After last year’s upset, No. 8 SRU football not willing to let Gannon spoil another season
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Slippery Rock University football is riding high.
The Rock lead all of Division II in scoring after rallying from a 13-point deficit to beat California (Pa.) last week.
Head coach Shawn Lutz doesn’t see a fall from grace coming this week when No. 8 SRU (4-0, 1-0 PSAC West) hosts winless Gannon (0-4, 0-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
“I promise you, we won’t have a letdown,” Lutz said. “Starting like we did last week at California, the energy never left our sideline. These guys are into this.
“It’s our first home game in a month, we’ll have a big crowd, great atmosphere. … Our guys will be ready to go.”
Gannon has lost 10 straight games, dating back to last year’s 38-35 upset of SRU last season in Erie.
The Knights finished 8-3 in 2022, capturing a share of the PSAC West title that year. They have lost 27 of 36 games since.
While The Rock are healthy this week — getting linebacker Jacob Snow back from concussion and missing only center Mohamed Aly among the starters — they are uncertain who Gannon’s starting quarterback will be.
Ty Hurst, a senior starter, injured a foot two weeks ago and did not suit up in last week’s 24-14 loss to Lock Haven. Andre Underwood, a freshman, played instead. He rushed for 81 yards but completed only five passes for 76.
Underwood is listed as the starter on Gannon’s depth chart this week.
“He’s more of a running quarterback, so we’re going to see power reads, jet sweeps, running plays from all directions,” Lutz said. “At least, that’s what we anticipate.”
SRU is averaging 53.8 points per game. Grand Valley Sate is the only other Division II team averaging 50 points.
The Rock have allowed only one sack all season despite having no current starting offensive linemen with any starting experience from last year. Soren Stoltzfus has filled in for injured center Aly. The tackles are Jake Jonassen and Varrius Farrell, and the guards Brian Frasco and Christian Werling.
“(Associate head coach and offensive line coach) Chris Conrad doesn’t get enough credit for what he does with those guys,” Lutz said.
Gannon is allowing 33.5 points per game so far this season. SRU leads the series between the teams, 13-7, and is 39-1 in its last 40 night games.
