The snow was falling. The wind was swirling. The field was whitening.

None of that mattered.

Minnesota State's defense did.

Ultimately, that side of the football carried the day for the Mavericks in their 58-15 victory at Slippery Rock, earning them a flight to Texas and a chance to win their first Division II national championship.

They took the nation's No. 1 scoring offense — The Rock entering the contest averaging 48 points per game — and contained it, frustrated it and beat it.

SRU scored 51 and 65 points in its first two playoff games. It managed 15 Saturday and had to fight for that against the nation's No. 1 ranked defense.

Minnesota State entered the game allowing 12 points per game. It held eight of its first 13 opponents to seven points or fewer.

“We wanted to come out here and prove we could stop the top-ranked offensive unit in the country,” linebacker Zach Robertson said. “We took this game as a challenge.”

They met it.

The Rock was limited to 310 offensive yards, more than 200 below its average. Charles Snorweah rushed for 266 yards in SRU's first two playoff games. He had 36 Saturday.

Roland Rivers III averaged 339 yards passing per game this season. He was held to a season-low 199 Saturday.

He completed 69.8 percent of his passes this year. He completed of 21 of 50 — 42 percent — Saturday.

“That guy is a special player,” Robertson said of Rivers. “He never quit trying to make plays.”

Rivers was sacked three times and was forced out of the pocket on numerous other occasions. He ran for 92 yards, losing 23 of those on sacks.

“We had guys open down the field, but Roland had a hand in his face on almost every play,” Rock coach Shawn Lutz said. “We had trouble keeping guys off him.”

Minnesota State coach Todd Hoffner said his defensive unit is based on speed.

“Speed is what we recruit on defense,” he said. “The defensive line, linebackers, the back end — we want to be fast at every position.

“That's what makes is effective. We can force the issue. We can apply pressure.”

SRU's bubble screens to Jermaine Wynn Jr., Henry Litwin and Cinque Sweeting were largely ineffective Saturday. Those guys catch the ball in space and go.

There was no space on this day. Litwin made plays downfield, but Wynn had five catches for 19 yards, Sweeting no catches at all.

“They took that away from us,” Lutz admitted.

What they didn't take away was a great season. SRU's 13 wins this year are a school record. The Rock came within a win of a national title shot.

And its four starting receivers — with a combined 4,108 yards and 48 touchdowns — all come back next season.

They're not done yet.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle