INDIANA— A bad move, a clutch drive, a wrong decision and a handful of injuries — a recipe for heartbreak Saturday at Miller Stadium.

Slippery Rock University led the entire football game, only to surrender the game-tying touchdown with 22 seconds left and eventually drop a 23-16 overtime decision at rival Indiana.

"We had them on the ropes,"SRUcoach George Mihalik admitted. "But we didn't play smart football late and it cost us."

The Rock defense had kept one of the most potent offenses in all of NCAA Division IIout of the end zone all day while building a 16-9 lead with 1:36 remaining in regulation.

Brandon Frohnapple's 8-yard touchdown toss to Jermale Cromerdie concluded an 80-yard scoring drive in the first quarter for SRU(3-3, 1-2), which tacked on C.J. Bahr field goals of 33, 35 and 46 yards.

IUP (4-1, 2-1), which began the day ranked eighth nationally with an average of 42 points per game, managed only Craig Burgess field goals of 38, 23 and 22 yards.

"I was disappointed in our offense today,"IUPcoach Lou Tepper said "We didn't get much going and I had to make some tough decisions to kick field goals. But Slippery Rock's defense wasn't giving us much room, either."

And Tepper wasn't disappointed in his offense late.

After Ryan Webb intercepted an Andrew Krewatch pass with 4:40 left in regulation, Mihalik made a quarterback change, inserting junior Brad Galvan behind center.

"We had to get something going,"Mihalik said. "We had receivers open and Brandon was missing them."

After connecting on nine of his first 15 passes, Frohnapple misfired on 13 of his next 16, prompting the change. He also suffered a mild concussion during the game that may have affected his play.

On a third-and-one from the Crimson Hawks' 45, The Rock jumped offsides. Galvan responded with a 20-yard completion to Devin Goda, however, setting up Bahr's career-long 46-yard field goal and a 16-9 lead.

"If we don't jump offsides there, though, we might have been able to run out the clock,"Mihalik said.

IUPreturned a short kickoff to its own 44-yard line, where it took possession with 1:36 left and no timeouts.

Using the middle of the field, Krewatch completed four straight passes, the last being an innocent 3-yard gain to Ken Witter at the SRU30 with 45 seconds left.

The Rock's Robert Doiley shoved Witter after the play, however, drawing a personal foul penalty.

"We just can't be doing that,"Mihalik said. "That gave them 15 yards and, more importantly, stopped the clock."

Three plays later, Krewatch found Cameron Mobley for a 2-yard scoring pass to tie the game with 22 seconds left.

"We never doubted ourselves on that last drive,"Krewatch said. "You can't win that way. We knew there were yards available in the middle of the field."

The Rock entered overtime without running backs Ryan Lehmeier (knee) or Damarcus Cleckley (shoulder). Corey Manfull was playing at less than 100 percent. SRUalso lost kick returner-cornerback Anthony Walls to injury earlier in the game.

Lehmeier was hurt in practice Wednesday and was only available to hold on kicks from placement Saturday.

SRU's first overtime possession ended with a 39-yard Bahr field goal attempt that was wide left. The snap was low and threw the play's timing off.

"Ryan did a great job just to get the ball down,"Bahr said. "But I had to do a one-step kick instead of the usual approach. I still should have made it."

The Rock got a second chance when Burgess was barely wide right on a 32-yard field goal attempt that would have ended the game.

"No excuses,"Burgess said. "It felt good leaving my foot. I just drove through it and pushed it a little too much."

IUPmade good on its second overtime possession as Krewatch found Garrett Lestochi for an 8-yard TDpass. The game ended when Galvan's third-down pass from the 10 was intercepted by Mark Jackson in the end zone.

"I tried to force a throw in there when I shouldn't have,"Galvan said. "We had another down. I should have thrown it away.

"I thought I might see some action today. I got a few more reps than usual in practice all week. I had a feeling."

Mihalik didn't like his team's chances in overtime.

"It's tough stopping an offense like that from the 25-yard line and we were banged up,"he said. "We fought hard, but we let this one slip away."

Notes: Krewatch has thrown at least two TD passes in 11 straight games. ... Jayson Nixon had 12 solo tackles for The Rock. ... Galvan's interception on the final play was SRU's lone turnover. Walls and Doiley recovered fumbles to go with Webb's interception for The Rock. ... IUPis 131-18-1 vs. PSAC West foes since 1984.

<B>Slippery Rock 7 3 0 6 0 0—16Indiana 0 6 3 7 0 7—23SRU IUP</B>14 First Downs 1937-111 Rushes-Yards 34-152168 Passing Yards 21114-40-1 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 25-36-1271 Total Yards 3520-0 Fumbles/Lost 3-26-45 Penalties-Yards 5-30<B>First Quarter</B>SRU— Jermale Cromerdie 8 pass from Brandon Frohnapple (C.J. Bahr kick), 2:59<B>Second Quarter</B>IUP— Craig Burgess 38 field goal, 14:11SRU — Bahr 33 field goal, 9:27IUP — Burgess 23 field goal, 5:05<B>Third Quarter</B>IUP— Burgess 22 field goal, 5:28<B>Fourth Quarter</B>SRU— Bahr 35 field goal, 14:56SRU— Bahr 46 field goal, 1:36IUP— Cameron Mobley 2 pass from Andrew Krewatch (Burgess kick), :22<B>Overtime</B>IUP— Garrett Lestochi 7 pass from Krewatch (Burgess kick)<B>Individual Statistics</B><B>Passing:</B> SRU, Brandon Frohnapple 12-31-133-0, Brad Galvan 2-9-35-1. IUP, Andrew Krewatch 25-36-211-1.<B>Rushing:</B> SRU, Damarcus Cleckley 17-73, Corey Manfull 14-31, Sayquan Scott-Mitchell 1-5, TEAM1-0, Brandon Frohnapple 4-(-6). IUP, Tobias Robinson 19-79, Shane Brooks 14-71, Andrew Krewatch 1-(-9).<B>Receiving:</B> SRU, Josh Prigorac 4-57, Terry Grossetti 4-32, Devin Goda 2-35, Dallas Richardson 2-22, Jermale Cromerdie 2-22. IUP, Ken Witter 9-84, Leo Wood 5-57, Garrett Lestochi 5-34, Nate Morrow 2-21, Roy-al Edwards 2-18, Cameron Mobley 1-2, Shane Brooks 1-(-5).