SLIPPERY ROCK — Roland Rivers was not in the mix when Slippery Rock University was trying to determine its starting quarterback prior to the 2018 season opener,

He's the main ingredient now.

Rivers, a transfer from Valdosta State making his second consecutive start for The Rock, threw for 327 yards and five touchdowns in SRU's 49-26 win Saturday night over Seton Hill at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

The 6-foot-3 junior also rushed for 80 yards and a score in three quarters of action.

“He's only going to get better,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said of Rivers. “He was missing a lot of reads out there. That will improve with time.

“What Roland's so good at is extending plays. He eludes pressure and he breaks tackles.”

Rivers was third-string — behind Andrew Koester and Taylor King — when SRU broke camp. Koester and King are nursing injuries now and neither suited up Saturday.

When they do return, Rivers will still be playing.

“He's our guy right now,” Lutz said. “Roland has gotten this offense rolling. I'd be a fool to make a change at this point.”

Seton Hill (0-4, 0-1) entered Saturday's game allowing 296 rushing yards per game. The Griffins gave up 163 against The Rock (3-1, 1-0), nearly half of those to Rivers.

“We did what we had to do to improve our run defense tonight,” Griffins coach Isaac Collins said. “Our knowledge was limited (on Rivers). We knew he played at Valdosta State, but didn't know much else.

“He slipped a few tackles, made people miss. We missed sack opportunities, interceptions ... You can't do that against a good team and win.”

The Griffins started a backup quarterback themselves in freshman Colton Mitchell. He threw for 399 yards and three touchdowns.

But Mitchell lost a fumbled snap at the SRU 1-yard line and was intercepted by Rock linebacker Trysten McDonald at the SRU 11. McDonald was the one who recovered the fumble as well.

“The way our offense was playing, we knew we only had to stop them a few times,” McDonald said. “Once they had to throw, we had more chances to make plays.”

Rivers' touchdown passes went to five different receivers. No Rock player had more than three receptions.

Kameron Patterson, a Grove City High graduate, played the fourth period and threw a TD pass of his own for SRU.

“You always have to be prepared to play. That's part of being a good teammate,” Rivers said. “I felt a lot more comfortable with the offense tonight than I did last week.”

Rivers said he threw five touchdown passes in a game once before — as a junior in high school.

“I ran for a score in that game, too, just like this one,” he said, smiling.

He's giving Lutz plenty of reasons to smile as well.

“I'll tell you the type of teammate he is,” Lutz said. “We had some guys leave the hotel last week (in Shippensburg) when they weren't supposed to and those guys had to run up and down the hill here 15 times on Sunday as punishment.

“Roland wasn't one of those guys, but he came out and ran the hill with them to show that he was with them.”

Brad Zaffram led SRU with 10 tackles. McDonald had eight tackles and forced a fumble. The Rock netted 503 yards of offense.

Notes: SRU has won 28 of 30 home games since the beginning of the 2013 season and has won 14 consecutive home night games. ... Butler graduate Tim Vernick had five tackles and a tackle for loss at linebacker. ... SRU kicker Jake Chapla is perfect on 22 PATs this year, but missed a 40-yard field goal try at the end of the first half Saturday. ... WR Henry Litwin caught a TD pass in his fourth straight game. ... SRU hosts Mercyhurst at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Seton Hill 6 13 0 7 — 26

Slippery Rock 7 21 14 7 — 49

First Quarter

SRU — Jermaine Wynn Jr. 20 pass from Roland Rivers (Jake Chapla kick), 11:52

SH — John Watt 34 field goal, 7:03

SH — Watt 27 field goal, 2:42

Second Quarter

SRU — Austin Scott 8 pass from Rivers (Chapla kick), 14:52

SRU — Rivers 2 run (Chapla kick), 12:00

SH — Kinan Humphrey 23 pass from Colton Mitchell (Watt kick), 5:22

SRU — Dakota Clanagan 16 pass from Rivers (Chapla kick), 1:01

SH — Travis Crummy 10 pass from Mitchell (kick failed), :19

Third Quarter

SRU — Mike Merhaut 10 pass from Rivers (Chapla kick), 10:14

SRU — Henry Litwin 10 pass from Rivers (Chapla kick), 3:11

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Aramis Alexander 13 pass from Kameron Patterson (Chapla kick), 12:28

SH — Ardell Brown 1 pass from Mitchell (Hunter Miller kick), 6:21

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Seton Hill, Cinque Sweeting 16-59, Logan Wiland 6-20, Colton Mitchell 4-(-4), TEAM 3-(-17). SRU, Roland Rivers 12-80, Braden Fochtman 7-55, Chacar Berry 5-18, Nassir Weaver 6-11. TEAM 1-(-1).

Passing: Seton Hill, Colton Mitchell 33-55-399-1, Kinan Humphrey 1-1-10-0. SRU, Roland Rivers 16-30-327-1, Kameron Patterson 2-2-13-0.

Receiving: Seton Hill, Ardell Brown 12-145, Uriah Rajkumar 9-89, Cinque Sweeting 6-50, Kinan Humphrey 2-26, Terrell Ford 1-34, Logan Wiland 1-27, John Makell IV 1-18, Travis Crummy 1-10, Colton Mitchell 1-10. SRU, Mike Merhaut 3-85, Henry Litwin 3-38, Dakota Clanagan 3-35, Austin Scott 2-43, Jermaine Wynn Jr. 2-37, Carnel Harley 1-58, Zach Cirillo 1-25, Aramis Alexander 1-13, Nassir Weaver 1-6, Jesse Nwabueze-Ogbo 1-0.