CALIFORNIA, Pa. - John Luckhardt acted on a couple of hunches Saturday night at Adamson Stadium.

He hit on both of them.

The California (Pa.) University football coach called a timeout and spoke to his entire team on the sidelines after the Vulcans fell behind Slippery Rock University, 31-27, in the third quarter.

He then replaced freshman quarterback Matt Humbert with senior Dustin Strayer, who had not played a down all season.

Strayer led the Vulcans on a 46-yard touchdown drive midway through the fourth quarter as California defeated SRU, 34-31.

Luckhardt called the timeout to gather his team after it had blown an early 24-0 lead.

"I did that once before in my coaching career under similar circumstances," Luckhardt said. "It worked then and it worked again.

"We were getting a lot of penalties and were losing composure. I just had to break the rhythm of what was going on, settle everybody down and work on what was in our control - playing good football."

California won the game despite taking 18 penalties for 189 yards. The Vulcans were flagged for holding eight times and took five personal-foul penalties.

Humbert wasn't playing badly - he threw for nearly 100 yards and rushed for 75 - but Luckhardt wanted a veteran presence in the huddle.

"Dustin's been plagued with a hand injury, but he's healthy now," Luckhardt said. "I didn't want to burden a freshman with having to go out and win the game for us."

During the winning drive, Strayer scrambled for eight yards on a third-and-7 play from SRU's 21. Antoine Bagwell recorded the winning touchdown on an 8-yard run with 7:45 to play.

The Rock (3-3, 1-1) didn't threaten again.

"It's disheartening," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "We worked so hard to come back."

SRU got off to a nightmarish start, surrendering 24 points on the Vulcans' first 10 offensive plays.

The Rock took possession to start the game. On the first snap, quarterback Nate Crookshank found H-back Brandon Richardson for a 42-yard completion inside the California 25.

Richardson fumbled at the end of the play and the Vulcans recovered. Two plays later, Humbert got loose around the right end for a 68-yard scoring run.

Crookshank fumbled the snap on SRU's next offensive play, with the Vulcans recovering at The Rock 20-yard line. Cal's Gary Amos wound up kicking a 42-yard field goal.

A 17-yard punt gave California possession near midfield with 10:22 left in the first quarter. Two plays later, Humbert connected with Leroi Johnson for a 37-yard touchdown pass.

Two plays after the Rock went three-and-out again, Bagwell burst 85 yards for a touchdown and it was 24-0 before the game was eight minutes old.

"That's how Cal scores, with big plays," Mihalik said. "They stunned us."

SRU got back into the game behind Crookshank as the quarterback executed an 87-yard drive that ended with a 2-yard scoring toss to Valdez Hails.

Josh Kniess returned a punt 43 yards to set up Crookshank's 20-yard touchdown pass to Richardson with 1:43 left in the half.

Amos booted a 33-yard field goal on the final play of the half for a 27-14 California halftime lead.

A snap sailed over California punter Rusty Springer's head early in the third quarter, and Ryan Daniel turned the miscue into a 22-yard field goal for The Rock.

Crookshank threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Kniess with 7:46 left in the third quarter to cut the gap to 27-24.

Asaad Allen recovered a Cal fumble moments later, and a personal foul penalty gave SRU possession at the Vulcan 13-yard line. Crookshank's 1-yard run gave SRU a 31-27 lead with 3:08 left in the period.

Crookshank threw for 225 yards and three touchdowns - both career-highs - and rushed for 51 yards and a score.

"They had 11 defenders crowding the line of scrimmage," Mihalik said. "They knew Josh Kniess could beat them. They wanted to find out if Nate Crookshank could.

"I think people will realize now that Nate Crookshank can."

Still, Crookshank overthrew tight end Steve Fullerton twice when the latter broke open behind the secondary. He missed Richardson twice on similar patterns.

"If I stick one of those throws in there, we probably nail this one shut," Crookshank said. "I just missed them.

"It shows a lot, the way we came back. Nobody gave in. We just didn't finish it off."

Bagwell, the PSAC's leading rusher, had 278 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries. It was the fourth-best rushing performance in California history, trailing 307, 287 and 286-yard efforts by Wesley Cates.

"I don't care if I rush for two yards as long as we get the win," Bagwell said. "It's the blocking of the offensive line and wide receivers that made the difference."

Mihalik disagreed.

"That Bagwell is incredible," Mihalik said. "We couldn't stop him. He was the difference in this game."

Notes:

Richardson caught six passes for a career-high 122 yards. … Kniess was limited to 74 yards on 26 carries. … Marc Huddleston had 133 yards in kick and punt returns for Cal. … SRU linebacker Bill Lamb left the game in the second quarter with a concussion. … The Rock hosts Indiana (Pa.) University at 6 p.m. Saturday.