LOCK HAVEN - The only uniform able to slow down Slippery Rock University's offense Saturday was that of stripes.

Lock Haven wears maroon.

Despite 103 yards in penalties, The Rock rolled up 408 yards offensively and defeated the Bald Eagles, 31-3, at Hubert Jack Stadium.

"We knew Lock Haven wasn't as bad as last week (54-0 loss to Bloomsburg) indicated," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "They were going to play better today, they were going to play hard and we had better be ready.

"It was a great challenge for us and we responded."

The Rock drove 68 yards for a touchdown on the game's first possession. Josh Kniess rushed for 140 yards and three touchdowns before calling it a day early in the third quarter.

Nate Crookshank completed 14 of 20 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. The defense forced two turnovers, the offense turning both into touchdowns.

Trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, Lock Haven quarterback Tim Storino appeared to complete a pass for a first down to Justin Marshall. As Marshall was running laterally with the ball, SRU's Jesse Kelly knocked it loose and recovered it at the Bald Eagles 32-yard line.

Six plays later, Kniess was in the end zone on a 20-yard run and The Rock (3-2, 1-0) had a 21-3 lead.

"(Safety) Kevin Johnston set up that play," Kelly said of the fumble. "He saw me coming and was holding the guy there. I saw the ball wasn't secured and just knocked it loose."

A roughing the kicker penalty helped set up Lock Haven (1-4, 0-1) for a 40-yard field goal attempt at the end of the half. Kelly broke in and blocked Danny Hagerman's kick.

"They just destroyed our right guard on that play," Lock Haven coach Mark Luther said. "You have to be focused on every play and our right guard wasn't on that play. He wasn't ready for what was coming at him."

Kelly said SRU works on kick-blocks in practice.

"We spend a lot of time on it," he said. "(Nose guard) Brian Godfrey is an excellent bull-rusher and he and I come right up the gut. Sometimes I can slide off the block at the last second and get my hands up."

Greg Baker intercepted a pass to set up a Kniess 7-yard scoring run in the third quarter. Ryan Daniel booted a 42-yard field goal in the fourth period.

With The Rock's second-team offense in, SRU maintained possession for the final 7:29 of the game. Larvon Hines rushed for 72 yards on 11 carries during that final drive.

"We have three great backs on this team," Kniess said. "If anything happens to one of us, the depth is there.

"I don't mind sharing the load. It's not about statistics. It's about winning."

Kniess has nine touchdowns rushing and more than 600 yards on the ground this year. Saturday marked his fourth 100-yard rushing effort of the campaign.

"Our biggest weakness is the line on both sides of the ball," Luther said. "They exploited that. We have to get stronger there if we're going to compete."

The day was not all happy for SRU. Senior linebacker Justin Poorbaugh suffered a knee injury on the artificial turf and is likely out for the season.

"It was definitely a turf injury," Mihalik said. "I won't give up hope until I see the MRI, but it doesn't look good.

"He injured his other knee here on a similar play two years ago."

Kelly said Poorbaugh's leadership will be missed above anything else.

"He'll still be with us on the sidelines, but it's not the same thing," Kelly said. "Leadership on the field is always tough to replace. It's just something we have to overcome."

Notes:

The Rock is 23-0-1 vs. Lock Haven over the past 24 years. … Strong safety David Show and linebacker Jon Nalewak combined for 14 solo tackles for Lock Haven. … Nine different players caught passes for SRU. … The Rock travels to California for a 6 p.m. game Saturday. The Vulcans dropped a 35-34 decision at Clarion Saturday night.

Slippery Rock 7 14 7 3-31Lock Haven 0 3 0 0-3First QuarterSRU - Josh Kniess 34 run (Ryan Daniel kick), 12:52Second QuarterSRU - Valdez Hails 11 pass from Nate Crookshank (Daniel kick), 14:51LH - Danny Hagerman 35 field goal, 7:02SRU - Kniess 20 run (Daniel kick), 1:36Third QuarterSRU - Kniess 7 run (Daniel kick), 8:15Fourth QuarterSRU - Daniel 42 field goal, 11:45Individual StatisticsPassing: SRU, Nate Crookshank 14-20-161-0. Lock Haven, Tim Storino 10-20-120-0, Rob Kristiniak 6-14-42-1.Rushing: SRU, Nate Crookshank 3-26, Josh Kniess 20-140, Corey Manfull 10-17, Valdez Hails 1-(-1), Justin Fisher 1-(-7), Larvon Hines 11-72. Lock Haven, Maurice Walker 12-57, Tim Storino 4-17, Derek Marshall 6-32, Rob Kristiniak 2-(-9).Receiving: SRU, Brandon Richardson 3-34, Valdez Hails 2-24, Colin Golden 1-10, Steve Fullerton 1-10, Luke Wetzel 1-17, Justin Fisher 3-46, Matt Tack 1-8, John Benca 1-8, Frank Cremonese 1-4. Lock Haven, Justin Marshall 6-43, Rafael Smith 6-72, Kellen Bush 2-35, Jason Walther 1-2, Sean Sanderson 1-10.