With a potential strike apparently averted by a tentative contract agreement, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference will open its 2005 season as scheduled Saturday.

"Finally, we can concentrate on football," Slippery Rock University coach George Mihalik said.

And SRU can concentrate on finding a way to beat Bloomsburg.

The Rock travels to Bloomsburg for a 1 p.m. kickoff Saturday trying to snap a seven-game losing streak against the Huskies. SRU has not won a game in this series since 1983.

"The bounce of the ball has gone our way against them," Bloomsburg coach Danny Hale said. "We've had some real battles with Slippery Rock and we've been able to come out on top."

Five of the Huskies' last seven wins over SRU have been by a margin of seven points or fewer. Bloomsburg nipped Slippery Rock 19-16 and 20-17 the past two years.

Picked third in the PSAC East preseason poll, the Huskies return three all-conference players on offense and defense, along with an all-conference kicker.

Quarterback Jack Lydic threw for 1,161 yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago. Receiver Donny Patrick, who had 29 catches for 472 yards and six TDs in 2003 before missing last season, has returned this year.

Jamar Brittingham rushed for 991 yards last year and Josh Heck had 790 yards on the ground in 2003. Both are back.

"Offensively, they're loaded," Mihalik said. "Defensively, we're young. That matchup is one of our big worries right now.

"Hopefully, we won't let this get out of hand early, because I think we can move the ball on them. We have to weather that early storm because our defense doesn't have a lot of game experience."

Bloomsburg returns seven starters on offense, including 6-foot-4, 340-pound tackle Jahri Evans, a consensus first team All-American. Guards John Moser and Wynton Shelton were All-PSAC East selections a year ago.

The Rock returns only three starters on defense: Aaron Berarducci at cornerback, end Robert Minnie and linebacker Seth Randall.

"They're building on defense, but that's a hungry football team," Hale said of SRU. "They've got a quarterback returning, and that's something they haven't had in a while.

"Josh Kniess is an outstanding running back and they can make things happen on special teams. We have to be very leery of that."

With Kniess returning punts and Paul Favers returning kickoffs, The Rock has two of the best special teams players in the league. Quarterback Nate Crookshank threw for 1,535 yards and 14 TDs as a freshman last season.

Favers has been moved to wide receiver to give Crookshank a deep threat.

"Nate is comfortable with the offense now and he's looked very good in camp," Mihalik said.

SRU will be facing a defense that has six starters back, including three linemen. Dominick Esgro had five quarterback sacks from his defensive end spot a year ago.

"We feel like we have enough veteran players to make a run in the East," Hale said. "We averaged 300 yards per game on the ground last year. That tends to help out your defense.

"Our punter will be new. Slippery Rock's a tough team for him to start out against, since their return game is so effective."

Both teams have quality kickers. Garrett Bloom, a senior, was second team All-PSAC East last year. He kicked three field goals against Millersville and eight extra points against Cheyney.

The Rock's Ryan Daniel connected on 10 of 15 field goal attempts last season. Ray Rotell regained the punting job during camp.

"We're still young, but we got a lot of game experience in last year," Mihalik said. "With Youngstown State coming up on a short week (next Thursday), this is a critical opener for us."