SLIPPERY ROCK — A quick start, good field position and an early takeaway.

Slippery Rock University football coach Shawn Lutz wanted — and received — all of those things Saturday afternoon at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

He wasn't counting on a sudden momentum change. He received, that, too.

Indiana (Pa.) running back Samir Bullock, his team trailing 10-0, escaped a near-safety early in the second quarter and rambled 84 yards to set up an IUP field goal. The Crimson Hawks went on a roll from there and spoiled SRU's homecoming with a 34-17 victory.

“Momentum is everything in this game,” Lutz said. “They snatched it from us right there. We had the guy nailed three yards into the end zone and he got away.”

IUP quarterback Lenny Williams added touchdown passes of 25 yards to Walt Pegues and 14 yards to Allen Wright later in the quarter to give the Crimson Hawks a 17-10 halftime lead in the battle of unbeatens. The last scoring drive of the half covered 91 yards.

IUP (7-0, 4-0) started the second half with a 13-play, 82-yard touchdown drive and the score was 24-10.

But it all went back to that 84-yard Bullock scamper.

“This place was packed and their crowd was great,” IUP coach Paul Tortorella said. “This place was going crazy and we're back on our goal-line.

“Down 10-0, we needed to grab momentum pretty quickly at that point ... or we were gonna be down more than 10-0.”

Bullock delivered.

The Rock (6-1, 3-1) punted and pinned IUP at its own 2-yard line with 12:16 left in the first half. SRU had scored on its first two possessions, Tanner Garry tossing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Johnson and Jake Chapla booting a 27-yard field goal.

A Kyle Hall interception near the goal line had thwarted IUP's first possession of the game.

Now the Crimson Hawks were on their own 2. On first down, Bullock was nailed for a yard loss by Marcus Martin and Dylan Whiteman. On second down, he took a handoff and ran left in the end zone.

“I thought a guy had me back there,” Bullock admitted. “I was able to break free and then I saw nothing but green in front of me. I just took off.”

SRU's Tavarus Sample caught him at the Rock 15 and the Crimson Hawks settled for a field goal. But they were back in the game.

“If we get that safety, score again on the possession after the (free) kick, it could have been 19-0. Then, who knows?,” Lutz said.

But SRU managed just seven points in the final three quarters. Isiah Neely's 2-yard run capped a 17-play, 81-yard drive that ate 6:32 off the clock in the third quarter and cut IUP's lead to 24-17.

The Crimson Hawks controlled play in the final period, however, possessing the ball for more than 11 minutes. Indiana has not allowed a point in the fourth quarter all year.

“It's easy to do that when you possess the ball for that long,” Tortorella said of extending the streak.

Rock quarterback Tanner Garry threw for 316 yards, but standout receiver Johnson dropped four passes. Johnson had seven catches for 108 yards regardless.

“Marcus never drops anything. It was just one of those days,” Lutz said.

Garry said IUP's defense began the game with man coverage,” which is what we wanted.”

“Then they switched to a cover two and that gave us trouble,” the quarterback said. “We didn't make enough plays today.”

IUP entered the game averaging 265 yards per game on the ground. The Crimson Hawks rushed for 384 yards Saturday, including 168 from Bullock. The Crimson Hawks generated 29 first downs and 609 total yards.

“That all begins with our offensive line,” Bullock said. “And Lenny (quarterback Williams) does a great job with ball fakes and reading the option.”

SRU was limited to 66 yards on the ground.

“There's the game right there,” Lutz said of the rushing discrepancy. “If you allow 384 yards on the ground, there's no way you can win.”

IUP took control of the PSAC West with the win. Saturday was only the Crimson Hawks' second road game of the season.

“I told our guys that to be a championship team, we had to be resilient and relentless on the road,” Tortorella said. “We were resilient the way we responded to that 10-0 deficit. We were relentless the rest of the way.”

Notes: Saturday marked the third time in the series' history that IUP (third) and SRU (ninth) were ranked in the Division II top 10 when they met. The Rock won the first two, in 1998 and 1999. ,... IUP is 7-0 for the first time since 2001. ... Rock receiver Milly Raye had his touchdown catch streak snapped at six games. He has caught a pass in 34 straight games. ... SRU lost for just the second time in its last 27 home games and for the sixth time in its last 30 homecoming games. ... The Rock travels to Edinboro for a noon kickoff Saturday.

Indiana 34, SRU 17

Indiana (Pa.) 0 17 7 10 — 34

Slippery Rock 10 0 7 0 — 17

IUP SRU

29 First Downs 18

48-384 Rushes-Yards 25-66

225 Passing Yards 316

23-28-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 25-44-2

609 Total Yards 382

2-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0

14-124 Penalty Yards 9-97

First Quarter

SRU — Marcus Johnson 12 pass from Tanner Garry (Jake Chapla kick), 11:49

SRU — Chapla 27 field goal, 2:14

Second Quarter

IUP — Dillon Sarka 24 field goal, 9:31

IUP — Walt Pegues 25 pass from Lenny Williams (Sarka kick), 5:36

IUP — Allen Wright 14 pass from Williams (Sarka kick), :50

Third Quarter

IUP — Justice Evans 4 run (Sarka kick), 10:33

SRU — Isiah Neely 2 run (Chapla kick), 4:01

Fourth Quarter

IUP — Sarka 41 field goal, 13:37

IUP — Kolbe Hughes 5 pass from Williams (Sarka kick), 10:22

Individual Statistics

Rushing: IUP, Samir Bullock 17-168, Justice Evans 11-89, Duane Brown 7-50, Lenny Williams 7-44, Malik Anderson 5-35, TEAM 1-(-2). SRU, Isiah Neely 11-37, Chacar Berry 6-26.

Passing: IUP, Lenny Williams 23-28-225-1. SRU, Tanner Garry 25-43-316-2.

Receiving: IUP, Allen Wright 9-96, JoJo Gause 4-30, Kolbe Hughes 4-21, Walt Pegues 2-39, Chris Wuestner 2-9, Samir Bullock 1-25, Dom McNeil 1-5. SRU, Milly Raye 9-72, Marcus Johnson 7-108, Andrew Bridgeforth 3-69, Dylan Stapleton 2-39, Mike Merhaut 2-12, Brian McNally 1-9, Isiah Neely 1-7.