SLIPPERY ROCK — Believe in the process.

Tim Vernick, Chad Kuhn and Khadir Roberts certainly do. They've lived it.

Middle linebacker Vernick, end Kuhn and free safety Roberts — all starting juniors on Slippery Rock University football's defensive unit this season — also started as freshmen in 2017.

“We had ability. That unit was just inexperienced,” Butler graduate Vernick recalled. “We were almost all freshmen. There were as many as eight of us out there at the same time.

“We didn't have the knowledge back then. We didn't know what was going on half the time.”

Now they're anchoring a unit that will face Kutztown on the road at noon Saturday for the PSAC Championship.

SRU finished 8-3 in that 2017 season despite allowing averages of 457 yards and 32.6 points per game. The defense was gashed for an average of 206 yards per game on the ground.

“We had to outscore people,” Rock head coach Shawn Lutz said. “It wasn't pretty that year defensively.”

Kuhn was a quarterback at Kiski Area High School and was recruited as a defensive athlete by The Rock despite never playing on that side of the ball. He was inserted at defensive end in the spring game during his true freshman year.

As a red-shirt freshman, he was a starting defensive end for The Rock.

“Big adjustment,” Kuhn said. “I was learning how to play defense while I was playing defense.”

Roberts remembered SRU's defense giving up 350 yards rushing to Gannon standout Marc Jones, but stopping him on a 4th-and-1 play late to preserve a win.

“When our backs were up against it, deep in our own end, we'd make the play,” Roberts said. “That's how we were.”

This year, they're so much more.

SRU is allowing an average of 19.7 points per game. It's giving up only 92.7 rushing yards per contest despite allowing 228 on the ground in the season opener at Wayne State (Mich.).

“Our defensive line (Kuhn, Trey Blandford, Jeff Marx and Garrett de Bien) is our strongest suit,” Vernick said. “Those guys make game-changing plays. And they allow us to make plays behind them.”

Opponents are averaging only 287 yards per game against The Rock — and that's with linebacker Trysten McDonald (78 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss last year) out for the season and Vernick (team-leading 92 tackles last year) playing through a bevy of injuries this season.

SRU allowed averages of 337 yards and 21.2 points per game in 2018, when these players were sophomores.

“That year all those freshmen were starting ... It made me become a better leader,” defensive coordinator Dom Razzano said. “I can't say I didn't believe in our talent. We recruited all those guys and I knew they were good. They were just young.

“The improvement happened so fast. That surprised me a little bit.”

The Rock had a senior-laden defense in 2016. Marcus Martin, who went on to become college football's all-time sack leader, was the lone starter coming back in 2017.

“As much as Marcus helped us on the field, he probably helped us more off the field,” Kuhn said. “Just the way he conducted himself ... He was a straight-A student who never stopped working to get better.

“We all picked up on that.”

Razzano agreed.

“Marcus Martin was the hardest worker in practice I ever coached,” he said. “His practice film looked exactly the same as his game film. Never once did I have to get on him to work harder. His work, preparation and practice regimen were incredible.

“I have no doubt the other guys learned from that.”

Kuhn leads the PSAC this season with 10.5 sacks and has a chance to be an All-American. Vernick has 49 tackles despite playing through ankle, knee and shoulder ailments.

“I don't worry about the injuries,” Vernick said. “When I'm on the field, it's all adrenalin. I don't even feel them. I just want to play football.”

Lutz said Vernick's intelligence on the field is one of the keys to the unit's success.

“Intelligence is often overlooked in football,” Lutz said. “Tim calls out our defensive sets, gets everybody in the right spot to make plays.

“And when it comes to relentless, his name is in the dictionary.”

The Rock moved Roberts from cornerback to free safety two games ago “so we can get our best defensive backs on the field,” Lutz said. Tyree Spearman and Eric Glover-Williams are now the starting corners.

Roberts had no problem with the move.

“I just accepted it, whatever helps the team,” he said. “I've been playing in this system for three years, so the knowledge of the position wasn't that big a deal. (Strong safety) Dalton Holt helped me with that, too.

“I have to make more tackles, help out in run support more. That's what I'm working on now.”

Rock linebacker Brad Zaffram has 18.5 tackles for loss, ranking 11th in all of Division II. SRU ranks 14th in the nation with 8.8 TFL's per game, 16th in rush defense and 17th with 31 quarterback sacks.

“We've become a very good defense,” Razzano said. “We know we can get a lot better. The goal is to become an elite defense.”

“We've shown flashes,” Roberts said. “We haven't put together a four-quarter game yet. That game is definitely coming.”