EDINBORO Fighting Scots (6-1, 3-1 PSAC West) at SLIPPERY ROCK The Rock (5-2, 2-2 PSAC West) 
Date: Saturday, October 22, 2016
Site: Slippery Rock, Pa.
Stadium: Mihalik-Thompson Stadium (10,000)
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats: www.sidearmstats.com/sru/football/
Radio: WFSE 88.9 (Streamed on www.edinboronow.com)
TV: ESPN3

Edinboro Game Notes
Slippery Rock Game Notes
 
The Game Story
 
It is safe to say that few people would have predicted that Edinboro would have a better record than Slippery Rock entering the game. The Fighting Scots are riding a three-game winning streak and are 6-1 overall. More importantly, they are 3-1 in the PSAC West, just a game behind California(Pa.). They play the Vulcans on November 5. Slippery Rock comes in at 5-2 and 2-2 in league play. However, both of The Rock's losses have come on the road at teams currently ranked in the top 13, with Cal now up to No. 8 in the AFCA poll and IUP ranked 13th. Edinboro looks to snap a six-game losing streak to SRU. 
The Game Story

The Justin Lustig Era is off to a fast start at 6-1 after the 2015 squad went 0-11.  Edinboro opened the season with road wins at Saint Joseph's(In.) (31-30) and at Lock Haven (44-38), followed by a classic 54-51 double overtime win over West Chester in the home opener. The Fighting Scots opened PSAC West action with a 56-28 loss to then ninth-ranked Indiana(Pa.), but righted themselves nicely with an impressive 62-14 win at Clarion.  That was followed by back- to-back wins over local rivals Gannon and Mercyhurst, a 41-17 Homecoming win over the Golden Knights, and last week's 45-16 win at Mercyhurst. The last time Edinboro got off to a 6-1 start was 2009. Edinboro has now clinched a winning season for the first time since 2011.

Justin Lustig was the first head coach at Edinboro to win his first three games, and is now the first head coach to win six of his first seven games. Lustig and former head coach Scott Browning had been the only Edinboro head coaches to win their first two games and also their first two road games. Lustig is Edinboro's 14th head coach. 

The Slippery Rock game will mark the third Homecoming game for Edinboro in 2016. The Fighting Scots defeated Gannon in their own Homecoming contest, and won at Clarion when Clarion was celebrating Homecoming. Now comes Homecoming at Slippery Rock.

Slippery Rock comes in with a 5-2 record, and is 2-2 in the PSAC?West. Injuries have severely hampered The Rock in recent weeks, including an injury to Shamar Greene that has forced one of the top rushers all-time in the PSAC to miss the last two games. Both of SRU's losses have come on the road to teams ranked in the AFCA top 13 -- #8 California(Pa.) and #13 Indiana(Pa.). The Rock fell out of the AFCA?Top 25 this week after being ranked for 14 straight weeks. The two-time PSAC?defending champions were picked to finish second in the PSAC?West.

Edinboro's win at Saint Joseph's snapped an 11-game losing streak for the Fighting Scots after Edinboro suffered its first winless season since 1951 and the seventh in school history.  The Fighting Scots finished 0-11 a year ago, the most losses in school history. The win also snapped a string of eight straight setbacks on the road dating back to October 2014. Edinboro has now won four straight games road games for the first time since the 2005-06 seasons.

Edinboro enters the game ranked third in the PSAC and eighth in Division II in scoring offense at 43.6 ppg. The Fighting Scots are second in the conference and fifth nationally in passing offense (357.3 ypg.).

Edinboro was picked to finish eighth in the PSAC West in the coaches' preseason poll after being picked to finish seventh a year ago.  Slippery Rock has won the PSAC?championship the last two years and was picked to finish second in the Western Division in the preseason poll.

Youth is featured on the 2016 roster, along with a touch of seniority. After having just five seniors in 2015, this year's roster has six redshirt seniors and nine seniors. However, 50 of the 83 players on the opening day roster have a year experience or less. That breaks down to 24 freshman, nine redshirt freshmen, and 17 sophomores. The youth was evident in the season opener, with two redshirt freshmen starting and a total of three true freshmen and six redshirt freshmen playing.

Edinboro has been riding an incredibly hot Jake Sisson. The junior quarterback has passed for 26 touchdowns with just 6 interceptions over the last six games, and has 28 TDs and 8 INTs on the season. He has been named the PSAC?West Offensive Player of the Week three times, and has been named the D2Football.com Offensive Player of the Week twice. He was responsible for a school-record seven touchdowns at Clarion. Sisson currently leads ranks second in NCAA Division II in points responsible for (192) and is second in passing touchdowns (28). He ranks second in the PSAC and fourth nationally in yards passing (2,482) and passing yards per game (354.6), while ranking first in the conference and third nationally in total offense (371.6 ypg.).    


On Radio ...
The Edinboro-Slippery Rock game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Drew Patrick providing the play-by-play and George Schmidt the commentary. The WFSE stream can be heard at www.edinboronow.com.  In addition, all Edinboro radio broadcasts will be aired by the Keystone Sports Network. The games will be broadcast on WWCB 1370 AM in Corry, Pa. and WLOA 1470 AM in Greenville, Pa. The Keystone Sports Network streams live at www.keystonesports.net.

... and TV
} The SportsFever Television Network will televise the game on a variety of outlets, along with the game being available on ESPN3. Edinboro will be featured in four SportsFever Game of the Week telecasts in 2016.

LIVE
ESPN 3 (Accessible at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One)
ESPN College Extra
WPNT 22 -- Pittsburgh
WJAC -- Johnstown/Altoona/State College
 
DELAY
TBA
SPORTS TIME OHIO -- Erie, Meadville, Sharon, Cleveland, Columbus, Akron, Toledo, Huntington, Charleston, Youngstown & Buffalo
Saturday, October 19 -- 3:30 p.m.
WHAG 25 -- Hagerstown/Frederick/Chambersburg/Cumberland/Winchester/Washington D.C.


The All-Time Series
Slippery Rock leads 52-26-7
Slippery Rock has won the last six meetings with Edinboro, and the Fighting Scots have not won at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium since 2008.


The Last Meeting
2015 -- Slippery Rock 52, Edinboro 10 
A fast-paced, no-hudde Slippery Rock offense rolled up 600 total yards and 377 yards rushing to defeat the Fighting Scots for the sixth straight time. SRU scored on its first two possessions to grab a 14-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game. Austin Reese's 28-yard field goal cut the gap to 14-3, but SRU would boost its lead to 31-10 at the half. The Fighting Scots did put their best drive of the game together at the end of the first half, driving 75 yards in eight plays. Alex Caratelli's one-yard TD reception from Jake Sisson came with six seconds left. The Scots were held to one first down and 57 yards in the second half, moving into SRU territory once. Darren Massey broke his own school record for receptions in a game, hauling in 15 passes for 73 yards. Sisson completed 23 of 44 passes for 171 yards. Edinboro finished with 44 yards rushing. 


Last Week
Edinboro 45, Mercyhurst 16
The Fighting Scots won the Erie County crown with a convincing win at Mercyhurst. The game also featured the first matchup between Justin Lusting and Mercyhurst coach Marty Schaetzle. Schaetzle was an assistant coach at Bucknell in the late 1990's when Lustig played there. Mercyhurst held a 10-7 lead early in the second quarter, but after that it was all Edinboro. The Fighting Scots rolled up 501 yards in total offense while holding the Lakers to 229 yards. Jake Sisson continued his outstanding season as he completed 28 of 42 passes for 435 yards, the fifth-highest single-game total, with 4 TDs. His first went to Ta'Nauz Gregory for 16 yards in the first quarter. Mercyhurst would regain the lead on a four-yard run by Richie Sanders less than a minute into the second stanza. Edinboro responded with three straight scores for a 24-10 halftime advantage. Alex Caratelli caught a two-yard TD pass from Sisson, followed by Austin Reese's career-long 47-yard field goal. James Clark hauled in Sisson's third touchdown pass of the day, this one covering 16 yards. Mercyhurst opened the third quarter with a field goal to close the gap to 24-13. Once again, the Fighting Scots tacked on three straight scores, all six-pointers in the third quarter, to take a commanding 45-13 lead. Just over a minute after the Lakers' field goal, Walter Fletcher scored on a two-yard run. Fletcher was back in the end zone 59 seconds later, recovering a blocked punt in the end zone. Marquis Spence was credited with the blocked punt. Finally, Sisson combined with Jordan Williams on a 27-yard touchdown pass. Mercyhurst would add a field goal midway through the fourth quarter. For the first time in school history, three receivers caught passes for 100-or-more yards -- Gregory (9 rec.-110 yds.); Clark (7 rec. -147 yds.); and Caratelli (7 rec.-128 yds.) -- and all three scored touchdowns. The defense, meanwhile, recorded five sacks and had an interception.   
.     
Indiana(Pa.) 48, Slippery Rock 19
In a battle of nationally-ranked teams, an injury-depleted Slippery Rock squad fell at Indiana(Pa.). IUP came in ranked 13th in the AFCA?Top 25, while SRU was 16th. Slippery Rock fell behind quickly and was never able to recover. IUP would score twice in the first six minutes, but Don King III threw an 11-yard TD pass to Marcus Johnson to cut the margin to 14-6. The Rock would never get any closer, as IUP led 24-6 after one period and 38-6 at one point before King and Johnson combined on a 15-yard TD pass to make it 38-12 at the half. Nathaniel Musselman wrapped up the scoring for Slippery Rock with a 47-yard pass to Dakota Clanagan with just over a minute to play.  IUP finished with a 462-365 edge in total offense, with The Rock passing for 245 yards and running for 120 yards. 

 
The Coaches
Justin Lustig (Bucknell '00) took over as Edinboro's 14th head coach on January 11, 2016. This marks Lustig's first head coaching position after serving as an assistant coach at Ball State since 2011. A native of western Pennsylvania who played his high school football at nearby Cathedral prep, Lustig also has served as an assistant coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, Eastern Illinois, Christopher Newport, and Villanova.  Lustig has been a part of four teams that earned bowl eligibility in eight years at the FBS level. He was an assistant on five teams that won conference championships in 14 years in the profession, including six NCAA playoff appearances and two bowl games. Five of the teams he has been associated with have been ranked in the top 25. Finally, he has helped develop 37 all-conference performers, including 12 at Ball State. Most recently, Lustig was the special teams coordinator/ running backs coach at Ball State since 2011, along with earning the title of assistant head coach prior to the 2015 season. The Cardinals played in two bowl games during Lustig's tenure. They faced UCF in the Beef O'Brady's Bowl in 2012, then earned a spot in the 2013 GoDaddy Bowl against Arkansas State. Ball State finished with a 10-3 record in 2013 and 9-4 in 2012. In addition, Ball State posted wins over four BCS conference teams -- Indiana twice, South Florida, and Virginia.     
 
Shawn Lutz (West Virginia '96) is in his first season at the helm of The Rock, but is in his 20th season as a member of the staff. He spent the last four years as the associate head coach and the last eight as the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach. He has been a part of eight PSAC?West titles at Slippery Rock.        
    

Lustig Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"Our team played with a lot of energy and passion on Saturday. Our Edinboro fans traveled very well to Erie and I believe that played a significant role in the outcome of the game. I still believe our execution can be much better on both sides of the ball."


Lustig Comments ... on the Lakers
"Slippery Rock is probably one of the most talented teams in our league. They have playmakers on both sides of the ball, at all positions. It will be a challenge to keep them in check. Our guys are having a good week of practice and we will certainly need to be firing on all cylinders."