SHIPPENSBURG — A banged-up defense against a big-bang offense spelled trouble for Slippery Rock University Saturday afternoon at Seth Grove Stadium.

Make that trouble with a capital T.

Host Shippensburg piled up 566 yards and 28 first downs on its way to a runaway 55-35 college football victory.

“We were powerless to stop that offense. That’s how it seemed,” SRU coach George Mihalik said.

The Red Raiders piled up 41 points in the first half alone in racing to a 27-point lead by intermission. Jake Metz intercepted a screen pass and returned it 24 yards for Shippensburg’s second touchdown and a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.

“We threw the ball right to him and that certainly didn’t help,” Mihalik said. “That wasn’t the turning point of the game, though.

“We got stopped on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1, then they throw a deep pass that we had three guys surrounding their one receiver and their receiver came up with the ball. They scored shortly afterward. ... That was the turning point.”

The Rock (1-1) played without starting cornerback Admire Carter and linebacker Bob Westerlund, both nursing injuries. Backup linebacker Seth Geyer, a Mars product, missed the game with turf toe.

Starting right guard Kirk Nypaver suffered a dislocated knee Saturday and quarterback Jared Buck went down with a strained neck in the second quarter. Buck had thrown for 125 yards — including touchdown tosses of 46 and 58 yards to John Schademan — before leaving the game.

Backup quarterback Nigel Barksdale ran for 76 yards and a touchdown, threw for 95 yards and a score.

“We’ll have to wait and see on Jared’s status this week, but I was pleased with Nigel’s performance (Saturday),” Mihalik said.

Akeem Satterfield put together his second straight 100-yard rushing effort, carrying 21 times for 138 yards and a score. Schademan had six catches for 125 yards.

Shippensburg’s Zach Zulli threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns. Mike Frenette rushed for 139 yards and two scores and caught a TD pass.

Marquis Knight paced SRU’s defense with eight solo tackles, while Gary Allen had The Rock’s lone quarterback sack and tackle for loss all day.

The 55 points marked the most Shippensburg has scored in a game against a Mihalik-coached team.

The Rock returns home Saturday, hosting Gannon at 6 p.m.

Shippensburg 55, SRU 35

Slippery Rock 7 7 7 14 — 35

Shippensburg 14 27 0 14 — 55

SRU SH

18 First Downs 28

42-213 Rushes-Yards 41-214

223 Passing Yards 352

18-32-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 23-43-1

436 Total Yards 566

2-1 Fumbles-Lost 1-0

6-54 Penalty Yards 7-65

First Quarter

SHIP — Trevor Harman 3 pass from Zach Zulli (Michael Lloyd kick), 12:43

SHIP — Jake Metz 24 interception return (Lloyd kick), 2:28

SRU — John Schademan 46 pass from Jared Buck (Kurt Brackman kick), 1:48

Second Quarter

SHIP — Zach Zulli 4 pass from Kevin Herod (Lloyd kick), 13:45

SRU — Schademan 58 pass from Buck (Brackman kick), 13:21

SHIP — Jacob Baskerville 35 pass from Zulli (Lloyd kick), 4:24

SHIP — Mike Frenette 30 pass from Zulli (Lloyd kick), 2:05

SHIP — Sheldon Mayer 20 pass from Zulli (kick failed), :21

Third Quarter

SRU — Akeem Satterfield 56 run (Brackman kick), :42

Fourth Quarter

SHIP — Frenette 2 run (Drew Newcomer kick), 10:01

SRU — LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 21 pass from Nigel Barksdale (Brackman kick), 8:46

SHIP — Frenette 70 run (Newcomer klck), 7:52

SRU — Barksdale 23 run (Brackman kick), :37

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Akeem Satterdfield 21-138, Nigel Barksdale 11-76, Jared Buck 7-1, Jimmy Zubik 2-1. Shippensburg, Mike Frenette 16-139, Zach Zulli 7-25, Keith Herod 5-22, Blair Brooks 7-17, Chris Lawshe 3-11, Justin Pyle 1-1, Jeff Tomasetti 1-0.

Passing: SRU, Jared Buck 6-13-125-1, Nigel Barksdale 11-17-95-0, Caleb Vescovi 1-2-3-0. Shippensburg, Zach Zulli 22-41-348-1, Kevin Herod 1-1-4-0, Chrtis Lawshe 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: SRU, John Schademan 6-125, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 4-54, Kevin Amos 4-34, Mike Bongivengo 1-5, Jimmy Zubik 1-3, Kenny Cottman 1-2, Brett Crenshaw 1-0. Shippensburg, Jacob Baskerville 6-126, Trevor Harman 5-79, Bryan Barley 4-38, Mike Frenette 2-42, Sheldon Mayer 2-34, Kevin Herod 1-15, Kyle Kush 1-11, Zach Zuilli 1-4, Blair Brooks 1-2.