SLIPPERY ROCK — Excuse Slippery Rock University football coach George Mihalik if he appears a bit confused on the sidelines Saturday night.

The 22nd-year Rock coach knows little about the team he is coaching against.

He might know even less about the team he's coaching.

The Rock kicks off the 2009 season at 7 p.m. Saturday against Bowie State (Md.) at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

SRU has played the Bulldogs only once before, posting a 35-7 win on their Maryland turf in 2007. Bowie State started some sophomores in that game who are now seniors.

"But they've got an entirely new coaching staff this year, so there's no film for us to go on," Mihalik said. "They could come out in a Wishbone for all we know."

Damon Wilson, a Bowie State alumnus who served as an assistant coach at Prairie View and Texas Southern, is the Bulldogs' new head coach.

"We have a lot of speed and we can break some big plays, but we're all about running the football," Wilson said. "We want to control the clock.

"It hurts to run the ball and it hurts to stop the run. This game may become a battle of wills."

Bowie State plays in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and finished second in its division last year with a 5-4 overall record.

The team returns 35 lettermen and 15 starters, including Clifton Budd, a wide receiver and the team's offensive MVP with 27 catches for 297 yards. Bowie State's defensive MVP, free safety Terence Peete, also returns. He had 44 tackles and three interceptions in 2008.

Seven of the Bulldogs' starters have played together for two years.

By contrast, SRU has only eight seniors. The Rock has 95 players overall, 74 of whom are sophomores or younger.

"We usually have 15 to 20 seniors. This is unusual for us," Mihalik said.

On top of that, Brandon Frohnapple, last year's starting quarterback, left the team during summer camp, starting cornerback and kick return specialist Anthony Walls is academically ineligible and Ryan Webb, the team's leader with six interceptions in 2008, is out for the year with an injury.

"We went from having four starting corners to only two," Mihalik said. "A.J. Saunders and Robert Doiley are two of the best in the conference, but there isn't a whole lot behind them."

Rocco Colavecchia, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound sophomore transfer from Kent State, won the starting quarterback job in camp. His backup was to be redshirt freshman Ryan Sabo, but Sabo suffered a freakish thumb injury during a recent practice and is out indefinitely.

True freshman Ryan O'Rourke from Avon Lake (Ohio) is SRU's No. 2 quarterback.

"We wanted to redshirt him, but we can't afford that in case something was too happen to Rocco," Mihalik said.

"(Colavecchia) has a strong arm and we've got a great group of young receivers to go with him. This might be our best receiving group in the last eight to 10 years."

Kenny Cottman is at H-back with Kevin Sanders, Devin Goda, Jermale Cromerdie and true freshman Jeff Jackson slotted at receiver. Cromerdie is a junior while none of the others are beyond their sophomore year in eligibility.

Returnees Ryan Lehmeier, Damarcus Cleckley and Sayquan Scott-Mitchell anchor the running game.

"We're deep at running back, but we've got two new starting tackles — A.J. Hopp and Jordan Tuttel — who will be key in solidifying our running game," Mihalik said.

Wilson respects what Mihalik has put together at The Rock. Mihalik enters this year with a 141-85-4 record, 13th among active NCAA Division II coaches.

"They're a tradition-laden program that knows how to develop great athletes," Wilson said. "We're going to have our hands full."

Bowie State is picked to finish seventh in the CIAA's preseason coaches poll.

"This is not a rebuilding year for us," Wilson insisted. "Our goal is to win the conference championship. That's why you play."

Notes: Members of SRU's 1999 team — its last Division II playoff team — will be recognized Saturday. ... Junior placekicker C.J. Bahr needs 36 points to break into SRU's top 10 in career scoring. ... The Rock has not been shut out since 1996 (22-0 vs. Youngstown State), its streak of 146 games since ranking eighth in Division II.