Full Game Notes (PDF)

#9/11 SLIPPERY ROCK (4-0, 1-0) @ #24/- CAL U (3-0, 1-0)
• When: Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016
• Where: California, Pa.
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,500)
• Kickoff: 1 p.m.
• Live Video: SIDEARM Sports
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WLER (97.7 FM)
• Live Stats: Fan Stats | Media Stats

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads 46-29-3
• First Meeting: 1919 - Cal U 7-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 10, 2015 @ Slippery Rock - Slippery Rock won 56-21 I Recap I Box Score
• Streak: Slippery Rock +1

NOTES
• Cal U returns to action with the first of back-to-back home rivalry games on Saturday. The Vulcans opened divisional play last weekend with a 59-17 victory at Seton Hill. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock claimed a 34-13 win over previously-unbeaten Gannon.

• Junior quarterback Michael Keir tied the school record with six touchdown passes last Saturday in a 59-17 win at Seton Hill. He finished with a career-high 311 passing yards on 19-of-31 attempts in only three-plus quarters of action. Senior Garry Brown and junior Luke Smorey both caught a pair of touchdowns in the victory and Brown totaled a season-high 234 all-purpose yards on just nine touches. The Vulcans held the Griffins to only 17 points after entering play scoring 44 points per game. Junior Luke Hrapchak led the team with a season-high 10 tackles and registered 1.5 TFL.  

• Slippery Rock leads the all-time series, which started in 1919, by a 46-29-3 margin. The Rock has posted victories in four of the last five meetings after the Vulcans won seven of eight meetings from 2003-10.

• After spending two decades as an assistant with the program, Shawn Lutz has posted a 4-0 record in his first season as head coach at The Rock. He served the previous eight years as defensive coordinator and was also promoted to associate head coach in 2012. Lutz, who was a tight end at West Virginia, has helped Slippery Rock lead the PSAC in sacks in five of the last eight years.

• Slippery Rock is off to its second 4-0 start in the last three years after becoming the first school to repeat as PSAC Champions since the league reinstated the title game in 2008. The Rock features one of the top offenses in the PSAC, averaging 40 points and nearly 470 yards of total offense per game. Senior Shamar Greene has already set the school's all-time rushing record this season and is averaging 111.8 rushing yards per game with six touchdowns. Senior quarterback Don King III, a transfer from Sam Houston State, averages over 300 total yards per game and junior Cornelius Raye paces the team with 25 receptions for almost 300 yards and three touchdowns. The Rock sits second in the PSAC in rushing defense at 66.3 yards per game and ranks among the top five in scoring defense. Junior All-American Marcus Martin has recorded over 35 sacks and 55 TFL in his career and ranks among the league leaders in both categories this year. Senior linebacker Anthony Zappone, a transfer from Eastern Michigan, leads the team and is tied for second in the PSAC with 38 tackles. He also has tallied 4.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks and two interceptions this season. On special teams, senior Drew Scales has totaled nearly a combined 250 yards on kickoff and punt returns while averaging over 100 all-purpose yards per game.
 
• The Vulcans were picked to finish third in the preseason PSAC West poll after ranking third place in the divisional standings in each of the last four years. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock was chosen second in the PSAC West after winning each of the last two league championship games. 

• Both Cal U and Slippery Rock feature first-year head coaches in 2016, but both head coaches are familiar with the rivalry. Cal U head coach Gary Dunn was a player for the Vulcans from 1991-94 and later served as a graduate assistant with the program. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz has served on the coaching staff with The Rock for 20-plus years, including the previous eight as the defensive coordinator. 

• The Vulcans made their season debut in the AFCA Top 25 poll this week at No. 24 after 'Receiving Votes' in each previous poll this season. Cal U was last featured in the AFCA poll in late October during the 2014 campaign. Slippery Rock sits at No. 9 in the Top 25 poll, as Cal U will be facing its first top-10 opponent since September 2013 when it played then-No. 7 IUP.

• This weekend marks the 44th game for the Vulcans against an opponent ranked in the AFCA Top 25 poll since the start of the 2000 season. During that span, Cal U has posted a 21-22 record against nationally-ranked programs with an 11-9 mark at Adamson Stadium, including five-straight victories at home.

• The home team has won five times in the last six meetings between Cal U and Slippery Rock. The Vulcans had won seven of eight overall meetings from 2003-10 before the recent run of home-field advantage.

• Senior Garry Brown finished with a season-high 234 all-purpose yards on only nine touches last week at Seton Hill. He led the team with 93 receiving yards and two touchdowns on four catches and added a 35-yard rush, while also totaling a combined 106 yards on kickoff and punt returns. Brown enters the weekend ranked second all-time in school history with 2,554 receiving yards and 27 receiving touchdowns.

• Senior linebacker Jordan Lardani ranks among the top five in the PSAC in both TFL and sacks this season. He is tied for second in the league with 8.0 TFL and ranks fifth in the country with 2.70 TFL per game after entering the year with only 6.0 TFL in his career. Lardani is also tied for fourth in the PSAC with 4.0 sacks and sits ninth in the nation with 1.33 sacks per game.

• The Vulcans continue to lead all of NCAA in scoring offense at 66.3 points per game after totaling nearly 200 points the past three weeks. Cal U has scored at least 50 points in three-consecutive games for the first time in program history. Prior to this season, the Vulcans last posted at least 50 points in back-to-back games in 2008. The school record for scoring offense stands at 42.1 points set in 10 games during the 2005 campaign.

• In his third career start, junior Michael Keir tied the single-game school record with six touchdown passes last week. He is only the fourth quarterback in school history to accomplish the feat and the first since Todd Hirt in 1994. Keir also set career highs with 311 passing yards, 19 completions and 31 attempts at Seton Hill last Saturday. Entering this week, the Philadelphia native ranks second in NCAA Division II with a 223.8 quarterback efficiency.

• Junior Luke Hrapchak set a season high with 10 tackles last week at Seton Hill and now leads the team with 19 stops this season. He finished with a career-high 51 tackles last year despite missing five-plus games due to injury. Hrapchak, who has recorded double-digit tackles four times in only eight career starts, set career highs in TFL and sacks two weeks ago after recording his first career interception in the season-opener.

• In last week's victory, wide receivers Garry Brown and Luke Smorey each posted a pair of receiving touchdowns from quarterback Michael Keir. It marked the first time since the 2012 season-opener that a pair of players finished with multiple receiving touchdowns. Smorey also caught a pair of touchdowns for the first time in his career.

• Cal U leads NCAA Division II with a plus-2.67 turnover margin per game entering play this weekend. On offense, Cal U has committed only one turnover (fumble) in three games while running a combined 186 plays. Meanwhile, the Vulcans have recorded nine takeaways (four interceptions, five fumbles) this season and have returned four of the takeaways for touchdowns.

• Last week, the Vulcans allowed their initial sack of the season and have now allowed just one sack on 74 pass attempts. Cal U also ranks second in the PSAC this year with 231.0 rushing yards per game, which is over a 60-yard improvement from last season. Slippery Rock enters the weekend ranked fourth in the league with 14.0 sacks and has also registered 30.0 TFL through four games.