SRU opens division play at Seton Hill
SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock is typical Slippery Rock, opening PSAC West football play this Saturday at Seton Hill riding a 16-game winning streak against Western Division opponents.
But Seton Hill is not typical Seton Hill — at least so far this season.
“They've been known for scoring a lot of points and giving up a lot,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “Now they're totally different.
“They haven't been giving up much at all.”
SRU faces Seton Hill at 6 p.m. Saturday at Offutt Field in Greensburg.
The Griffins (2-1) have allowed only 35 points in three games and are coming off a 14-3 loss at PSAC East-contending Kutztown. The Rock (3-0) is 9-2 all-time vs. Seton Hill and averaged 49 points in those 11 games.
Daniel Day is in his third year as head coach at Seton Hill and has changed the culture there. He played on the school's first football team in 2005 and was a three-year starter at center for the Griffins.
“When I took this job, I knew I had to focus on the defense,” Day said. “You can't win in this league without a strong defense.
“I wanted to build a good defense and a strong running game offensively. Our defense has been playing well. Our offense has been struggling.”
The Griffins have turned the ball over 12 times in their first three games while scoring only 32 points. Quarterback Chris Jones, a senior, has one touchdown pass and seven interceptions.
The Rock defense has only one takeaway so far this year — an interception by Selvin Haynes But that unit ranks seventh nationally in pass defense (97 yards per game), 15th in scoring defense (11.7 ppg.) and 17th in total defense, allowing 257 yards per game.
“Our defense has been playing well,” Lutz said. “But it would be nice to see us get a few takeaways. We always play pressure defense. That's our nature.”
Day referred to The Rock's defensive line as “the best we'll face all year.”
Seton Hill's linebacking corps of Jayden Emberton-Gaines, Jaden Mack, Jaylen McDuffie (35 tackles to lead team) and Narrio Walks (28 tackles) anchors the Griffin defense.
“Jaylen has been all over the field for us and has a lot of TFLs,” Day said.
Lutz said Seton Hill nose tackle Jevan Bowen (60-foot-5, 350 pounds) clogs things up the middle. The Rock coach considers Emberton-Gaines the heart of the Griffins' defense.
“They start seven seniors on the defensive side of the ball,” Lutz said. “They're experienced and they're good.”
In looking at SRU, Day said the biggest problem is finding the one player on offense that his defense can focus upon or key on.
“You can't take that approach against this team,” Day said. “Slippery Rock is insanely talented across the board.
“You have to play a more balanced formation, more vanilla against their offense. We just hope we can control them enough to put enough points on the board ourselves to stay with them.”
Tim Smith (221 yards) continues to be SRU's top running back as Evyn Holtz aggravated a hamstring injury last week. Henry Litwin has 17 catches for 349 yards and needs 45 more catches and 684 more yards to eclipse Greg Hopkins' SRU career records in those categories.
Rock quarterback Andrew Koester ranks second in the PSAC — trailing only Shepherd's Tyson Bagent — with 324 yards of offense per game. He's thrown for 922 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions.
SRU enters this game ranked No. 6 in Division II. The Rock is 20-2 in its last 22 games against PSAC West foes.
The Rock has won six of the last nine PSAC West championships and has not lost a divisional game on the road since Oct. 21, 2017, at Edinboro.
“This is where it all begins,” Lutz said. “This is our PSAC West opener. Winning this game is how you get started toward winning that Western championship.”
