The Game Story
-Edinboro saw its three-game winning streak snapped last Saturday in a 26-10 loss to 22nd-ranked Indiana(Pa.), evening the Fighting Scots' record at 3-3.  All three of Edinboro's losses have come to nationally-ranked teams.  The Scots previously lost to then-19th ranked Bloomsburg, 30-14, the opening week of the season, followed by a 24-14 loss to sixth-ranked California(Pa.) the following week. Edinboro followed that up with wins over Lock Haven (35-19), C.W. Post (31-24 in OT), and Gannon (44-24).  

-Slippery Rock snapped a three-game losing skid with last week's 28-20 win at Clarion.  Like Edinboro, The Rock is 2-2 in PSAC West action, with a win over Gannon (38-18) as well as Clarion, plus losses to Mercyhurst (38-23) and IUP (33-16).   SRU is 2-1 at home, dropping a high-scoring 56-49 decision to Kutztown. 

-The Fighting Scots hope to return the favor this year after Slippery Rock spoiled Edinboro's homecoming a year ago with a late touchdown for a 24-23 win.  Now SRU celebrates its homecoming against the Fighting Scots.          

-Edinboro is in its seventh season under head coach Scott Browning.  The former long-time Boro assistant has led the Fighting Scots to a 48-26 record during that period, and tied mentor Tom Hollman for the most wins by a coach in his first six seasons.  A year ago Edinboro finished with a 7-4 record for the second straight season.     

-The Fighting Scots were picked to finish fourth in the PSAC West preseason poll, while Slippery Rock was voted third by the coaches and receiving two first place votes. 

-Edinboro opened the year with three of its first four games on the road.  That was followed by a back-to-back games at Sox Harrison Stadium.  The Fighting Scots wrap up the season with four games, alternating away and home games.     

-Edinboro faces an ambitious 2012 schedule.  The PSAC crossover slate has the Fighting Scots facing the top three teams from last year in the Eastern Division in Kutztown, Bloomsburg and LIU Post.  The three combined to go 27-8.  Throw in the usual Western Division rivals such as preseason favorites California(Pa.) and Indiana(Pa.), plus local rivals Gannon and Mercyhurst, and Edinboro has its work cut out in 2012.  The Scots have already faced three nationally-ranked teams, and Mercyhurst is now 6-1 and receiving votes in the AFCA poll.    

On TV/Radio
-The Edinboro-Slippery Rock game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Jon Pintea providing the play-by-play and Mike Telek the color commentary.   
    
The All-Time Series 
-Slippery Rock leads 48-23-7 
The Rock has won the last two meetings, sanpping a two-game wining streak by the Fighting Scots.  Before that it was SRU with a pair of wins to break Edinboro's three-game wining streak.  The Rock has won two of the last three games at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.  Scott Browning has gone 2-4 against SRU since taking over as Edinboro's head coach.   
  
The Last Meeting 
-2011 -- Slippery Rock 24, Edinboro 23
Slippery Rock spoiled Edinboro's homecoming with the narrow win.  With freshman Ty Stoldt starting in place of injured quarterback Cody Harris, the Fighting Scots grabbed a 20-3 lead early in the third quarter as James Jackson returned a blocked field goal attempt 62 yards for a score.  The defense had also accounted for an earlier score as Veuntrae Robinson returned a fumble 15 yards for a score.  Slippery Rock would rally, however, behind quarterback Cody Endres.  He threw for three touchdowns in the final twenty minutes, the last a five-yarder to Devin Goda with 2:22 remaining.  Stoldt would end the day completing 9 of 23 passes for 140 yards, including a 27-yard TD pass to Nick Marino, but he threw three costly interceptions.  Endres completed 23 of 37 passes for 231 yards.    (For complete game statistics see page 4)
            
The Coaches
-Scott Browning (Ohio State '81)  took over as Edinboro's 13th head coach on January 5, 2006, and in his first six seasons he tied the record for most wins by a coach during that period.  Browning is now in his seventh season with a 48-26 record, tying former mentor Tom Hollman for most wins in the first six seasons.  He was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football, however, serving as an assistant coach for the previous twenty years. While at Edinboro he has coached the offensive linemen, defensive backs and running backs, along with serving as the offensive coordinator.  Browning became the first head coach at Edinboro to debut with a win since Bill McDonald in 1969 when the Fighting Scots opened the 2006 season with a 28-14 win at West Chester.  He went on to lead Edinboro to a 6-5 finish, the most wins ever by a first-year coach.  That was followed by a 7-4 finish in 2007.  His next two Fighting Scot editions recorded a school-record tying nine wins.  in 2008 Edinboro ended the year at 9-2 and was ranked 20th in the final AFCA Top 25.  The Fighting Scots had a 9-4 record in 2009, making the NCAA playoffs for the first time in his tenure.  Edinboro would end the year 24th in the AFCA poll.  The Boro has posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011. 

-George Mihalik (Slippery Rock '74) has been associated with Slippery Rock football for 40 of the last 41 years.  It began as a freshman at Slippery Rock in 1970, where he was a three-year starter at quarterback and led The Rock to PSAC championships in 1972 and '73.  Since then, with the exception of one year, he has coached at Slippery Rock, including the last 25 years as head coach.  He has enjoyed 17 winning seasons while posting a 164-102-4 record.  He entered the year with the third-highest win total among active PSAC head coaches, ranking fifth on the PSAC all-time wins list and standing 12th among active NCAA Division II head coaches.  Along the way he led SRU to four successive PSAC West championships from 1997-2000 and earned a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1997, '98 and '99. Last year's PSAC West crown was the fifth claimed by a Mihalik-coached Rock squad.  Mihalik also earned his fourth PSAC West Coach of the Year award last in 2011.  He had previously received that honor in 1997, '98 and '99.  The 2011 season was also momentous as Mihalik was honored prior to the season opener with the  renaming of SRU's home field to Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.   All told he has been inducted into five Hall of Fames.       
    
Last Week
-Indiana(Pa.) 26, Edinboro 10  -- at one point Edinboro led 22nd-ranked IUP 10-7 before the Crimson Hawks scored the final 19 points to avoid the upset.  After falling behind 7-0, the Fighting Scots scored the next ten points thanks to a pair of time-consuming drives.  Seth Hembree caught a six-yard touchdown pass from Cody Harris to cap a 19-play, 90-yard drive that ate up 8 minutes, 7 seconds.  That was followed by a 14-play, 62-yard march that lasted almost six minutes and ended with a season-long 39-yard field goal by freshman Sean Seefeldt.  After holding on to the ball for 21:18 in the first half, the offense was unable to get untracked in the second half, managing just two first downs and 42 total yards.       

-Slippery Rock 28, Clarion 20  -- Nigel Barksdale passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third to lead The Rock to the win at Clarion.  The junior quarterback opened the scoring with a 14-yard TD pass to Jaimire Dutrieuille, then scored on a two-yard run.  He capped the scoring with a three-yard TD pass to Josh Gardner.  Brett Crenshaw accounted for the other touchdown on a two-yard run.  Barksdale completed 19 of 26 passes for 257 yards.   Akeem Satterfield rushed for 77 yards on 19 carries, while Ken Amos caught 6 passes for 101 yards.