SLIPPERY ROCK — The last time Kutztown and Slippery Rock met on a college football field, the PSAC championship was on the line.

This time, their seasons might be at stake.

The Golden Bears (1-3) visit The Rock (2-2) for a 6 p.m. kickoff Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. Both teams are coming off rough losses.

Kutztown suffered a 45-24 defeat at the hands of West Chester while SRU fell behind 31-7 by halftime at Mercyhurst before taking a 38-23 loss.

“We are two teams badly in need of a win to jump-start our seasons,” SRU associate head coach and defensive coordinator Shawn Lutz admitted.

Missed tackles cost The Rock dearly at Mercyhurst as SRU’s proud defensive unit was torched on the road for the second time this season.

“I counted 30 missed tackles on film last week,” Lutz said. “I’ve never had a defense miss 30 tackles in a game before. That’s embarrassing for us.”

Three critical turnovers cost Kutztown in its loss to West Chester. Freshman quarterback Josh Luckenbaugh played for injured senior Kevin Morton and completed a school-record 36 of 53 passes for 306 yards and a touchdown, but also threw two costly interceptions. He completed passes to 11 different receivers.

Luckenbaugh is expected to start again Saturday as Morton continues to recover from a shoulder injury.

“Turnovers have hurt us in all of our losses,” Golden Bears coach Raymond Monica said. “We’ve had a number of injuries to key offensive weapons, but we’re still moving the ball.

“It’s mistakes that have been costing us.”

Kutztown defeated The Rock 21-14 in last year’s PSAC title game — the Golden Bears’ first-ever win over The Rock in nine tries. The three teams to defeat Kutztown this year — West Chester, Bloomsburg and California — are a combined 11-1 on the season.

California defeated the Golden Bears 48-45 and Bloomsburg escaped with a 44-37 win.

“That team could easily be coming in here 4-0,” Lutz said.

Kutztown running back Curtis Wortham has 53 carries for 325 yards while playing for injured senior Josh Mastromatto. Wortham has two 100-yard games to his credit.

Sophomore receiver Shahaid Smith leads the team with 32 catches for 292 yards. He’s had 12 catches in both of Kutztown’s last two games and is playing for an injured teammate as well.

“We’ve had guys step up and help us. We’ve been able to score points,” Monica said.

The Rock lost two players to injury last week. The team’s leading receiver, John Schademan, may be lost for the season to a broken thumb. Free safety Isaiah Coleman, who has three interceptions, will miss Saturday’s game with bruised ribs.

Mars graduate Austin Miele or redshirt freshman Derek Morgan will fill in for Coleman.

“Both will probably play quite a bit,” Lutz said. “We’ll be using our dime package often because Kutztown throws the ball so much.

“If they run 80 plays, 50 of them may be in an empty set with five receivers on the field. We have to mix up what we’re doing defensively, go after the quarterback in different ways, drop back into coverage at other times. We can’t let him settle in.”

The Rock will also be looking for a quick start on both sides of the ball. Sluggish starts have been commonplace thus far in 2012.

“We’re a young, young team and that’s a product of that,” Lutz said. “We need to mature, come out and establish ourselves physically right away.”

Right guard Kirk Nypaver returns from injury for SRU this week. Akeem Satterfield leads The Rock ground game with 60 carries for 361 yards and two touchdowns. Jared Buck has completed 51 of 84 passes for 556 yards and six TDs, but struggled in the rain last week.

LaQuinn Stephens-Howling now leads a balanced receiving corps with 14 catches for 122 yards.

“Slippery Rock is always physical on defense and they’ve got great schemes this year offensively,” Monica said. “The kicking game there is always solid.

“This is not the kind of team you want to play when you need a win.”

Notes: SRU has won seven straight home games and is unbeaten at home since head coach George Mihalik’s name was added to the stadium. ... Rock kicker Kurt Brackman has made 44 consecutive PATs. ... Slippery Rock High graduate Tony Papley shares the SRU lead in quarterback sacks with Jeff Thompson. Both have 2.5. Junior linebackers Gary Allen and Quindell Dean pace The Rock with 36 and 32 tackles, respectively.