SLIPPERY ROCK — Few teams in the PSAC have won more college football games than Slippery Rock of late.

Bloomsburg happens to be one of them.

The defending PSAC champions are 28-2 over the past three regular seasons and will bring a 10-game winning streak over The Rock into Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Saturday in the PSAC Championship Game.

Kickoff is set for 12:37 p.m. between the Huskies (10-0) and The Rock (8-2).

“This is a tremendous challenge for our team,” SRU coach George Mihalik said. “They’re ranked No. 5 in the nation. We didn’t get one vote for the Top 25.”

Mihalik has never defeated Bloomsburg. The Rock’s last win over the Huskies was an 18-7 decision in 1983.

Saturday will mark the first rematch in the state title game since the PSAC championship tilt was brought back in 2008. Bloomsburg won last year’s game, 42-38.

The Rock is hosting the state title game for the first time since 1974.

“We’re hoping this doesn’t develop into a shootout like last year,” second-year Bloomsburg coach Paul Darragh said. “That would not favor us this time.”

The Huskies’ forte this season is defense. Bloomsburg has eight returning starters on defense and seven seniors starting on that side of the ball. The team allows only 12.6 points per game and has not allowed more than 13 points to any of its last six opponents.

Bloomsburg leads all of NCAA Division II with a plus 24 in turnover-takeaway ratio. The Huskies have generated 19 interceptions and 15 fumble recoveries.

“Their offensive stats are misleading because they’ve worked with a short field quite a bit,” Mihalik said. “We cannot turn the ball over against this team.

“The key for us is getting off the field on third down and keeping our offense out there. It’s imperative we’re able to run 90-plus plays on Saturday.”

Bloomsburg running back Franklyn Quiteh — the 2013 Harlon Hill Trophy winner who rushed for 231 yards and three touchdowns against SRU last year — is graduated. So is linebacker Larry Webster, a fourth-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions who made that NFL team.

“We still have talented players, but we don’t have the top-level, pro prospect type of impact guys we had last year,” Darragh said. “We’ve had a knack for creating turnovers this year and we’ve been playing solid team football.”

The Huskies do have linebacker Justin Shirk back from last year. He leads the team with 83 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks.

“He plays in the middle, so you can’t run away from him,” Mihalik said of Shirk. “He covers the whole field, sideline to sideline.”

Mihalik described Bloomsburg’s offense as a physical running attack mixed in with timely passes.

Eddie Mateo has rushed for 1,025 yards and 23 touchdowns while Dai’Shon Munger has 691 yards on the ground. Veteran quarterback Tim Kelly has completed 103 of 180 passes for 1,358 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions.

“Mateo is a punishing downhill runner who goes over people while Munger has speed to the outside,” Mihalik said. “They complement each other well.

“I’m hoping our defense can stand up to their physicality. We’re not very big on that side of the ball. We rely on speed and quickness, but our defense has gotten its confidence back the past few weeks.”

SRU defensive end Joe Phillips remains questionable with an ankle injury. Seneca Valley graduate Nick Dahlstrom replaced him last week at Clarion and responded with a team-leading six tackles. Derrick Fulmore has five interceptions to lead The Rock and Mars graduate Austin Miele tops the team with 74 tackles from his outside linebacker spot.

The Rock has not allowed more than 55 yards rushing to any of its last three opponents.

Darragh admits to being concerned about SRU’s up-tempo offense.

“We don’t play that way offensively ourselves, so it’s hard for us to emulate that in practice,” he said. “Our defense isn’t used to playing at that pace. We have to control the line of scrimmage against those guys.”

Shamar Greene leads a Rock running game averaging 231 yards per contest. He has rushed for 1,367 yards and 10 touchdowns.

In four starts, quarterback Jared Buck has completed 64 of 100 passes for 847 yards, nine touchdowns and only one interception. SRU has five players with more than 20 catches, six with more than 200 yards receiving.

“That’s the nature of our passing game. You never know who’s getting the ball or who’s going to have a big day,” Mihalik said.

Both teams are back in the state title game after being predicted to finish third in their respective divisions in the preseason coaches poll.

“These are two programs who know how to win,” Darragh said. “My only job in taking over for (longtime coach) Danny Hale was to keep things rolling.

“When you’ve won at least seven games for 15 years in a row, you don’t have to fix anything.”

Bloomsburg has won 17 PSAC titles in its history. Slippery Rock has won nine.

“These are two programs with a lot of tradition who pride themselves on doing things right,” Mihalik said. “The coaching staffs work hard and there’s high quality kids on the field.

“This should be a battle.”