SLIPPERY ROCK - The future looks bright. But the future's not here yet.

"We have a lot of young players doing a lot of promising things out there," said Slippery Rock University football coach George Mihalik after his team's 38-26 loss to Edinboro Saturday at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

"It's hard for me to look at that right now. I have to deal with the present. And that's four (losses) in a row," the coach added.

SRU (3-6, 1-3) dropped its fourth game in a row for the first time since 1989. It surrendered 38 points to a PSAC West opponent for the first time since 1996.

Edinboro (6-2, 4-1) won at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium for the first time since 1995, and the Fighting Scots played an efficient game to do it.

Despite 116 yards in penalties, Edinboro didn't suffer a turnover. It generated 419 yards in offense, including three touchdown passes from Justin Bouch and 220 yards rushing from Andre Burk.

"I've coached flashy players before, guys like (former NFL quarterback) Jeff George, who you couldn't wait to see the stat sheet after the game because you knew they had big games," said Edinboro coach Lou Tepper.

"Justin and Andre aren't that type of player. They go out there and go to work. When you look at the sheet after the game, you're surprised at what they've done," he added.

Bouch threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to end a 67-yard drive on the game's first possession. SRU responded by driving into Scots territory, only to have a holding penalty stall the drive.

The Rock got the ball back and drove inside the Edinboro 10. On third-and-goal, the Scots' Chris Avery intercepted SRU quarterback Nate Crookshank in the end zone.

Edinboro went 80 yards in 10 plays the other way, with Bouch throwing a 3-yard scoring pass to leading receiver Justin Lipscomb.

SRU cut into the lead before the half, however. Crookshank found Brandon Richardson for a 28-yard TD pass and Josh Kniess returned a punt 59 yards for a score, trimming the lead to 17-13 with 1:06 left.

Kody Robertson added a 20-yard field goal for the Scots just before halftime.

Kniess' punt return for a touchdown was his third of the season.

"You're looking at the best in the conference right there," Mihalik said. "Josh is quite a punt returner."

"Just find a lane, hit the seam and go," Kniess said. "We were looking for a big return there to get us going."

But in the end, The Rock couldn't contain the Scots.

Edinboro's Elliott Page intercepted Crookshank three plays into the third quarter, setting up Bouch for an 18-yard scoring pass to Ed Brown.

Richardson caught a 33-yard pass from Crookshank well into Edinboro territory, but he fumbled and Page recovered. Two plays later, Burke scored on a 60-yard run and it was 33-13 with 9:02 left in the third quarter.

"Even when we'd do something positive, we'd make a mistake," Mihalik said.

Crookshank capped a 13-play, 57-yard drive with a 6-yard scoring run with 1:58 left in the quarter. Ryan Daniel's PAT was blocked by Tim Hyde and picked up by Avery, who rambled the length of the field for two Edinboro points.

The Rock didn't score again until backup quarterback A.J. Ruperto threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to freshman Nick Carimi, who was uncovered on the play, with 13 seconds left in the contest.

SRU surrendered more than 270 yards on the ground for the third time in four games.

"We have to find a way to stop somebody's running game," Mihalik said. "Our worst plays defensively were on third-and-long. We couldn't get off the field."

Notes:

Richardson had 100 yards receiving for the third time this year. … Kniess rushed for 89 yards and has 952 on the year. He has 2,026 yards rushing in his career at SRU. … Edinboro now has 22 interceptions. … Safety Kevin Johnston led The Rock with nine tackles and six solos. … SRU plays at Shippensburg Saturday. The Rock hasn't dropped five straight games since 1981.

Edinboro 7 13 15 3-38

SRU 0 13 6 7-26

First Quarter

E - Nate Eimer 18 pass from Justin Bouch (Kody Robertson kick), 9:57

Second Quarter

E - Justin Lipscomb 3 pass from Bouch (Robertson kick), 10:04

SRU - Brandon Richardson 28 pass from Nate Crookshank (Ryan Daniel kicjk), 5:57

E - Robertson 31 field goal, 4:57

SRU - Josh Kniess 59 punt return (kick failed), 1:06

E - Robertson 20 field goal, :05

Third Quarter

E - Ed Brown 18 pass from Bouch (Robertson kick), 11:23

E - Andre Burke 60 run (kick failed), 9:02

SRU - Crookshank 6 run (kick blocked)

E - Chris Avery return of blocked PAT, 2:39

Fourth Quarter

E - Robertson 37 field goal, 12:35

SRU - Nick Carimi 27 pass from A.J. Ruperto (Daniel kick), :13

Individual Statistics

Passing

: Edinboro, Justin Bouch 16-28-170-0. SRU, Nate Crookshank 16-25-166-3, A.J. Ruperto 3-6-39-0.

Rushing

: Edinboro, Andre Burke 23-220, Matt Phillips 9-61, Justin Bouch 3-1, TEAM 1-(-2). SRU, Josh Kniess 21-89, Nate Crookshank 13-62, A.J. Ruperto 3-7, Matt Tack 1-3, Corey Manfull 1-(-1), TEAM 1-0.

Receiving

: Edinboro, Justin Lipscomb 5-51, Jeff Dinger 3-28, Nate Eimer 3-27, Ryan Valasek 2-32, Ed Brown 1-18, Aaron Fetty 1-7, Kyle Witucki 1-7. SRU, Brandon Richardson 6-100, Luke Wetzel 5-29, Valdez Hails 3-28, Justin Fisher 2-12, Nick Carimi 1-27, Steve Fullerton 1-9, John Benca 1-0.