SLIPPERY ROCK The Rock (6-1, 3-1 PSAC West ) at EDINBORO Fighting Scots (4-3, 2-1 PSAC West)
Saturday, October 26, 2013 l 12 noon
Sox Harrison Stadium (6,000) l Edinboro, Pa.
Radio: WFSE 88.9 FM
TV: ETV

Complete Game Notes

Date: Saturday, October 26, 2013
Site: Edinboro, Pa.
Stadium: Sox Harrison Stadium (6,000)
Kickoff: 12 noon
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/edinboro/football/
Next: Saturday, November 2 at Mercyhurst, 12 noon

Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday

Edinboro will hold its annual Cancer Awareness Day on Saturday, October 26. The football team will host Slippery Rock at 12 noon at Sox Harrison Stadium, with the women's soccer team following at 5:00 p.m. against Mansfield. The football team will work in conjunction with the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority to raise money for the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation. The foundation helps spread awareness for breast cancer education and awareness. Members of the Fighting Scots will wear pink items in recognition of the day. If you can't attend one of these two events on Saturday but would like to contribute, please contact Bob Shreve, Sports Information Director, at (814) 732-1834 or via email at rshreve@edinboro.edu

SERIES HISTORY

Series Record: Slippery Rock leads 49-26-7
The Rock has won the last three meetings, snapping a two-game winning streak by the Fighting Scots. Before that it was SRU with a pair of wins to break Edinboro's three-game winning streak. Scott Browning has gone 2-5 against SRU since taking over as Edinboro's head coach. Two of the last seven meetings have gone into overtime, including last year's 38-31 Slippery Rock win.

THE LAST MEETING

2012 – Slippery Rock 38, Edinboro 31 ot
Edinboro rallied from a 16-3 halftime deficit to force an overtime, but The Rock would score on a 24-yard TD pass in the extra session, and the Fighting Scots never threatened following the ninth sack of the day. In addition, Sean Seefeldt missed a 22-yard field goal with five minutes left that could have won the game. The Scots got back into the game thanks to a series of big plays. They would score 21 points in the third quarter, starting with a 54-yard TD pass from Cody Harris to Marcus Johnson. Brian Davis dove in from a yard out after Branden Williams blocked an SRU punt to give the Scots their lone lead of the day at 17-16. Harris would add a five-yard TD run in the third quarter and another in the fourth. He would throw for 379 yards.

LAST WEEK'S RESULTS

Edinboro 36, #22 Indiana(Pa.) 30
The Edinboro defense forced five turnovers and blocked a punt, and Jon Girvin paced the offense with three touchdown passes as the Fighting Scots upset 22nd-ranked IUP. IUP grabbed a quick 6-0 lead, but Girvin's first TD pass, a 26-yarder to Jordan Williams, knotted the score at 6-6. Devin Ghafoor blocked an IUP punt, with Darren Massey returning it 19 yards for a 13-6 lead. Those scores were part of a 22-point second quarter as the Scots gained a 22-20 lead at the half. The other scores were a 75-yard hookup between Girvin and Massey and a 39-yard field goal by T.J. Hardy. Hardy's field goal started a string of 17 straight points for the Scots, as Jeremy Donaldson scored on a one-yard run and Girvin and Massey combined on a 33-yard touchdown pass. That gave the Scots a 36-20. The Crimson Hawks would score the final ten points of the game, but the rally ended when Delano Fabor intercepted a pass with just over two minutes left to play.

Slippery Rock 34, Clarion 13
The Rock made it four straight wins with the decisive win over visiting Clarion. The contest wasn't as close as the final score indicated, as SRU held a 27-0 lead early in the third quarter. Slippery Rock held a 506 to 261 yard advantage in total offense. Nigel Barksdale completed 17 of 32 passes for 276 yards with 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Teddy Blakeman added a pair of touchdowns on runs of one and three yards, and Shamar Greene capped the scoring with a 31-yard TD run, part of a 15-carry, 131-yard effort.

HEAD COACHES

EDINBORO
Head Coach: Scott Browning (Ohio State '81)
Record at Edinboro: 53-32, eighth year
Career Record: 53-32, eighth year

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 eighth season with a 53-32 record. With the season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill McDonald. He is now one win away from tying McDonald for second in career victories. Browning was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football when he was hired as head coach, 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 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 posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011. Last year's 4-6 finish represented Browning's first losing season as head coach.

SLIPPERY ROCK
Head Coach: George Mihalik (Slippery Rock '74)
Record at Slippery Rock: 173-104-4, 26th year
Career Record: 173-104-4, 26th year

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 26 years as head coach. He has enjoyed 17 winning seasons while posting a 173-104-4 record. He entered the year with the second-highest win total among active PSAC head coaches, ranking fifth on the PSAC all-time wins list and standing fourth 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.

RADIO/TV

Radio: WFSEFM 88.9 -- The Edinboro-Slippery Rock game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Jason Hoffman and Jeff Snyder providing the commentary.
TV: Edinboro's student television station, ETV, will televise the game. It can be seen on the internet at www.edinboro.tv, along with being televised to Coaxial customers on Channel 4 and on-campus on Channel 77.
Twitter updates at @BoroAthletics

THE GAME STORY

One week after a nightmarish loss at Gannon, Edinboro pulled off one of its best wins in the Browning Era with a 36-30 upset at 22nd-ranked Indiana(Pa.). It snapped a three-game losing streak to IUP and marked the first home loss for the Crimson Hawks in almost two years. The win was the first against a nationally-ranked opponent since 2010, when Edinboro started the season with a 20-19 win at seventh-ranked West Liberty. Edinboro is now 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the PSAC West.

Slippery Rock comes in riding a four-game winning streak following a 34-13 win over Clarion, boosting its record to 6-1. The Rock is tied for first place in the PSAC?West with California(Pa.) and Gannon, all with 3-1 records. SRU is ranked 22nd in the latest D2Football.com Top 25 and is among "others receiving votes" in the AFCA Top 25.
Edinboro and Slippery Rock have played two common opponents -- Gannon and Indiana(Pa.). The Golden Knights handed Edinboro a 55-14 defeat two weeks ago, and also can lay claim to Slippery Rock's only defeat. On a rainy Saturday afternoon in September Gannon prevailed 38-27. Both teams own wins over IUP, with Slippery Rock defeating then No. 7 IUP, 42-16, two weeks ago.

An up-and-down Edinboro defense had played strong ball the previous three games after a slow start, but gave up 611 yards to Gannon. They were back to their stingy ways against IUP, limiting the Crimson Hawks to 298 total yards and forcing five turnovers. They face a major challenge against one of the top offenses in Division II. Slippery Rock comes in averaging 46.9 ppg., which leads the PSAC and ranks sixth nationally, while averaging 572.7 ypg. That figure is also first in the conference and fourth nationally. SRU has scored at least 27 points in every game, and has four games with 50-or-more points. In addition, The Rock is first in the PSAC and fourth in Division II in passing offense (383.7 ypg.). Edinboro, meanwhile, is among the top teams in pass defense, limiting opponents to 192.4 ypg. That is good for fourth in the PSAC and 35th in Division II.

The Fighting Scots have battled a host of injuries, although several players have returned recently. The offense had been missing as many as four starters for several weeks, while the defense was minus three who opened the year in the starting lineup. Most noteworthy is senior quarterback Cody Harris, who had accounted for nine of Edinboro's ten touchdowns in the first two games. Harris has now missed the last five games and is listed as game-to-game. Wide receiver Darren Massey made his first appearance since the first quarter of the season opener at Gannon. Tailback D'Andrea Vaughn, offensive guard Kyle Lanich, and wide receiver Kevin Sonnie have all missed at least one full game but are now back. Leading receiver Marcus Johnson missed the second half of both the Lock Haven and Gannon games with an injury, and did not play vs. IUP. The defense has had to force feed a number of youngsters, particularly at linebacker where starters Chris Mitchell and Kyle Matula have suffered season-ending injuries. Defensive ends Blaine Iskula and Domenic Principale have also missed at least one game with injuries. One good bit of news for the defense has been the return of Cory Hayes, a projected starter at linebacker at the beginning of the year. The junior made his first appearance in 2013 against Lock Haven.

In addition to the numerous injuries, turnovers have proven a major story in 2013. The Fighting Scots have turned the ball over just four times in their four victories, but 11 times in the three losses, including five against both Bloomsburg and California(Pa.).

Cornerback Devin Ghafoor was named the PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in the last three weeks. He blocked a punt against IUP which was returned for a touchdown, along with intercepting two passes, breaking up another pass, and registering five tackles.

Edinboro was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll, while Slippery Rock was chosen third.

Edinboro head coach Scott Browning needs one more win to tie Bill McDonald for second place in career wins at Edinboro. He became just the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 career wins with the Walsh victory. Now in his eighth season at the helm, the Fighting Scots are 53-32 under Browning. McDonald won 54 games in ten seasons.

Three of Edinboro's six losses in 2012 came to nationally-ranked teams, and the Scots' first defeat in 2013 was also to a ranked outfit. Edinboro dropped a 47-35 decision to 15th-ranked Bloomsburg. The Huskies are now 7-0 and ranked sixth in the latest AFCA Top 25.

Browning Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"It was a tremendous team victory. The amount of energy our players took, the focus. It's what you are looking for every Saturday. We fought through the ups and downs. Our goal was to go down there and end up with more points than Indiana. I thought our staff did a tremendous job preparing our football team. We didn't play a perfect game. But we did enough to accomplish our goal."

Browning Comments ... on The Rock
"It's time to move on now. Slippery Rock doesn't have a weakness. They play extremely hard, they're physical, they're well-coached, they have tremendous schemes, and they will play fast. They have an exceptional quarterback who not runs the ball well but throws it very well. They are very good up front. Defensively they are extremely disciplined and physical. They make you earn everything you get. The special teams are very productive."