Full Game Notes (PDF)

#5/4 CAL U (4-0, 1-0) @ #18/17 SLIPPERY ROCK (4-0, 1-0)
• When: Saturday, Sept. 30, 2017
• Where: Slippery Rock, Pa.
• Stadium: Mihalik-Thompson Stadium (10,000)
• Kickoff: 6 p.m.
• Live Video: CUTVSports1 YouTube I 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 46-30-3
• First Meeting: 1919 - Cal U 7-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 1, 2016 @ California - Cal U won 52-26 I Recap I Box Score
• Streak: Cal U +1

NOTES
• Cal U starts a stretch of back-to-back road games against nationally-ranked opponents this weekend when it travels to face No. 18 Slippery Rock. Both teams enter the weekend following dramatic comeback victories last weekend to open divisional play.

• The Vulcans rushed for nearly 200 yards and five touchdowns, including the game-winning two-yard score by senior quarterback Michael Keir with 18.8 seconds remaining, in a 44-41 victory against Seton Hill. Cal U set a season high with 199 rushing yards on 39 attempts with senior Nick Grissom leading the team with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. Defensively, senior Luke Hrapchak led the team with a season-high 14 tackles, while junior Vincent Alimenti made a career-high 12 stops. Sophomore Lamont McPhatter II added eight tackles and one interception.

• Slippery Rock leads the all-time series, which started in 1919, by a 46-30-3 margin. The Rock has posted victories in four of the last six 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 an 11-4 record in two seasons as head coach at The Rock. Prior to being appointed head coach, he served eight years as defensive coordinator and was promoted to associate head coach in 2012. Lutz, who was a tight end at West Virginia, guided an injury-riddled team to an eighth-straight winning season last year.

• The Rock boasts one of the most explosive passing and scoring offenses in the country this season. Slippery Rock ranks seventh in the nation with 43.3 points per game and sits sixth in NCAA Division II with 359.5 passing yards per game. Redshirt senior quarterback Tanner Garry, who is starting for the first time since he was a senior in high school in 2011, is third in the country with 1,425 passing yards and second with 16 touchdowns. He has posted three 300-yard games this year, including a 518-yard performance last week - the second-highest total in school history. Senior wide receivers Marcus Johnson and Milly Raye have already combined for nearly 1,000 receiving yards in four games. Johnson leads NCAA Division II with 252.8 all-purpose yards per game behind 532 receiving yards and eight receiving touchdowns. Raye has added 440 yards and five touchdowns on 25 receptions. Defensively, The Rock has allowed a pair of opponents to score over 40 points this year. Slippery Rock, which allowed a league-record 354 rushing yards to Gannon's Marc Jones last week, ranks next to last in the 16-team PSAC in rushing defense at 224.3 yards per game. Senior defensive lineman Marcus Martin, the two-time PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, has already recorded 14.0 TFL and 6.5 sacks and leads the country in both categories. The Rock has posted just one interception this year while facing nearly 125 pass attempts.

• The Vulcans maintained their position at No. 5 in the latest AFCA poll for the fourth-straight week. Cal U was one of only three teams in the entire top 25 to remain in the same spot as last week. The rankings were altered drastically due to a pair upsets in the top 10, as former No. 2 Ferris State (Mich.) fell 13 spots and former No. 9 LIU Post (N.Y.) tumbled 15 positions.

• Cal U is facing its first nationally-ranked opponent this year after facing five top-25 teams last season. The Vulcans have posted a 6-2 mark against nationally-ranked teams since the 2014 campaign. Cal U and Slippery Rock are meeting with both teams featured in the top 25 for only the third time since 2000 and the Vulcans have won both previous times (2007 away, 2016 home).

• Sophomore Lamont McPhatter made an interception as time expired last week to seal the victory over Seton Hill. He is the first player to record an interception in three-consecutive games since former All-American safety Rontez Miles during the 2011 season. A transfer from Ball State, McPhatter collected eight tackles, one interception, three pass break-ups and one quarterback hurry last week while making his first start of the season.

• The Vulcans have registered a blocked kick in each of the last two weeks after posting six blocked kicks in 2016. Two weeks ago, senior linebacker Luke Hrapchak blocked a 39-yard field goal late in the first quarter at Millersville. Last weekend, senior wide receiver Luke Smorey blocked a punt deep in Seton Hill territory to setup a three-play touchdown drive by the Vulcans.

• Senior running back Nick Grissom recorded his first 100-yard rushing game of the year last week, finishing with 129 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries. He has now posted eight 100-yard games in his career while totaling nearly 2,400 rushing yards and 23 rushing touchdowns. Over the last decade, the Vulcans have posted an astounding 37-1 record in games when at least one player rushes for 100 yards.

• Last week, senior Will Brazill became the first kicker in recent program history to record multiple 40-plus yard field goals in a game. He finished with 14 points after making a career-high three field goals (47, 26, 41) and five PAT attempts. Brazill set a career long with the 47-yard field goal in the final minute of the first half. The Missouri native leads all kickers in NCAA Division II this year with 43 points scored.

• Last week, Cal U and Seton Hill combined for 1,085 yards of total offense while running a combined 155 plays, including 84 pass attempts. It marked the first time since the final week of the 2015 regular season in which the Vulcans were involved in a game that featured over 1,000 yards of total offense.

• Last week, Cal U rushed for nearly 200 yards while scoring 44 points and amassing 472 yards of total offense. The Vulcans set a season-high with 199 rushing yards on 39 attempts with five touchdowns by four different players. Senior quarterback Michael Keir rushed for the game-winning touchdown with 18.8 seconds left, as Cal U accounted for its most rushing touchdowns since scoring six times on the ground at Shippensburg in 2014.

• Slippery Rock and Cal U enter the weekend ranked among the best in the PSAC in converting third downs this year. The Rock leads the league by converting 60.7 percent of its third downs and the Vulcans sit third at 52.7 percent. Conversely, Slippery Rock ranks next-to-last in the 16-team league in third-down defense by allowing opponents to pick up a first down 50.0 percent of the time.

• The Vulcans have lost the last three meetings at Slippery Rock by a combined score of 108-41 with their last road win in the series coming in 2009. Two years ago, The Rock posted a 56-21 victory after scoring 42-unanswered points while forcing two red-zone turnovers. In 2013, Slippery Rock earned a 35-17 victory after totaling 531 yards of offense and The Rock posted a 17-3 win in 2011 despite committing four first-half turnovers.

• Senior wide receiver Tom Greene posted the second 100-yard game of his career last week against Seton Hill. He finished with 127 yards on seven receptions with three catches covering at least 20 yards. In his second year as a starter, Greene ranks sixth in the PSAC this season with both 366 receiving yards and 23 catches. The Woodland Hills product has made at least three receptions in the last 15 games in which he has appeared.

• The Vulcans posted their second last-minute comeback win of the season last week after accomplishing the feat once last year. In the season-opener, kicker Will Brazill made the go-ahead, 25-yard field goal with 49 seconds left to give Cal U a 36-34 win against Ohio Dominican. Last week, quarterback Michael Keir rushed for a two-yard touchdown with 18 seconds remaining to lift the Vulcans to a 44-41 victory versus Seton Hill.