KUTZTOWN — the Rock went down like a champion — but won't have a chance to play for a championship.

Four passes from the Kutztown 4-yard line fell incomplete in the closing seconds Saturday at Andre Reed Stadium as a furious rally fell short in Slippery Rock University's 42-34 football loss to the Golden Bears.

SRU slipped from fifth place in the Super Region One rankings to out of a playoff spot. The top seven in each region move on to postseason play.

Four PSAC teams — No. 1 Indiana, along with Shippensburg, West Chester and California — reached the playoffs.

“We didn't take care of our own business today,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “The way everything else fell, we would be playing at home next week. But it didn't happen.”

SRU (8-3) trailed 42-24 entering the fourth quarter. Tanner Garry's 10-yard touchdown pass to Austin Scott capped a 13-play, 96-yard drive with 10:06 to play. Marcus Martin recovered a fumble at the Kutztown 15, setting up a 30-yard Jake Chapla field goal that narrowed the gap to 42-34 with 7:59 left.

The host Golden Bears (8-3) drove to The Rock 12-yard line, but Martin and Dylan Whiteman combined for a quarterback sack on third down. Alec Rosenfeld's 37-yard field goal attempt was blocked and SRU remained alive.

The Rock blocked three field goal attempts on the day to stay within striking distance.

“We made a nice comeback, but, ultimately, we made too many mistakes in the first half for us to win this game,” Lutz said.

Kutztown backup quarterback Chris Kane threw for 469 yards and five touchdowns on the day, leading the Golden Bears to a 35-17 lead by halftime.

But down by eight, The Rock took possession at its own 26 and drove to the Kutztown 4-yard line with less than a minute to go.

It was there that the four incompletions ended the comeback. Kutztown took over with 42 seconds left and knelt down three times to end the game.

“We had two timeouts left when we were down there (at the 4), but we hadn't run the ball well and our two best players are Marcus Johnson and Milly Raye,” Lutz said.

“We wanted to get the ball to them.”

One of the incompletions was targeted for Johnson, two others for Raye. The fourth-down pass was intended for Andrew Bridgeforth.

“Andrew ran a slant and was open on that play, but the pass was thrown behind him,” Lutz said.

The coach couldn't find much bad to say about Garry, however. The Rock quarterback threw for 307 yards and two TDs Saturday, giving him 3,522 yards and 32 touchdowns through the air this season.

Garry's passing yardage is second-most for a season in Rock history. His 32 TD passes are a school record, as are his 268 completions this year.

“There's no way we were in a position to make the playoffs without Tanner Garry,” Lutz said. “To do what he did in his only season as a college starter ... I'm proud of him.”

Johnson caught a 35-yard TD pass early in the game, enabling him to tie Greg Hopkins' SRU record of 28 receiving touchdowns in a career. Hopkins set that mark in 1994.

Martin's sack gave him 56 sacks and 92 tackles for loss — both easily Division II records — in his career.

Delmar Henderson returned an interception for a touchdown and Trysten McDonald returned a theft to the 1-yard line to set up an Isiah Neely touchdown.

Neely rushed for 71 yards, giving him more than 2,000 in his career.

Notes: The Rock seniors leave with a career record of 36-12. ... SRU had its 12-game regular season winning streak against PSAC East opponents snapped. ... Raye caught a pass in each of his final 37 games.

Kutztown 42, SRU 34

Slippery Rock 14 3 7 10 — 34

Kutztown 14 21 7 0 — 42

SRU K

22 First Downs 30

21-39 Rushes-Yards 46-147

307 Passing Yards 469

34-55-2 Comp.-Att.-Int 24-36-2

346 Total Yards 616

2-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-1

6-60 Penalty Yards 8-78

First Quarter

SRU — Marcus Johnson 35 pass from Tanner Garry (Jake Chapla kick), 14:52

K — Evan Culver 16 pass from Chris Kane (Alec Rosenfeld kick), 12:01

SRU — Delmar Henderson 45 interception return (Chapla kick), 7:56

K — Conor Sullivan 15 pass from Kane (Rosenfeld kick), 3:39

Second Quarter

SRU — Chapla 31 field goal, 13:41

K — Abdul-Hassan Neblett 10 run (Rosenfeld kick), 9:26

K — Jack Pilkerton 26 pass from Kane (Rosenfeld kick), 4:46

K — Josh Lee 43 pass from Kane (Rosenfeld kick), :42

Third Quarter

SRU — Isiah Neely 1 run (Chapla kick), 13:31

K — Neblett 70 pass from Kane (Rosenfeld kick), 2:34

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Austin Scott 10 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 10:06

SRU — Chapla 30 field goal, 7:59

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Isiah Neely 16-68, Chacar Berry 2-4, Tanner Garry 3-(-33). Kutztown, Abdul-Hassan Neblett 11-71, Efan Culver 21-59, Chris Kane 8-28, Nate Harka 1-(-3), TEAM 3-(-3), Collin DiGalbo 2-(-5).

Passing: SRU, Tanner Garry 34-55-307-2. Kutztown, Chris Kane 24-36-469-2, Collin DiGalbo 0-0-0-0.

Receiving: SRU, Marcus Johnson 6-99, Dylan Stapleton 5-57, Milly Raye 8-54, Mike Merhaut 6-50, Andrew Bridgeforth 3-16, Austin Scott 2-11, Isiah Neely 1-8, Brian McNally 2-8, Zach Cirillo 1-4. Kutztown, Jack Pilkerton 7-135, Abdul-Hassan Neblett 3-106, Evan Culver 4-68, Conor Sullivan 5-51, Amadou Berry 2-45, Josh Lee 1-43, Mason McElroy 2-21.