Game Notes (PDF)

#19/14 SLIPPERY ROCK (5-0, 4-0) @ CAL U (4-1, 3-1)
• When: Saturday, October 11, 2014
• Where: California, PA
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,5000)
• Kickoff: 3:30 p.m.
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WLER (97.7 FM)
• Live Video: America One (PPV)
• Live Stats: Fan Stats I Media Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• General Admission: $10 adults/$5students/FREE 12 and under
• Chairback Seats: $15 adults/$10 students
• Parking: $5
• Directions to Adamson Stadium I GPS Address: 170 California Road, Brownsville, PA 15417

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads 45-28-3
• First Meeting: 1919 - Cal U 7-0
• Last Meeting: Nov. 2, 2013 @ Slippery Rock - Slippery Rock won 35-17 I Recap I Box Score
• Streak: Slippery Rock +3

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U returns to Adamson Stadium for the first of back-to-back home games with Homecoming set for Saturday. The Vulcans posted a 31-21 victory last week at Seton Hill. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock remained undefeated with a 31-28 win over previously-unbeaten Gannon.
 
• Senior Terrell Roberson rushed for three touchdowns, including two in the fourth quarter, as the Vulcans posted a 31-21 win at Seton Hill. Sophomore Nick Grissom and Roberson combined to rush for 161 yards on 34 attempts with Grissom finishing with a game-high 94 rushing yards on 20 carries. Early in the fourth quarter, Cal U blocked a potential game-tying field goal before Roberson capped back-to-back drives with touchdown runs in less than three minutes. Defensive back Arnel Farmer, Jr. and linebacker Jeff Knox, Jr. both led the team with eight tackles in the victory.
 
• The Rock leads the all-time series that started in 1919 by a 45-28-3 margin. Slippery Rock has won the last three meetings, its longest winning streak in the series since claiming 13-straight victories from 1990-2002. Cal U then won seven of eight meetings from 2003-10.
 
• One of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division II, Dr. George Mihalik is in his 27th season as head coach of The Rock. He ranks fifth in PSAC history with 181 career victories and has led Slippery Rock to at least a share of six divisional titles since 1997, including twice in the last three years. In 2013, Mihalik guided The Rock to its first appearances in the NCAA Playoffs in over a decade (1997-99).
 
• Slippery Rock returns 13 starters from a team that finished with a 9-3 overall record, the most wins for the program since 2007. The Rock leads the PSAC and ranks among the top 10 in the country in both scoring offense (46.6 points/game) and rushing offense (287.2 yards/game) this season. Sophomore Shamar Greene ranks third in NCAA Division II with 832 rushing yards and has scored at least one rushing touchdown every game this season. In addition, senior Teddy Blakeman has rushed for over 300 yards and six touchdowns after totaling 15 scores (14 rushing) last year. In his first year as the starter, sophomore quarterback Zack Newsock is tied for second in the league with a 62.9 completion percentage (105-167) and has passed for nearly 1,200 yards and 10 touchdowns. On defense, Slippery Rock ranks second in the league in rushing defense (76.4 yards/game) and interceptions (seven). Senior linebacker Austin Miele, who was an All-PSAC West First-Team selection at defensive back last year, leads the team with 39 tackles (17 solo) and has added a pair of interceptions. Redshirt freshman defensive lineman Marcus Martin is tied for the league lead with 6.0 sacks and 10.0 TFL, posting at least 2.0 TFL in four of five games this year. On special teams, The Rock is tied for the league lead with five blocked kicks and sophomore Drew Scales ranks seventh in the country with 490 combined return yards. Sophomore Mike Wainauskis sits second in the PSAC among kickers with 45 points this season and has made five-of-six field-goal attempts.
 
• With the PSAC adopting a new rule this season, all 16 league teams played two additional games (Week 2, Week 3) that are reflected in the league standings. Previously, only games against divisional opponents counted in the PSAC standings.
 
• The Vulcans were picked to finish second in the preseason PSAC West poll after receiving three first-place votes. Cal U had earned at least a share of the top spot in the preseason divisional poll every year from 2005-12. Slippery Rock was picked to finish third in the PSAC West after playing in the 2013 PSAC Championship.
 
• Cal U hosts Slippery Rock for Homecoming this weekend for the third time in nine years. The Vulcans have won each of their last nine Homecoming contests, including a 35-7 victory over Clarion last season. Cal U has recently posted Homecoming wins over Slippery Rock in both 2006 and 2010.
 
• This weekend marks the 42nd game for the Vulcans against an opponent ranked in the AFCA Top 25 since the start of the 2000 season. During that span, Cal U has posted a 19-22 record against nationally-ranked programs with a 9-9 mark at Adamson Stadium. The Vulcans have lost four-straight meetings against Top-25 teams, but have won three-consecutive games against nationally-ranked teams at home.
 
• Cal U has posted a 51-10 overall record (.836) at Adamson Stadium since 2005, highlighted by a 28-3 mark (.903) against opponents in the PSAC West.
 
• Sophomore running back Nick Grissom nearly posted his second 100-yard game of the season last week, finishing with 94 rushing yards on a career-high 20 attempts. The last time the Vulcans featured a player with at least 20 carries in a game was last September against Edinboro, a span of 12 games. Grissom has rushed for nearly 300 yards over his last three games and is averaging 5.4 yards/carry this season.
 
• The Vulcans recorded their league-leading fifth blocked kick of the year in last week's victory at Seton Hill. Early in the fourth quarter, junior Kowan Scott blocked a potential game-tying, 36-yard field goal. Cal U has totaled 23 blocked kicks since 2011 and ranked seventh in NCAA Division II last year with seven blocked kicks. The Vulcans and The Rock have combined for 10 blocked kicks this season while the rest of the PSAC (14 teams) has posted a total of 25 blocked kicks in 2014.
 
• Last weekend, senior Terrell Roberson rushed for three touchdowns for the second time in three games. He is tied for third in the PSAC with eight rushing touchdowns this season with all eight scores coming in the last three weeks. A former defensive back, Roberson leads the team and ranks eighth in the league with 356 rushing yards. The Penn Hills product received All-PSAC West laurels as a return specialist in 2013 after averaging 30.0 yards/kick return, highlighted by a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
 
• The PSAC features a former standout on both teams in the upcoming National League Championship Series, St. Louis first baseman Matt Adams (Slippery Rock) and San Francisco starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong (Kutztown). Adams, who was an All-American catcher, was limited to only one extra-base hit in 28 at-bats against the Vulcans during his last two seasons. In 1997, Cal U posted an 8-5 victory against Kutztown, who started Vogelsong on the hill, in an opening-round game of the PSAC Tournament.
 
• Cal U committed a season-high 13 penalties at Seton Hill, marking its most penalties in a game since 2012. The Vulcans have been penalized a league-high 51 times for 480 yards this season and are averaging a league-worst 96.0 penalty yards/game. Cal U has been flagged at least seven times in every game this year and have been penalized for over 100 yards in a game three times (Virginia State, Edinboro, Seton Hill).
 
• In his first year exclusively on defensive, senior linebacker Jeff Knox, Jr. has registered at least 1.0 TFL in each of the last three games with a strip-sack against both Edinboro and Seton Hill. He tied for the team lead and nearly matched his career high with eight tackles (four solo) last week against the Griffins. Knox, who starred on both offense and defense in high school, has posted 25 tackles (12 solo) this season after entering the year with 24 rushing touchdowns and 992 rushing yards, plus 63 stops (27 solo), in his career.
 
• Junior quarterback James Harris has thrown 99-straight passes without an interception entering play on Saturday. He has thrown only three interceptions on 160 attempts this year and his last interception came on the first play of overtime at Bloomsburg on Sept. 13. Harris was limited to a season-low 192 passing yards last week at Seton Hill despite setting a career high with 35 pass attempts. In last year's meeting at Slippery Rock, Harris completed just 3-of-21 attempts for 26 yards before sitting out the second half.