SLIPPERY ROCK — With four games remaining, the Slippery Rock University football team remains in position to reach the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The Rock might need its offense to reach the end zone more often to stay there.

SRU (5-2, 2-2) travels to Gannon (2-5, 0-4) for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday with its offense ranked 15th in the 16-team Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

"It's no secret we need more production," Rock coach George Mihalik said. "If we could have some early success offensively Saturday, it would be a big plus.

"This is the first week our starting offensive unit has been completely healthy to practice together. I'm hoping that will make a difference Saturday."

SRU is averaging only 259.6 yards per game. The Rock offense has gained more than 230 yards only twice, has scored only 27 points in the past three games and is 3-for-27 on third down in the past two contests.

Despite such woeful numbers, The Rock enters the Gannon game ranked No. 5 in Super Region I. The top six teams in each region qualify for the playoffs at the end of the year.

SRU fell only one spot in the rankings despite its 27-10 home loss to Clarion on Oct. 8.

"I thought we'd fall to 10th, if not out," Mihalik admitted. "The fact we're still in there is uplifting to our team. We're still in the picture if we keep winning."

The Rock will be facing a Gannon team riding a four-game losing streak and allowing 381 yards and 32 points per game.

Golden Knights linebacker Matthew Neal-Mink ranks second in the PSAC with 70 total tackles, including six for loss. Defensive back Khayree Connors is seventh in the league with 50 tackles.

But Gannon has allowed point totals of 52 to California (Pa.), 42 to Clarion and 38 to East Stroudsburg.

"We've given up penalties in the red zone, penalties on third down — sports are all about momentum and those are momentum changers," Gannon coach Jim Kiernan said. "It's hard to keep digging out of holes like that."

Kiernan is 7-22 in his third year with the Golden Knights. His team suffered a 24-16 loss at Slippery Rock last year despite outgaining SRU 463-240 in yardage.

Gannon and SRU have split their four previous meetings overall.

Jon Richardson rushed for 168 yards and a touchdown against The Rock last year. He has 515 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns this season. Last week's 27-17 loss to Mercyhurst marked the first game Richardson failed to reach the end zone in 2009.

"He's an outstanding back, an all-conference player last year," Mihalik said. "And when you play this team, you have to prepare for two quarterbacks, not one."

Zach Boedicker is Gannon's starting quarterback and has thrown for 675 yards while rushing for 281. Hampton product Bob Bartley has completed 28 of 52 passes for 358 yards, including a 215-yard performance off the bench in the second half last week.

"We settled on Zach as our No. 1 quarterback, but Bob has game experience and is more of a pure passer," Kiernan said. "If the situation calls for it, we'll go to him."

SRU quarterback Rocco Colavecchia has completed 46 percent of his passes for 876 yards, six TDs and seven interceptions. He was replaced in the second half last week by true freshman Ryan O'Rourke.

"We were looking for a spark and Rocco understood that," Mihalik said. "He's still our No. 1 guy, but now that we've used Ryan's redshirt year, we may play him for a series or two to get him more playing time. We haven't decided on that yet."

Though slowed in recent weeks, SayQuan Scott-Mitchell is the fifth-leading rusher in the PSAC with 530 yards. Receiver Devin Goda has 12 catches for 162 yards in the past two games.

"Slippery Rock likes to establish the run, like most good teams do," Kiernan said. "That sets up their play-action pass and they have big receivers who can make big plays."

The Rock defense shares the league lead with 10 interceptions. Robert Doliey and Brandon Watters have three each. Linebacker Zach Sheridan leads SRU with 48 tackles.