Final statistics

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team forced visiting Indiana U. of Pa. into four turnovers and withstood a 309-yard offensive attack by visiting Indiana U. of Pa. to hand the 23rd-ranked Crimson Hawks a 7-3 loss Saturday night in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division action.

The Rock finished the game with only 105 yards in total offense (61 passing, 44 rushing) but improved their season record to 4-1 and evened their PSAC-West mark at 1-1.

The loss was déjà vu for Indiana, which lost five turnovers the previous week in a 0-16 loss at Mercyhurst and saw its season records fall to 3-2 overall, 0-2 in division play.

The Rock hosts Mercyhurst in a division game next Saturday. That will be the second of three straight home games for the Green and White.

Senior cornerback #A.J. Saunders# scored the only touchdown of the game Saturday night when he returned an interception 60 yards to the end zone with 4:36 left to play in the first quarter.

That was the first of three interceptions The Rock recorded against Indiana senior quarterback Andrew Krewatch, who was 14-of-30 passing for 148 yards.

The second interception of the game was recorded by redshirt sophomore strong safety Jayson Nickson in the end zone in the final seconds of the second quarter. That ended an 11-play, 70-yard march by the visitors.

The INT was the second of the season for Nickson and came one Crimson Hawks possession after Rock redshirt sophomore free safety Brandon Watters forced and recovered a fumble at The Rock 23 yard line.

Watters' fumble recovery ended a nine-play, 59-yard march by the Crimson Hawks.

Watters added an INT at The Rock 35 with 7:43 left to play to finish the game with two takeaways. That INT came on the third play of a short-lived Indiana drive.

Nickson ended the game with a team-high eight total tackles, all solo stops. Redshirt sophomore linebacker Zach Sheridan had five solo and three assisted tackles, while redshirt freshman linebacker Jeff Thompson added six solo and one assisted tackles.

Indiana got its only points of the game with a seven-play, 28-yard drive on the first possession of the second half. The drive stalled at The Rock 13 and the guests were forced to settle for a 30-yard field goal by Craig Burgess with 12:35 left in the third period.

Notes: Saturday's game marked the fourth time in as many seasons the outcome of the SRU-IUP game was in doubt until the final horn. IUP won a 23-16 decision when a Rock pass attempt was picked off in the end zone in the second overtime last fall in Indiana and got a final-second field goal to win a 34-31 decision in 2007 in Slippery Rock. An incomplete pass on the final play of the 2006 game allowed SRU to escape with a 21-17 win in Indiana  ... Saunders INT was his first of the season and sixth in three seasons as a defensive back. He scored seven touchdowns as a freshman running back in 2006, had four interceptions in 2007 and one pickoff in 2008 … The Rock was outgained by a 177-63 total yardage margin in the first half of Saturday's game and were on the short end of a 132-42 comparison in the final 30 minutes … Indiana's scoring drive marked the fifth time in as many games this fall that SRU has allowed its foe to score on the opening drive of the second half. The upside to that is: The previous four foes all scored touchdowns on their drives to open the final half … Rock junior kicking specialist #C.J. Bahr# extended his school-record string of successful extra-point kicks to 59 with the PAT following Saunders' TD … Bahr moved into sole possession of 13th place on SRU's career scoring list with the 165th point of his three-year collegiate career. He is two points shy of the No. 11 spot and four points away from a top-10 spot … Bahr is three PATs shy of taking over third place on that career chart and is also three field goals shy of third place in that category … Saturday's win was only the second in the last 11 meetings with Indiana … Indiana running back Tobias Robinson, the leading rusher in the PSAC prior to the game, was held to 31 yards on 11 carries and left the game with an injury early in the second quarter.