ERIE — The only thing sloppier than the weather Saturday was the play of Slippery Rock University’s football team.

The Rock took 16 penalties for 143 yards, turned the ball over four times, failed to score on five possessions inside Gannon’s 25-yard line and were disastrous on special teams in a 38-27 loss to the Golden Knights at Gannon University Field.

“Honestly ... we couldn’t have played much worse,” SRU coach George Mihalik said.

“We moved the ball. We just made too many mistakes. I can’t explain why,” Rock quarterback Nigel Barksdale said.

Those mistakes proved too much to overcome on a rain-soaked field. Puddles were formed on Gannon’s artificial turf before the teams even took the field for pregame warm-ups. It rained, heavy at times, throughout the game.

Both teams scored two touchdowns in the first quarter. The Rock (2-1, 0-1) scored less than a minute into the game for a third straight Saturday as Brett Crenshaw raced 55 yards for a touchdown on the second snap of the contest.

But in the second quarter, SRU had possession inside Gannon’s 25 four times and came up empty. Bob Westerlund recovered a fumble at the Gannon 29, but The Rock turned the ball over on downs.

John Schademan returned a punt 37 yards to the Gannon 14, but Mike Wainauskis was wide right on a 24-yard field-goal attempt.

Schademan caught a 48-yard bomb from Barksdale to put the ball on Gannon’s 20, but Barksdale was intercepted by Nick Bengal on third down from the 14.

Quindell Dean intercepted a pass at the Gannon 34, but a holding penalty moved The Rock back and the ball was eventually turned over on downs.

“Our defense hung in there and made plays,” Gannon coach Brad Rzyczycki said. “This game came down to execution.”

The teams traded scores again in the third quarter, the Golden Knights (1-2, 1-0) taking the second-half kickoff and marching 65 yards in seven plays. Jansen Jones scored on a 19-yard run, his second TD of the game.

But The Rock answered as tight end Julian Harrell caught his second TD pass of the day, a 32-yarder from Barksdale.

The game didn’t stay tied long.

Quad Law returned the ensuing kickoff 92 yards to give Gannon the lead it never lost. The play was one of many special-teams problems for The Rock on this day:

Besides the missed field goal, Wainauskis had a PAT blocked that would have tied the game at 28.

SRU punter James McCombie had to put a knee on the turf to field a poor snap, giving Gannon possession at SRU’s 2-yard line and setting up the Knights’ first touchdown.

A 62-yard kick return by Justin Caliste gave Gannon a short field and set up Liam Nadler’s lone touchdown toss of the day, an 18-yarder to Jesstin Hamm for a 35-27 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“There’s no need to sugarcoat it. Our special teams were horrible, simply horrible,” Mihalik said.

“That unit directly handed them 14 points. Even with all the other mistakes, we win this game if that doesn’t happen.”

Jones had 38 carries for 181 yards for Gannon. He had 43 carries combined in his team’s first two games.

“I’m sure I’m going to feel it tomorrow,” Jones said. “With this weather, we needed to run the ball today and our line opened up some room.”

Nadler was limited to 126 yards passing. He had 769 yards through the air coming into the game, as did Barksdale.

“Without our running game, there’s no way we win this game,” Nadler admitted. “I think the rain affected play-calling for both teams.”

Barksdale threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns for SRU. His 28-yard pass to Ken Amos gave The Rock a first down at Gannon’s 33 midway through the final quarter. A series of penalties resulted in a first-and-40 back in Rock territory, where Barksdale lost a fumble.

“Foolish penalties, from comments and actions, they just hurt you,” Mihalik said. “We were ready to play today. It’s disappointing to not play the way you’re capable of playing.”

Notes: SRU is 0-6 at Gannon and Mercyhurst since those schools joined the PSAC in 2008. ... Mars graduate Austin Miele had nine tackles, two for loss, and leads the team in tackles on the year. ... Slippery Rock High graduate Tony Papley had nine tackles, 2 1/2 for loss, and an interception. ... Schademan had six catches for 123 yards, his third straight 100-yard receiving effort. ... The Rock hosts Mercyhurst at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Gannon 38, SRU 27

Slippery Rock 14 0 13 0 — 27

Gannon 14 0 14 10 — 38

SRU G

19 First Downs 19

38-169 Rushes-Yards 52-185

250 Passing Yards 123

15-38-2 Comp.-Att.-Int 14-26-2

419 Total Yards 308

3-2 Fumbles-Lost 1-1

16-143 Penalty Yards 11-99

First Quarter

SRU — Brett Crenshaw 55 run (Mike Wainauskis kick), 14:39

G — Jansen Jones 2 run (Donnie Mann), 8:43

SRU — Julian Harrell 14 pass from Nigel Barksdale (Wainauskis kick), 7:06

G — Liam Nadler 2 run (Mann kick), 1:36

Third Quarter

G — Jones 19 run (Mann kick), 12:12

SRU — Harrell 32 pass from Barksdale (Wainauskis kick), 7:56

G — Quad Law 93 kick return (Mann kick), 7:38

SRU — Teddy Blakeman 2 run (kick blocked), 1:01

Fourth Quarter

G — Jesstin Hamm 18 pass from Nadler (Mann kick), 14:49

G — Mann 44 field goal, 2:23

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Slippery Rock, Brett Crenshaw 6-61, Bigel Barksdale 13-49, Teddy Blakeman 7-36, Shamar Greene 10-24, Jaimire Dutrieuille 1-12, TEAM 1-(-13). Gannon, Jansen Jones 38-181, Liam Nadler 8-31, Cody Crosby 1-(-10).

Passing: Slippery Rock, Nigel Barksdale 15-38-250-2. Gannon, Liam Nadler 14-26-123-2.

Receiving: Slippery Rock, John Schademan 6-123, Ken Amos 4-38, Julian Harrell 2-46, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 2-24, Jaimire Dutrieuille 1-19. Gannon, Jesstin Hamm 4-40, Quad Law 4-37, Abraham Ocasio 3-24, Justin Caliste 2-13, Alex O’Donnell 1-9.