SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock needed a miracle. It got one.

Trailing 30-14 early in the fourth quarter of Thursday night's football season opener against No. 12 Minnesota Duluth at Mihalik-Tompson Stadium, SRU rallied for a 45-43 double-overtime victory.

"I have no words for this one," Rock coach Shawn Lutz said. "Everything that happened down the stretch worked out for us winning this game."

The win marked SRU's 17th straight season-opening win. It was also The Rock's 200th win at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

Alex Riley scored on a 26-yard run to give the visiting Bulldogs a 30-14 lead with 12:46 to play. All-conference kicker Drew Henson missed the PAT.

"If he makes that kick, the game is probably over," Bulldogs coach Curt Wiese said. "Instead, it turned into the game we thought it was going to be."

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John Sabo caught a 7-yard TD pass with 6:20 left, but SRU's 2-point conversion failed.

UMD faced 4th and 11 from the SRU 31. Instead of punting or trying a field goal, the Bulldogs went for it.

Defensive end Brett Kwoka hit the quarterback from behind, forcing a fumble that Aaron Scales returned 65 yards for a score.

“That was the big play we needed,” Lutz said. “We used our timeouts on defense because we weren’t giving up. We had to extend the game as long as we could.

“Once we got it to overtime ... It felt like we were gonna win.”

Kwoka said “they moved their pass protection to the back side and I was begging the coaches to give me a one-on-one. I saw the quarterback (Jacob Eggert) holding the ball out and I just swiped at it.

“I didn’t even realize Aaron scooped up the ball. I wasn’t gonna follow him down the field ... I just went to our sidelines to celebrate.”

But the job wasn’t done.

With 3:13 left and out of timeouts, The Rock tried an onsides kick and failed.

Taking possession at the SRU 44, the Bulldogs were looking to run the clock down. But an offensive lineman got injured on first down, forcing a UMD timeout by riule. A second-down pass went incomplete, a delay of game penalty pushed the ball back further and UMD was forced to punt.

UMD pinned SRU back on its 8-yard line with 1:47 left.

“Mistakes and penalties really hurt us late in the third quarter and through the fourth,” Wiese said. “Yeah, we pinned them back, but by that time, the momentum had definitely switched.”

UMD had one penalty for 10 yards in the first half. The Bulldogs finished the game with 11 penalties for 100.

The Rock drove 81 yards — buoyed by catches of 29 yards by Ethan Trettel and 33 yards by Hamilton Gates — for the game-tying field goal with 20 seconds left.

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Connor Macek made the 27-yard kick.

The teams traded touchdowns twice in overtime before Owens scored the winning 2-pointer on a quarterback keeper.

"It was a run-pass option," said Owens. "I guess I made the right decision."

Owens did not start the game, but wound up throwing for 150 yards and a touchdown. Starter Jeff Hoffman threw for 154 yards and three scores.

The Rock won despite going 0 for 10 on third down and being out-rushed 370-87.

"They were kicking our butts," Lutz said. "Don't ask me how we won. But I won't apologize for it."

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“That team was tough as nails,” Kwoka said of UMD.

SRU scored on its first offensive play of the game, Hoffman flipping a pass over the middle to tight end Vincent Bernardino, who rambled 54 yards for a touchdown.

The Rock mounted little offense the rest of the half, however, managing only only one first down in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs rushed for 183 yards in the first half, including a 79-yard TD romp by Derrick Johnson.

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Minnesota Duluth closed the half with a 13-play, 66-yard scoring drive that took 6:02 off the clock.

Eggert tossed a 9-yard touchdown pass to Ben Fritsch with 21 seconds left in the half. UMD took a 17-7 lead into intermission.

Johnson rushed for 209 yards and three touchdowns for UMD.

The Rock does not return to action until Sept. 12, when it travels to East Stroudsburg for a 6:35 p.m. kickoff.

Minnesota Duluth 10 7 7 6 7 6 — 43

Slippery Rock 7 0 7 16 7 8 — 45

First Quarter

MD — Jadon Apgar 37 field goal, 9:57

SRU — Vincent Berardi 54 pass from Brad Hoffman (Connor Macek kick), 9:37

MD — Derrick Johnson 79 run (Drew Henson kick), 1:34

Second Quarter

MD — Ben Fritsch 9 pass from Jacob Eggert (Henson kick), :21

Third Quarter

MD — Johnson 58 run (Henson kick), 13:59

SRU — JayJay Jordan 28 pass from Hoffman (Macek kick), 8:23

Fourth Quarter

MD — Alex Riley 26 run (conversion failed), 12:46

SRU — John Sabo 7 pass from DaOne Owens, 6:20

SRU — Aaron Scales 73 fumble recovery (Macek kick), 3:13

SRU — Macek 27 field goal, 0:20

First Overtime

SRU — Berardi 8 pass from Hoffman (Macek kick)

MD — Eggert 1 run (Henson kick)

Second Overtime

MD — Johnson 1 run (conversion failed)

SRU — Jordan 7 run (Owens run)

Rushing

Minnesota Duluth, Derrick Johnson 16-209, Alex Riley 13-67, Jacob Eggert 20-46, Zachary Welch 5-20, Austin Randall 6-19, Francis O’Malley 1-7, Ryder Patterson 1-3. Slippery Rock, Brad Hoffman 11-42, DaOne Owens 8-23, JayJay Jordan 7-23.

Passing

Minnesota Duluth, Jacob Eggert 9-15-142-2, Austin Randall 2-2-6-0. Slippery Rock, Brad Hoffman 11-19-154-0, DaOne Owens 7-13-150-0.

Receiving

Minnesota Duluth, Peyton Menzel 4-72, Joey Flaherty 1-44, Ryder Patterson 3-19, Ben Fritsch 2-13, Nick Ojile 1-0. Slippery Rock, Vincent Berardi 4-95, Ethan Trettel 3-59, Reggie Fleurima 3-56, JayJay Jordan 4-35, Hamilton Gates 1-32, John Sabo 2-16, Carson Heckathorn 1-11.