is available on residential streets near the stadium
• There is construction on the Erie Bayfront Parkway currently - More Info Here
 

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THE GAME
No. 14 Slippery Rock looks to bounce back from just its second regular season loss since 2022 with a road trip to Gannon for week two of the PSAC West divisional schedule.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES  |  Game-by-Game Scores
Slippery Rock owns a 13-6 advantage in the all-time series that began in 1949. The teams did not play again after that first meeting until 2002 and have met annually since 2008 when Gannon joined the PSAC. SRU has won the last 10 straight meetings in the series with the last Gannon win coming in 2013 in Erie. The Rock are 6-3 at Gannon and 7-1 against GU when carrying a national ranking. Gannon's lone win over a ranked SRU team was a 33-27 win over No. 14 SRU in 2011 in Erie.
 
• First Meeting: 1949 (GAN won 15-0)
• Last Meeting: 2024 (SRU won 35-17)
• Current Streak: Slippery Rock +10
• at GAN: SRU leads 6-3
• at SRU: SRU leads 7-3
• Most Points Scored (GAN): 51 (2009)
• Biggest Win Margin (GAN): 15 (1949)
• Most Points Scored (SRU): 63 (2021)
• Biggest Win Margin (SRU): 49 (2019)
• Last GAN Win: 2013 at GAN (38-24)
 
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 85-22 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 85 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 WVU, graduating in 1996, and earned a master's degree in sport management from Slippery Rock in 2003.
 
Erik Raeburn is in his sixth season as head coach at Gannon and his 25th season as a collegiate head coach. He owns a 22-29 record at Gannon that included an 8-3 campaign in 2022. Raeburn served as the offensive coordinator at Gannon in 2019 before taking over as head coach in 2020. He spent three seasons as head coach at FCS Savannah State (2-23 record) and 16 total seasons as a Division III head coach at Coe (57-26) and Wabash (78-13). He owns a career record of 159-91 as a collegiate head coach. Raeburn is a 1994 Mount Union alumnus.
 
NATIONAL RANKINGS
Slippery Rock dropped 10 spots to No. 14 in this week's AFCA Division II national poll. The Rock also slid seven spots to No. 16 in this week's D2football.com media poll. Both polls are on page nine of the PDF notes linked above.
 
GANNON QUICK HITS
• Gannon is off to an 0-4 start and will be playing its second straight nationally ranked opponent after falling 46-7 to No. 5 Kutztown two weeks ago. Slippery Rock will be the third NCAA Playoff team from last fall that Gannon faces in the first five games this fall (East Stroudsburg, Kutztown, SRU).
•  The Golden Knights are coming off a bye week last week.
• Gannon is scoring 17.3 points per game and putting up 330.5 yards of total offense per game with 85.0 rushing yards and 245.5 passing yards per game.
• Opponents are scoring 46.3 points per game and averaging 404.0 yards of offense per game with 236.3 rushing yards and 167.8 passing yards per game.
• QBs Ty Hurst and Anthony Harris have both played pretty even minutes. Hurst is 42-of-69 for 595 yards with three TD and two INT, while Harris is 37-of-66 for 387 yards with two TD and two INT. Harris is also the second leading rusher on the team with 93 yards.
• Tristen Kenan leads the ground game with 211 rushing yards and three TD.
• James Faulkner leads four players with at least 150 receiving yards with 18 catches for 240 yards. Kenan has 15 catches for 174 yards and oen TD out of the backfield. Damario Moore has seven grabs for 171 yards and two TD and Donnell Mason has 14 catches for 159 yards and one score.
• Gannon has allowed 13 sacks on offense and tallied just one sack on defense so far this year with that sack coming from Ifaenyi Ijezie. Tyshawn Stewart leads the defense with 28 tackles Delvon Beam has the lone interception for the Golden Knights.
 
FIRST DAY GAME
This week's game will be the first time Slippery Rock plays a game that starts and finishes in the daylight since the national quarterfinals last year, when SRU defeated California (Pa.) 31-13 on Dec. 7, 2024. The Rock have played five straight games that were either true night games or finished under the lights, including four straight 6 p.m. kickoffs to open this season.
 
ONLY TWO REGULAR SEASON LOSSES SINCE 2022
Slippery Rock has only lost twice in the regular season since 2022 and those losses both came against California (Pa.) the last two seasons. The Rock are 22-2 in the regular season since the beginning of the 2023 season with the only losses in 2023 coming in the PSAC championship game and the NCAA quarterfinals and the only other loss in 2024 coming in the national semifinals.
 
FIRST LOSS IN PSAC WEST OPENER IN NINE YEARS
Last week's loss marked the first loss for SRU in its PSAC West opener in the last nine years. Head coach Shawn Lutz was a perfect 8-0 in PSAC West openers over his first eight seasons. 
 
FOUR PSAC WEST LOSSES SINCE 2017
Slippery Rock has lost just four PSAC Western Division games since Oct. 21, 2017 and is 40-4 against the Division since then, including 38-3 over six full seasons (2018-24) 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 43-6 against the PSAC West in the last seven seasons and 46-10 against the Division in his career as head coach.
 
SRU AFTER A LOSS
Slippery Rock has been tough to beat two weeks in a row. The Rock have not lost two games in a row since losing the PSAC title game and then losing in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs, both by one possession scores, in 2021. The last time SRU lost two regular season games in a row was all the way back in 2017 when SRU lost to Indiana (Pa.) and Edinboro back-to-back. Since then, The Rock are 62-7 overall in the regular season, 40-4 in the PSAC West and have not lost more than one divisional game in any season, going six straight seasons with either one or no PSAC West losses.
 
THE ROCK ON THE ROAD
Slippery Rock has been stellar on the road in recent years, going 23-2 in regular season road games since the beginning of the 2019 season.
 
FIRST ROAD TRIP SINCE THE OPENER
The Rock have played three straight home games since opening the season Sept. 5 at Franklin Pierce. This week's round trip will be 971 miles and about 16 hours shorter than the 1,135-mile round trip to Rindge, New Hampshire.
 
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 opened the 2025 season ranked No. 4 in the national poll and remained there for four weeks before slipping to No. 14 this week.
 
LAST WEEK FOR THE ROCK
Slippery Rock rallied back from a 21-point first half deficit to take a second half lead, but couldn't capitalize on scoring chances late and saw No. 8 California (Pa.) score a game-winning TD with one minute left for a 45-38 win at The Rock. SRU turned it over twice on back-to-back plays in the first quarter to allow Cal to jump out to an early lead. The Rock reached the two-yard line late in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 38-38, but could not score and handed the ball back to Cal with just over five minutes to play for the winning drive. DaOne Owens threw for 253 yards with four TD, one INT and also rushed for a TD. JayJay Jordan ran for 130 yards and finished with 323 all-purpose yards.
 
LAST GAME FOR GANNON
Gannon is coming off a bye week last week and has not played since suffering a 46-7 loss on the road at No. 5 Kutztown Sept. 20, giving the Golden Knights back-to-back games against ranked opponents. They limited Kutztown to 306 total yards in that game with 223 rushing yards and 83 passing yards, but managed just 186 total yards of offense with 92 rushing yards and 94 passing yards. Kutztown scored touchdowns on two special teams plays with a blocked punt recovered for a TD and a 100-yard kickoff return TD. Anthony Harris was 8-of-19 for 60 yards with one INT. Ty Hurst was 5-of-10 for 34 yards. Tristen Kenan rushed for 68 yards and one TD.
 
JAYJAY JORDAN PUTS UP 300+ YARDS
RB JayJay Jordan put up 323 all-purpose yards last week with 130 rushing yards, 149 kick return yards and 44 receiving yards on 30 total touches in the game. That tally is the most by any player in the PSAC in a game this year by nearly double (174 yards is second) and ranks as the fourth most all-purpose yards by any player in Division II this year.
 
JORDAN LEADS PSAC IN RUSHING
RB JayJay Jordan enters this week as the leading rusher in the PSAC and the only player in the league averaging more than 87 yards per game. He has topped 100 rushing yards in three of four games this year and is averaging 114.0 rushing yards per game and 7.24 yards per carry for 456 total rushing yards in four games.
 
JORDAN AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
RB JayJay Jordan enters this week ranked No. 2 among all players in Division II in all-purpose yardage per game, averaging 193.25 yards per game with 773 total all-purpose yards, which includes 456 rushing yards, 119 receiving yards and 198 kick return yards. He is one of only six players in the nation to average more than 175 all-purpose yards per game.
 
OWENS TOSSES FOUR MORE TD PASSES
Redshirt freshman QB DaOne Owens has thrown for 505 yards with eight touchdowns and one interception in his first two career starts. He has thrown for at least 250 yards and four TD in each of his first two starts. Owens has also rushed for two touchdowns and enters this week ranked sixth among all QBs in Division II for passer rating at 171.1.
 
FRESHMAN QBS LEADING RANKED TEAMS
QB DaOne Owens leads all freshmen QBs in the country in passer rating, but he is not alone in terms of a nationally ranked team starting a freshman QB. Two top 10 teams, No. 1 Ferris State and No. 10 Grand Valley State, both have redshirt freshman QBs this year. All three freshmen starters currently own passer ratings that rank in the top nine among all QBs in Division II this year with Owens ranked sixth (171.1), Andrew Schuster from GVSU ranked eighth (170.8) and Wyatt Bower from Ferris State ranked ninth (168.9).
 
TWO STARTS BY A FRESHMAN QB AT SRU
QB DaOne Owens is the first freshman or redshirt freshman QB at Slippery Rock to start at least two games in his freshman season since Ryan O'Rourke started the final two games of the 2009 season. O'Rourke transferred out of SRU after that season and played three years at Division III Baldwin Wallace. The last freshman or redshirt freshman QB at SRU to start three games in his freshman season was Nate Crookshank, who won the job in 2004 and held it four years through 2007. Crookshank and SRU Hall of Famer Randy McKavish (1997-00) were the last two freshmen QBs to win the job in their freshman season and start all four years at SRU.
 
SUTTON IN THE END ZONE AGAIN
WR Latrell Sutton scored grabbed another TD pass last week and has now caught a touchdown in all four games this season. He leads The Rock with 10 catches for 223 yards and four scores and is averaging 55.8 yards per game. Sutton's 22.3 yards per catch average is also the highest on the team.
 
SABO WITH THREE TD GRABS LAST TWO WEEKS
WR John Sabo caught his first career TD pass two weeks ago and followed that up with his first carer multi-TD game last week against Cal with two TD catches. He became the first SRU player on the roster this year to catch at least two TDs in a game.
 
SPREADING IT OUT
Slippery Rock has nine players with catches this year including four players with 10 or more catches and six players with at least six catches. Joe White leads the way with 12 catches for 194 yards, while Latrell Sutton (223 yards, 4 TD), JayJay Jordan (119 yards, 2 TD) and Carson Heckathorn (44 yards) all have 10 catches, John Sabo has eight grabs for 99 yards and three scores and Reggie Fleurima has six grabs for 92 yards and one score. Xander McClure also has 45 receiving yards and one TD and he threw a 38-yard TD.
 
ROBERTS BOOTS CAREER-LONG FG
PK Kevin Roberts entered this year with no made field goals at SRU, just made PAT kicks from when he was the primary PAT kicker in 2023. He made a 24-yard field goal in the opener against Franklin Pierce and then upped his career-high to 37 yards with a made kick last week against Cal. Roberts is now 2-for-4 on field goal attempts this year to go along with a 19-of-19 effort on PAT kicks. He is also handling the punting and is averaging 36.8 yards per punt with a long of 50 and four kicks inside the 20-yard line.
 
HENWOOD NAMED CAMPBELL TROPHY SEMIFINALIST
Senior DB Michael Henwood was announced last week as one of 15 Division II players and just one of two PSAC players to be named national semifinalists for the William V. Campbell Trophy, known as the "Academic Heisman." Henwood, who is a team captain, is an Academic All-American that owns a perfect 4.0 GPA in exercise science. He ranked second on the team in total tackles in 2024 and currently sits third on this year's team in total stops with 27 tackles and one interception.
 
GREGORY LEADING ROCK DEFENSE
LB Teddy Gregory Jr. enters this week as the top tackler on the roster with 35 total stops, 2.0 tackles for loss and a half-sack. Gregory also has two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, one interception and two QB hurries. Last week, he forced and recovered his own fumble to set up a key touchdown drive for SRU.
 
THOMPSON MAKING PLAYS
CB Kanye Thompson has 34 tackles to rank second on the roster in tackles. Thompson has also forced three fumbles this season, which leads all players in Division II. Thompson was an All-American on the track last spring and broke the all-time SRU and PSAC records in the 100-meter dash when he ran 10.1 seconds. A rare dual-sport athlete, he now ranks second on the SRU defense with 25 tackles this fall.
 
KWOKA GRABS ANOTHER FUMBLE
DL Brett Kwoka jumped on another fumble for a recovery last week to mark his third fumble recovery in four games this year. That tally leads all players in Division II this fall. Kwoka also has 16 total tackles and three QB hurries to go along with 1.5 tackles for loss.
 
DEFENSIVE LINE STANDOUTS
DE Brian Young Jr. leads SRU in pressuring the QB with 4.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two QB hurries, while DT Trever Valenti leads the interior of the line with 26 total stops, 2.5 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
 
RETURN GAME UP AND DOWN
WR Joe White returned a punt 73 yards for a touchdown against Shippensburg and is averaging 18.8 yards per punt return this year, but The Rock have struggled on kickoff returns, averaging just 18.6 yards per return. JayJay Jordan had a solid game last week with 149 yards on six returns, including a season-long 49-yard return to help increase the average to 18.8 yards per return.
 
A LOT OF TURNOVERS IN FOUR WEEKS
Slippery Rock's first four games have seen a total of 20 turnovers with SRU gaining 11 of those and giving nine away. The Rock have been on the giving and receiving end of big swings in individual games, turning it over four times against Shepherd and forcing six turnovers against Shippensburg. SRU won the turnover battle 3-2 against Cal (Pa.) last week, but the Vulcans scored 14 points off their two takeaways and SRU managed just seven points off the three Cal turnovers. A total of 41 points have been scored off turnovers in the first four games with SRU owning a 21-20 edge in that category.
 
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 are safety Michael Henwood and linebacker Jacob Snow.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
DIVISION II PLAYOFF CHANGES
Division II football underwent a regional realignment this year with Conference Carolinas adding football. The division also expanded the playoff field from 28 teams to 32 teams, with each Super Region set to get eight teams in this year and the No. 1 seeds no longer receiving a first-round bye. Super Region One is now all schools in the PSAC, the Mountain East Conference (MEC), the Northeast-10 Conference (NE10) and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). The champions in each league will earn an automatic bid, while four other at-large selections will fill out the regional bracket.
 
UP NEXT
Slippery Rock will hit the road next Saturday for another noon PSAC West game with a trip to Seton Hill in Greensburg.

 



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