Complete Game Notes (PDF)

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 12th ranked Slippery Rock University football team will travel to West Chester University Saturday for its first nationally televised game of the year. Kickoff on ESPN 3 and the Watch ESPN app is set for 12:05 p.m.
 
Below you will find all pertinent information including directions, ticket information, live television and streaming coverage options, as well as detailed information about the game and complete game notes.
 

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LOCATION
• Google Directions to John A. Farrell Stadium
• GPS Address: 855 South New Street, West Chester, PA  19383

LIVE INTERNET COVERAGE
• Live Video Stream (ESPN3)
• Live Stats
• Live Audio (Online and Radio)  |  Provided by The Rock Station 97.7 FM (Butler).
• Twitter  |  All scoring information and in-game updates.

TICKETS (May be purchased on game day at stadium)
•  Online Advanced Ticket Sales - LINK
• Adult General Admission - $8
• Senior Citizens and Children Ages 6-18 - $5
• Students - $5

PARKING AND TAILGATING
• Farrell Stadium is on South Campus - Campus Map
• Parking is available in the lots below the stadium
• Parking cost is $5 per vehicle
• Tailgating is allowed in lower lot (Q)

LIVE TELEVISION LISTINGS
• ESPN 3 (Accessible online to more than 99 million households at WatchESPN.com, on smartphones and tablets via the WatchESPN app and streamed on televisions through Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox 360 and Xbox One).
• WPHL 17 (17 over-the-air, Comcast Philadelphia 17, Comcast Delco 7, Comcast Lancaster 7,  Service Electric 4, Verizon Fios 17, Dish Network 17, DirecTV 17) - Philadelphia/Lehigh Valley/South Jersey/Harrisburg/Lancaster/Pottsville.
• WHP 21.2 (21.1 over-the-air, Comcast 19, Armstrong 15, Blue Ridge 133, Nittany 99, Verizon 21, DirecTV 22) - Harrisburg/Lancaster/York/Carlisle/Lebanon.
• WPNT 22 (Pittsburgh/Slippery Rock Region) (22 over-the-air, Comcast SD 10/HD 812, Comcast Clarion SD 12/HD 812, Armstrong SD 22/HD 108, Atlantic Broadband SD 8/HD 707, Citizens SD 12/HD 812, Time Warner SD 22/HD 1022, Verizon SD 10/ HD 510, Consolidated SD 10/HD 710, DirecTV 22, Dish Network 22) - Pittsburgh.
• BLUE RIDGE CABLE NETWORK (BRC 113, BRC 11, BRC 13) Poconos, Eastern and Northern Pa.
 

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THE GAME
No. 12 Slippery Rock and West Chester, which received votes in this week's national poll, will play for the third straight year at John A. Farrell Stadium Saturday. The Golden Rams were victorious in the NCAA playoffs two years ago and Slippery Rock returned the favor last year with a 61-12 win in the PSAC title game. This marks the first of three mandated PSAC crossover games against eastern division opponents this season. The game will not count in the league standings. SRU will also play at Lock Haven next week and is scheduled to host Kutztown or the PSAC title game in the final week of the regular season to close out the crossover schedule.



ALL-TIME SERIES
Slippery Rock and West Chester have met just 16 times in a series that began in 1929. Slippery Rock won convincingly in the PSAC title game last year at West Chester to even the series at 8-8. The Rock's 61-12 win last year marked the most points scored by either team in the series and was the largest margin of victory in PSAC title game history.
 
First Meeting: 1929 (SRU won 13-6)
Last Meeting: 2015 (SRU won 61-12)
Current Streak: Slippery Rock +1
at West Chester: WCU leads 6-3
at Slippery Rock: SRU leads 5-2
Most Points Scored (WCU): 46 (2015)
Biggest Win Margin (WCU): 36-6 (1963)
 Most Points Scored (SRU): 61 (2015)
Biggest Win Margin (SRU): 61-12 (2015)
Last SRU Win: 2015 at WCU (61-12)
 
COACHING MATCHUP
Slippery Rock's Shawn Lutz made his head coaching debut last week and picked up his first win at the same time. Lutz replaced former SRU head coach George Mihalik, who retired after 28 seasons last December. Lutz is in his 20th overall season at The Rock, having spent the last four as the associate head coach and the last eight as the defensive coordinator.
 
West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan is in his 14th year as the head coach of the Golden Rams and his 20th year as a collegiate head coach. He went 54-14 in six seasons at Division III Widener before moving to West Chester in 2003. He is 109-51 at West Chester (.681), ranks eighth all-time in PSAC wins (108) and is fourth among active Division II head coaches with 163 career NCAA victories.
 
NATIONALLY RANKED
Slippery Rock was ranked No. 9 in both the Sporting News and Lindy's Sports preseason polls. The Rock were ranked No. 11 in the AFCA preseason poll and dropped one spot this week to No. 12 in the AFCA poll, widely regarded as the official Division II rankings. West Chester is the second team listed in the "receiving votes" category this week, technically making this game a matchup of No. 12 and No. 27 in the AFCA poll. The complete poll is on page 10 of the PDF notes lined above.
 
THIRD YEAR IN A ROW
This marks the third consecutive year Slippery Rock has been asked to travel the 307-mile trek across the state to West Chester. The Golden Rams knocked SRU out of the NCAA playoffs two years ago. The Rock returned the favor with a dominant win in the PSAC title game last November, setting up a rubber-match in the three-year stretch.
 
LAST MEETING WITH WEST CHESTER - 11/14/15  |  Box Score
No. 9 Slippery Rock rolled to a 61-12 victory on the road at West Chester last November in the PSAC title game, becoming the first team since the PSAC reinstated the league championship game to repeat. It was also the first time the road team had won since the game was reinstated in 2008.
 
The game featured a matchup of the regular season's top offense in SRU and defense in WCU. The Rock's offense won the battle early and often, racking up more yards in the first half than West Chester had allowed per game all year. SRU finished with a 557-245 edge in total offense on the way to scoring the most points and putting up the largest winning margin in PSAC title game history.
 
Dante Nania was named the MVP of the game after throwing for 304 yards, five touchdowns and no picks. Shamar Greene rushed for 178 yards and one touchdown and also had one receiving score. Five different players caught TD passes for SRU. The Rock defense forced three turnovers and allowed just 52 rushing yards in the game.
 
West Chester was paced by Brandon Monk with six catches for 67 yards and eight rushes for 19 yards. Pat Moriarty was 14-of-35 for 164 yards with two TD and one INT.
 
LAST WEEK FOR SRU  (W, 31-28 vs. NEW HAVEN)  |  Box Score
Slippery Rock extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 18 straight games, but needed 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to defeat New Haven 31-28.
 
The Rock trailed 28-14 after the first play of the fourth quarter, but held New Haven to negative 21 yards and no completions the rest of the game. The offense took over and scored on three straight possessions, finding the end zone twice and adding a field goal, scoring the winning points with 1:57 to play.
 
SRU posted a 392-265 edge in total offense, rushing for 248 yards and throwing for 144. New Haven was held to just 63 rushing yards on 41 carries and threw for 202 yards.
 
Shamar Greene paced the offense with 162 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Drew Scales racked up 195 all-purpose yards, including 73 receiving yards and a 21-yard TD run. Don King III completed 16-of-35 passes for 144 yards with one TD and two INT in his first start. Marcus Johnson added five catches for 54 yards and one TD.
 
Marcus Martin recorded 11 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Anthony Zappone added 11 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and had one interception. Bob Vernick added 10 tackles to pace the defense.
 
PSAC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Marcus Martin and Drew Scales were both honored by the PSAC this week as PSAC Western Division Athletes of the Week. Martin took home the defensive honor, while Scales earned the special teams recognition.



MARTIN BREAKS SRU CAREER SACK RECORD
Just one game into his junior season, Marcus Martin became the all-time career sack leader in SRU history. His 1.5 sacks against New Haven bring his career total to 33.0, passing SRU Hall of Famer Matt Kinsinger (32.0). Martin now has his sights set on West Chester's Andrew Cohen, who owns the all-time PSAC career record of 33.5, ironically which he set during the PSAC title game against SRU last year at Farrell Stadium.
 
MARTIN LEADING NATION
Marcus Martin is the leading active Division II player in tackles for loss per game, total sacks and sacks per game. His 1.22 sacks per game average makes him the only player in the nation that has averaged more than 1.00 sacks per game over their career. His 1.91 tackles for loss per game are tied with Zachary Blair from Virginia-Wise for the most among active players.
 
NOT JUST THE BEST IN DIVISION II...
Marcus Martin's sack numbers aren't just the best in Division II, they are the best among all college football players at any level of the NCAA. He is the only active player at any NCAA school to average more than 1.00 sacks per game over their career. A look at the top five current college players in the game and their averages are below.
 

1. MARCUS MARTIN, SLIPPERY ROCK	D2	33.0	1.22
2. Lucky Baar, McKendree	D2	32.0	1.00
3. Myles Garrett, Texas A&M	FBS	25.0	0.96
4. Damon Fuller, Adrian	D3	20.5	0.93
5. Teidrick Smith, Mary Hardin-Baylor	D3	36.5	0.91

MARTIN MOVING UP NATIONAL RECORD BOOK
Marcus Martin currently ranks tied for 16th all-time in NCAA history in terms of total sacks by a Division II player after just two years and one game. He has his sights set on becoming the all-time Division II record holder (46.0). He has averaged nearly 16.0 sacks per season over his first two years, a number that would make him the record holder this year if he is able to repeat. He has a realistic chance with two years left to play of becoming the all-time sack leader in NCAA history, regardless of division. The career record holder for each NCAA Division can be found below.
 
D1 (FBS): Terrell Suggs, Arizona State (44.0)
D1 (FCS): Chris Gocong, Cal Poly (42.0)
D2: Marc Schiechl, Colorado Mines (46.0)
D3: Mike Czerwien, Waynesburg (53.5)*
 
*All-time NCAA career sack record
 
CAREER TACKLES FOR LOSS
Marcus Martin is also on pace to become the all-time leader in NCAA history in career tackles for loss. He has 51.5 through two years and one game (on pace for 96) and the Division II record is 77.0, set by Andre Bernardi from North Greenville.
 
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN TOO
As if his excellence on the football field isn't enough, Marcus Martin also excels in the classroom. He was named to CoSIDA Academic All-America honors last season in his first year of eligibility for the award. Martin carries above a 3.6 GPA in the safety management program at Slippery Rock. He is a three-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete.

DIVISION II CAREER SACK RECORD BOOK

1	Marc Schiechl, Colorado Mines	46.0
2	Joshua Gordon, Minnesota State	43.0
3	Michael Eubanks, Delta St.	42.0
4	Jonas Celian, West Va. Wesleyan	41.0
5	Andre Bernardi, North Greenville	40.0
6	David Bass, Mo. Western St.	39.5
7	Casey Larson, St. Anselm	37.5
8	Morgan Fox, Colorado State-Pueblo	36.0
9	Matt Judon, Grand Valley State	35.0
9	Tony Johnson, Merrimack	35.0
9	Tim Green, Lincoln (PA)	35.0
12	Darius Allen, Colorado St.-Pueblo	34.0
12	Howard Jones, Shepherd	34.0
14	Andrew Cohen, West Chester *	33.5
14	Chris Schaudt, Minn. St. Mankato	33.5
16	MARCUS MARTIN, SLIPPERY ROCK ^	33.0
16	Julian Howsare, Clarion	33.0
18	Dan Skuta, Grand Valley St.	32.5
18	Adam McGurk, Adams St.	32.5
18	Buddy Bosseire, N.M. Highlands	32.5
21	Lucky Baar, McKendree ^	32.0

 * PSAC Record
^ Only two active players on list (Lucky Baar currently in SR year)
 
GREENE CLOSING IN ON SRU RECORD, 4,000 YARDS
Shamar Greene's 162-yard effort last week brings his career rushing total to 3,916 yards. He needs just 17 yards to become the all-time leading rusher in program history, which would pass Stan Kannedy's 3,932-yard record. He is also just 84 yards away from becoming the first 4,000-yard rusher in Slippery Rock history.
 
GREENE SECOND IN D2 IN RUSHING
Shamar Greene ranks second in career rushing yards among all active rushers in Division II with 3,916 yards. He is one of only four active running backs in the nation with more than 3,000 career yards and is one of only two with more than 3,500 yards. The top five active rushers in Division II can be found below.
 

1. Austin Ekeler	Western St.	4,472
2. SHAMAR GREENE	SLIPPERY ROCK	3,916
3. Brandon Jones	Alderson Broaddus	3,265
4. Ja'Quan Gardner	Humboldt St.	3,011
5. Robert Healy	East Stroudsburg	2,969

 
GREENE TOP 10 IN ALL OF NCAA
Shamar Greene currently ranks seventh among all active rushers at any level of NCAA football. He is second on the Division II list, but would rank in the top three on both the FBS and FCS lists as well. The top eight active rushers in college football are listed below.
 

1. Austin Ekeler	Western St.	D2	4,472
2. Donnel Pumphrey	San Diego St.	FBS	4,370
3. Marcus Cox	Appalachian St.	FBS	4,203
4. Tarik Cohen	N.C. A&T	FCS	4,075
5. Dan Andrews	Brockport	D3	3,920
6. Kade Harrington	Lamar	FCS	3,919
7. SHAMAR GREENE	SLIPPERY ROCK	D2	3,916
8. Dayton Winn	Hendrix	D3	3,757

ALL-PURPOSE YARDAGE
Shamar Greene also ranks third among all active Division II players in career all-purpose yardage with 4,377 yards. He is one of only four active players in the country with at least 4,000 all-purpose yards. The top five active players in Division II are listed below.
 

1. Austin Ekeler	Western State	5,467
2. Robert Healy	East Stroudsburg	4,508
3. SHAMAR GREENE	SLIPPERY ROCK	4,377
4. Brandon Jones	Alderson Broaddus	4,243
5. Chase Krivashei	Humboldt St.	3,994

 
PSAC CAREER RUSHING LEDGER
The following list is the top 16 career rushing totals in PSAC history.
 

1. Franklyn Quiteh	Bloomsburg (2010-13)	7,523
2. Jamar Brittingham	Bloomsburg (2004-07)	5,689
3. Wesley Cates	California (1998-01)	5,647
4. Irv Sigler	Bloomsburg (1994-97)	5,105
5. Michael Mann	Indiana (1990-93)	4,805
6. John Kuhn	Shippensburg (2001-04)	4,685
7. Gerald Thompson	Edinboro (1995-98)	4,410
8. Rondell White	West Chester (2010-13)	4,336
9. Harvie Tuck	Indiana (2009-12)	4,294
10. Larry Jackson	Edinboro (1991-94)	4,237
11. Poohbear McNeal	Mansfield/Indiana (2003-07)	4,185
12. Ricke Stonewall	Millersville (1981-84)	4,169
13. Derrick Price	West Chester (1987-90)	4,001
14. Joe Iacone	West Chester (1960-62)	3,958
15. Stan Kennedy	Slippery Rock (1997-00)	3,932
16. SHAMAR GREENE	SLIPPERY ROCK (2013-16)	3,916

SCALES ELECTRIC IN RETURN GAME
Drew Scales was dynamic each time he touched the ball last week, scoring on a rushing play and catching five passes for 73 yards. Not to be forgotten is his ability to change the game on kick returns. He flipped momentum back to SRU after New Haven went up 28-14 when he took the ensuing kickoff back 64 yards to set up an SRU scoring drive. He later returned a punt 27 yards to set up another score and also had a 52-yard punt return called back for an illegal block behind the play. He is the all-time SRU leader in career kick return average at 29.7 yards per return and he ranks eighth all-time in punt return yards (306) and third all-time in kick return yards (1,214) in program history.
 
SCALES AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS
Drew Scales ranks second among all active players in Division II in career kick return average at 29.7 yards per return. He is just shy of CJ Davis of Shepherd's national lead at 29.9 yards per return. The top five active return men in Division II can be found below, based on average yards per kickoff return.
 

1. CJ Davis	Shepherd	29.9
2. DREW SCALES	SLIPPERY ROCK	29.7
3. Miguel Hudson	Oklahoma Panhandle	29.0
4. Ke'Vontae Pope	Ouachita Baptist	28.9
5. Cody Paul	Chadron St.	28.5

 
KING III WINS FIRST COLLEGE START
Quarterback Don King III transferred to Slippery Rock for his senior year of eligibility after graduating from Sam Houston State in three years. He served as a backup in his entire time at Sam Houston, making his first collegiate start last week for The Rock. King was shaky early, though he got little help from four drops by his receivers, throwing two picks in the first half. He settled in late though and showed poise and control in the fourth quarter, leading the comeback with big plays that included a TD pass on fourth-and-goal from the nine and a 33-yard first down pass on fourth down that set up the game-winning TD.
 
KING AND JOHNSON FIND CHEMISTRY
Marcus Johnson earned a starting wide receiver role coming out of camp this year and showed why in week one, making arguably the two biggest plays in the fourth quarter comeback. He tiptoed inside the end line to pull in a TD pass on fourth down to start the comeback and then saved the game for SRU with a highlight-reel leaping catch of 33 yards on fourth down that set up the winning TD one play later.

 

ZAPPONE FITS IN
Linebacker Anthony Zappone transferred to SRU for his senior year from Eastern Michigan and like Teven Williams last year, fit in right away in his first game at The Rock. Zappone picked off a pass early in the first quarter and finished the game with a team-high 11 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
 
BASH BROTHERS
Zappone and fellow linebacker Bob Vernick were all over the field in the win over New Haven, recording 21 total tackles between the two of them after Vernick added 10 stops to go along with Zappone's 11. Vernick is coming off a career year in 2015 in which he earned All-Region honors after recording 90 total tackles and 14.5 tackles for loss.
 
SEASON OPENER STREAK CONTINUES
Slippery Rock's win over New Haven last week marked the eighth straight year The Rock have opened the season with a win, including the second straight over the Chargers.
 
OFFENSE SLOWS DOWN
Slippery Rock led the nation in total offensive plays in 2015, running a total of 1,215 plays. No other team in the country ran more than 1,142 and only three teams ran more than 1,000. The Rock averaged 86.8 plays per game last year. In the opener against New Haven, SRU ran 77 plays, 23 less than the previous year when the team ran 100 on the road at New Haven.
 
DAVIS SOLID IN COLLEGIATE DEBUT
True freshman punter Josiah Davis had a solid collegiate debut last week for SRU, kicking six punts for an average of 41.7 yards per kick. He had two kicks over 50 yards with a long of 53 and forced one fair catch.
 
CHAPLA HITS FIRST CAREER FG ATTEMPT
True freshman placekicker Jake Chapla missed an extra point in his collegiate debut last week, but responded by drilling a crucial field goal later in the fourth quarter when SRU was in the midst of a comeback three-point win. He went 2-for-3 in PAT tries and made a 20-yard field goal in his debut.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Slippery Rock has a balanced roster with many upperclassmen penciled to start on both sides of the ball, but this year will also be notable for how young The Rock are on the field. This week's depth chart features 21 players (including special teams) listed as projected starters or backups that are sophomores or freshmen in eligibility.
 
INTERCEPTIONS
Slippery Rock picked off a total of 24 passes last season and returns most of the primary threats to keep that trend going in 2016. Titus Howard and Derrick Fulmore both picked off four passes last year and Alfon Cook snagged three interceptions. Fulmore ranks eighth all-time at SRU with 11 career interceptions. The career record belongs to Brian Polk (1996-99) at 17 picks.
 
CONWAY NEARING TOP 10
Defensive end Cody Conway is closing in on cracking the all-time top 10 list at SRU in career sacks. He currently has 15.5 career sacks, needing just 2.0 to move into a tie for 10th on the all-time ledger with Mike Welhorsky (1996-99).
 
TOUGH STRETCH TO OPEN YEAR
Slippery Rock has one of the toughest opening pair of games among all schools in Super Region One. The Rock will open the year with back-to-back games against teams that went 7-4 and played in their conference title games last year with New Haven and West Chester, the latter of which is a rematch of the PSAC Championship from last fall.
 
TV GAME SUCCESS
This week's game will mark the first live television game of the year for Slippery Rock, which is scheduled for at least three live TV games through the SportsFever Game of the Week package. The Rock were a perfect 5-0 in television games in 2015. The other already scheduled TV games this season include the Oct. 8 home game against Mercyhurst on Salute to Veterans Night and the Oct. 22 Homecoming game against Edinboro.
 
CAPTAINS NAMED
The team votes each year to select the annual captains. This year's captains are Shamar Greene, Joe LoSchiavo, Bob Vernick, Derrick Fulmore and Joe Phillips.


 
STARTERS FROM WEST MIFFLIN
Slippery Rock starts four players that all graduated from West Mifflin High School, three of which have earned at least All-Region honors during their careers at SRU in Shamar Greene, Marcus Martin and Derrick Fulmore. Jim Popa also moved into a starting role on the offensive line to begin the 2016 season.
 
STARTERS NOTES
Shamar Greene has started more games than anyone on the team with 32 career starts. Joe LoSchiavo is a close second with 29 starts for the offense. Don King III, Dominic Dingle, Carnel Harley, Austin Fields, Jim Popa and Steve Gaviglia all made their first career starts for the offense last week.
 
Marcus Martin leads the defense with 27 straight starts, having never missed a start in his career. Bob Vernick has started 26 career games, including 18 straight. Cody Conway has started 26 career games and Joe Phillips and Alfon Cook have each started 15 straight games. Cody Allen is the only player to make his first college start for SRU last week on defense (Anthony Zappone started 18 games at Eastern Michigan).
 
WEST CHESTER QUICK HITS
• West Chester went 7-4 in 2015 and won the PSAC East crown before falling to Slippery Rock 61-12 at home in the PSAC title game.
• The Golden Rams were picked to win the PSAC East again this year in the PSAC preseason coaches poll.
• West Chester opened the year with a 31-24 road win at Bentley last week, but needed 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to get the win, just like Slippery Rock.
• WCU trailed by 10 points entering the fourth but rallied to beat Bentley with the winning points coming on a 35-yard interception return for a TD by Nydair Rouse.
• WCU rushed for 211 yards and threw for 180 against Bentley. The defense allowed 250 yards through the air and 157 on the ground.
• WCU used two quarterbacks at Bentley. Pat Moriarty started the game and went 2-of-12 for 17 yards with one TD and two INT. He lost his job to Andrew Derr, who finished the game 11-of-19 for 163 yards with one TD and one INT. Derr, who is listed as the starter on this week's two-deep, also rushed for 63 yards on 10 carries with one TD.
• RB Jarel Elder led the ground attack against Bentley with 102 rushing yards on 21 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per carry.
• WR Shannon Mayer was the only player to catch more than one pass last week, pulling down seven catches for 73 yards and one TD. Tyler Karpinski also caught an 11-yard TD pass. Jim Hurley caught one pass for 47 yards and Marcus Sydnor had one 32-yard grab.
• Kyle Keyser and Shaquille James each tallied seven tackles to lead the defense last week. Nydair Rouse added five tackles, the game-winning pick six and the only sack of the game for WCU.