Cory Lacek set a school record with four quarterback sacks and Luke Wetzel caught three touchdown passes Saturday as Slippery Rock University defeated Millersville, 27-22, at Biemsderfer Stadium.

The Rock (1-1) trailed 19-14 entering the fourth quarter before rallying to victory.

Quarterback Nate Crookshank completed a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Terry Grossetti for the go-ahead score with 11:11 left in the game. A conversion pass failed and the score remained 20-19.

SRUstruck again only 15 seconds later. Following a Millersville fumble, Crookshank found Wetzel in the end zone for a 33-yard touchdown pass.

Wetzel had touchdown catches of 14 and 52 yards in the first quarter and had four catches for 138 yards on the day.

"Luke is having a fantasticsenior year,"SRU coach George Mihalik said. "He's definitely elevated his play to the point that he's one of the best receivers in the conference.

"Nate's coming into his own in terms of making right decisions and managing the game."

Crookshank threw for 221 yards and four TDs. He has six touchdown passes and no interceptions through two games this season. Slippery Rock High School graduate Travis Sarver paced SRU's ground game with 20 carries for 78 yards.

The Rock struggled in the kicking game as Ryan Daniel missed field goal attempts of 39 and 32 yards and a botched snap on a punt attempt resulted in a safety for the second straight game.

"The strange thing is that it was a different center both times,"Mihalik said of the errant punt snaps. "Clearly, giving up safeties like that in consecutive games isn't very productive.

"With Ryan, it's his confidence right now. The coaches and his teammates know he can do the job. Mentally, he just has to fight through this slump because we're going to need him at some point."

But Rock punter Kyle Witman delivered a 55-yard punt late in the game to help SRU protect its five-point margin of victory.

Defensively, The Rock had seven quarterback sacks overall. Besides Lacek's four, Tyler Boudreau had two sacks and Seth Randall had one.

"Cory Lacek led the conference in sacks last year and he had a few opportunities at YSU(Youngstown State),"Mihalik said. "We figure he'll be productive like that every week."

Millersville quarterback Dan Csencsitz threw for just 28 yards in the second half.

The Rock has defeated the Marauders in six of seven games since 2000.

SRU plays its home opener at 6 p.m. this Saturday against Mansfield, a 35-0 loser to Shippensburg over the weekend.

SRU 27, Millersville 22

Slippery Rock 14 0 0 13—27Millersville 14 3 2 3—22SRU M14 First Downs 1530-65 Rushes-Yards 33-53221 Passing Yards 19017-25-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 19-28-0286 Total Yards 2431-1 Fumbles/Lost 2-15-24 Penalties-Yards 3-43

First QuarterSRU — Luke Wetzel 14 pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kick), 13:16M — Andrew Tischbein 29 pass from Dan Csencsitz (Doug Ruhl kick), 11:28SRU— Wetzel 52 pass from Crookshank (Daniel kick), 5:43M — Jordan Brooks 41 pass from Csencsitz (Ruhl kick), 1:27

Second QuarterM — Ruhl 36 field goal, 5:22

Third QuarterM — Punt snap knocked out of end zone for safety, 7:45

Fourth QuarterSRU— Terry Grossetti 24 pass from Crookshank (pass failed), 11:11SRU— Wetzel 33 pass from Crookshank (Daniel kick), 10:56M — Ruhl 37 field goal, 6:44

Individual Statistics

Passing: SRU, Nate Crookshank 17-25-221-0. Millersville, Dan Csencsitz 19-28-190-0.

Rushing: SRU, Travis Sarver 20-78, Nate Crookshank 9-17, Kyle Witman 1-(-30). Millersville, Brad Lantz 14-83, Darnell Johnson 5-27, Akeem Johnson 5-12, Jordan Brooks 1-(-3), Dan Csencsitz 8-(-66).

Receiving: SRU, Colin Golden 8-50, Luke Wetzel 4-138, Paul Favers 2-7, Terry Grossetti 1-24, A.J. Saunders 1-6, Travis Sarver 1-(-4). Millersville, Andrew Tischbein 8-93, Jordan Brooks 5-54, Derek Fry 3-7, Brad Lantz 2-22, Randol Thomas 1-14.