Don't mind Millersville. Its offense is just passing by.

But not if Slippery Rock University can help it.

SRU (3-4, 1-2) hopes to snap a two-game losing streak Saturday when it travels to Biemesderfer Stadium for a 1 p.m. kickoff against the Marauders (2-4, 1-2) in a PSAC crossover game.

The Rock has defeated Millersville annually since 2000, including last year's 28-18 verdict. To continue that streak, SRU will have to ground the second-leading aerial attack in the conference.

"They love to throw the ball, no doubt about that," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "They use a lot of three and four-receiver sets, and they spread the field on you.

"But I think they're gonna try to run on us, too, based on what's happened the last couple of weeks."

Millersville averages 275 yards per game through the air. Quarterback Dan Csencsitz has completed 141 of 229 passes for 1,152 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Five Marauders have combined for those 13 TD catches and the receiving yardage is well distributed. Andy Neupauer leads the way with 32 catches for 377 yards and six TDs. Ryan Clift has 31 catches for 430 yards and three scores.

Omar Sanders, a former quarterback, has 25 catches for 306 yards, Bakari Brown has 18 for 265 and Brandon Tyler has 16 for 164.

By contrast, Millersville is averaging only 63.5 yards per game and 2.4 yards per carry on the ground. Tyler is the team's rushing leader with 201 yards.

"We want more balance offensively and our ground game has to improve," Millersville coach Kevin Kiesel said. "We'll be looking to run a little more against Slippery Rock."

There may be two reasons for that. One is The Rock allows just 149 yards per game passing and leads the PSAC with 22 quarterback sacks. Seneca Valley graduate Mike Jennings has five of those.

Another is that SRU has coughed up 733 yards rushing over the past two games - losses of 34-31 to California (Pa.) and 34-13 to Indiana (Pa.).

"Based on what our recent opponents have done to us, I expect other teams to run at us until we stop it," Mihalik said.

SRU's depth at linebacker will improve this week with the return of Bill Lamb from a concussion. Seth Randall saw some fourth-quarter action against IUP and is ready for full-time duty.

The Rock does know Csencsitz well. He got his start against SRU last season.

"We lost three linemen early last season and what we were trying to do offensively no longer worked," Kiesel said. "We needed a change of pace, so we moved Omar Sanders to wideout and started spreading the field with Danny at quarterback.

"We had some success against Slippery Rock and we've continued to have success. We figured out that this is the way to go for us."

The Marauders are struggling defensively despite the presence linebacker Joe Hollister, the PSAC's leading tackler with 64 stops. Millersville ranks 13th in the league at 427 yards allowed per game.

Discounting its 38-0 shutout of Cheyney, Millersville is allowing 38.4 points per contest.

"Slippery Rock always has solid linemen and they have guys who are playmakers," Kiesel said. "We have to find a way to slow them down.

"Their defense plays tough, hard-nosed football. You earn everything you get against that team," he added.

Mihalik will be watching to see how his team responds Saturday.

"For the first time this season, we took a step backward last week," he said. "The big concern of our staff now is how will our young guys treat the rest of the season.

"With two losses in conference, we're in a bad situation in terms of the PSAC West championship. But we still have to get back to playing good football."

Notes:

SRU linebacker Greg Baker had 10 tackles vs. IUP, the first time this year a Rock defender hit double-digits in a game. … Josh Kniess needs 205 yards rushing to hit 1,000 for the year and 286 yards to crack SRU's top 10 in career rushing. … Kiesel is 12-26 in four years at Millersville, 0-3 against The Rock.