SLIPPERY ROCK — Howling winds, bothersome rain, driving sleet — Slippery Rock and Edinboro played through it all Saturday afternoon at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

Only to see the game decided by a toe and an ankle.

SRUsenior placekicker Ryan Daniel drilled a 41-yard field goal through the elements in overtime. Clint Forsha took advantage of an ankle tackle to recover a fumble shortly thereafter as The Rock defeated Edinboro, 24-21.

The win pulls SRU coach George Mihalik into a tie with the late N. Kerr Thompson for top spot on the school's career victory list with 126. He can break the record with a win Thursday night at Indiana (Pa.).

"That's secondary,"Mihalik said of the record. "The big thing here is our team. This keeps alive our goal of making the national playoffs."

The top six teams in each Division IIregion qualify for postseason play. The Rock (6-3, 3-2) was not among the top 12 before Saturday's game, but can climb into contention with wins in its final two games.

Edinboro (4-5, 1-3) did all it could to deny that opportunity Saturday.

Freshman quarterback Trevor Harris threw for 258 yards and three touchdowns. The final one was an 8-yard pass to tight end Kyle Witucki in the end zone with 56 seconds left to force overtime.

SRUhad time to move the football after the score, but was going against a stiff wind and elected to run out the clock.

"The elements played a big part out there all day,"SRUquarterback Nate Crookshank said. "Against the wind, there wasn't much you could do."

Only one touchdown was scored against the wind all day — a short pass over the middle to Edinboro receiver Rich Cerro, who cut toward the right sideline to produce a 40-yard scoring play in the third quarter.

That play tied the game at 14 with 6:01 left in the period. The Rock responded with an 8-play, 74-yard scoring drive to regain the lead before the Fighting Scots tied the game late.

SRUhad possession first in overtime, but gained only a yard on three plays from the Edinboro 25-yard line. Daniel delivered the go-ahead field goal with the wind at his back.

"I thrive on situations like that,"Daniel said. "Their players were all screaming at me that I was gonna miss ... I knew I was gonna make it. That was the side of the field I was warming up on earlier."

At the end of every Rock practice, the entire team gathers around Daniel and screams in his face as he's kicking the ball.

"That's exactly what it was like,"Daniel said. "It felt like the end of practice."

On the Scots' overtime possession, Harris threw two incomplete passes, the second one being batted away by Cory Lacek. On third down, the quarterback tried escaping pressure up the middle.

A defender grabbed him by the ankle and Harris fumbled as he fell to the turf. Forsha fell on the football and the game was over.

"We've had trouble running the ball this year,"Edinboro coach Scott Browning said. "Our success was coming through the air, so that's the route we took.

"It was wet out there and the ball just slipped out of his hand. That's the way it's been going for us."

Saturday's loss was Edinboro's second in overtime this season. The Scots dropped a 23-20 decision at home to Indiana Sept. 30.

"I'm not sure who got him by the ankle, but he (Harris) tried lunging forward and we knocked the ball out,"Forsha said. "It was laying on the ground right in front of me."

On a day more conducive to running the football, the teams combined for 104 net yards rushing and 472 passing. Slippery Rock High School graduate Travis Sarver rushed for 72 yards and two TDs for SRU.

Crookshank threw for 214 yards, including a 42-yard scoring pass to Paul Favers to get SRUon the board in the second quarter.

Edinboro nearly built a big lead early. Harris threw a 57-yard TD pass to Ryan Valasek — who had 131 yards on six catches — on the Scots' first possession. Moments later, Donnye Aiken tackled SRUpunter Kyle Witman at The Rock 27-yard line after a bad snap.

SRUsurvived the mistake when Jared Palmer pounced on a fumble two plays later.

"That was a huge momentum-buster,"Browning admitted.

Instead of going up 14-0, Edinboro became Mihalik's record-tying victim.

"This win total isn't about George,"Mihalik said. "It's about all of the great assistant coaches and good players who have worn the Green and White over the years. They're the ones who got it done."

SRU24, Edinboro 21

Edinboro 7 0 7 7 0—21Slippery Rock 0 14 7 0 3—24E SRU11 First Downs 1827-51 Rushes-Yards 45-53258 Passing Yards 21420-29-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 16-28-1309 Total Yards 2673-2 Fumbles/Lost 0-08-69 Penalties-Yards 6-57

First QuarterE — Ryan Valasek 57 pass from Trevor Harris (Kody Robertson kick), 9:36

Second QuarterSRU— Paul Favers 42 pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kick), 12:14SRU— Travis Sarver 3 run (Daniel kick), 6:23

Third Quarter E — Rich Cerro 40 pass from Harris (Robertson kick), 6:01SRU— Sarver 2 run (Daniel kick), 2:13

Fourth QuarterE — Kyle Witucki 7 pass from Harris (Robertson kick), :57

OvertimeSRU — Daniel 41 field goal

Individual Statistics

Passing: Edinboro, Trevor Harris 20-29-258-0. SRU, Nate Crookshank 16-28-214-1.

Rushing: Edinboro, Houston Brown 18-74, Ryan Valasek 1-(-6), Trevor Harris 7-(-16), Team 1-(-1). SRU, Travis Sarver 29-72, Demarcus Cleckley 8-8, Colin Golden 1-(-1), Nate Crookshank 6-(-12).

Receiving: Edinboro, Ryan Valasek 6-131, Rich Cerro 4-56, Houston Brown 4-8, Ryan Rybicki 3-31, Brad Gossett 1-14, Dave Jazenski 1-11, Kyle Witucki 1-7. SRU, Colin Golden 8-57, Paul Favers 3-54, Luke Wetzel 2-31, Terry Grossetti 1-47, Ross Hornish 1-17, Justin Guadagni 1-8.