GameDay Central
7/7 IUP Crimson Hawks (5-0, 2-0 PSAC West)
Slippery Rock (4-1, 1-1 PSAC West)
Saturday, October 12, 2013 | 2:00 p.m.
Mihalik-Thompson Stadium I Slippery Rock, Pa.

Complete Game Notes (PDF)

Watch: SPORTSfever - TAPE DELAYED
Blue Ridge Communications (Sun., 3 p.m.), Root Sports (Wed., 7 p.m.),
Comcast (Thurs., 7 p.m.)
Webstream: WSRU-TV | ustream.tv
Listen: WQMU 92.5 FM | u92radio.com
Live Stats: RockAthletics.com | Fan Stats | Media Stats

PSAC/Division II Coverage
Week 6 PSAC Preview | PSAC Statistics | NCAA.com Preview

Other Links
2013 IUP Schedule | IUP Ticket Information | Tailgating Information

THE GAME: The Crimson Hawks hit the road for a tough PSAC West battle at rival Slippery Rock on Saturday afternoon. The matchup pits the nation's top defense in IUP against one of Division II's best offenses in Slippery Rock. IUP enters with a perfect 5-0 record and is coming off of a 62-3 win over Millersville. The Rock is 4-1 on the season and is coming off of a 58-10 win at Kutztown last Saturday.

ON THE AIR: The game will air live on WQMU-FM 92.5 with Jack Benedict serving as the play-by-play announcer and John Flickinger at his side as the color analyst. The two will be joined by sideline reporter Greg Drahuschak. The pregame show begins at 1:30 p.m. You can also listen to the action on the internet at u92radio.com. IUP-TV will not be at the game, but you can watch the game on a tape-delay on Root Sports, Comcast and Blue Ridge Communications.

HEAD COACH CURT CIGNETTI: IUP head coach Curt Cignetti (West Virginia, '82) enters his third season at the helm after leading the Crimson Hawks to a PSAC championship, a 12-2 record and a berth in the NCAA playoffs in 2012. Through his two-plus seasons, Cignetti has a record of 24-5, going 13-3 in PSAC West play and 2-1 in the NCAA playoffs. He has a record of 13-2 at home and 11-3 on the road. This is Cignetti's 31st year of coaching, with previous stops at Alabama (07-10), NC State (00-06), Pittsburgh (83-84, 93-99) Temple (89-92), Rice (86-88) and Davidson (85).

THE SERIES: IUP holds the all-time series lead over The Rock with a record of 45-34-2. The Crimson Hawks are 7-3 in the last 10 meetings, including a 33-16 win last year at home. IUP has dropped each of its last two games to The Rock on the road, but are 14-3 in the last 17 at SRU.

NEXT GAME: The Crimson Hawks return home next week when they host Edinboro at 1 p.m. IUP is 55-21-4 all-time against the Fighting Scots, who enter this Saturday with a 3-2 overall record and a 1-1 mark in the PSAC West. IUP has three straight wins in the series, including a pair of shutouts - 18-0 in 2010 and 19-0 in 2011.

HAWK TALK

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN... IUP held steady at No. 7 in both the AFCA Coaches Poll and the D2Football.com Media Poll after the win over Millersville. The Crimson Hawks have been ranked here for three straight weeks.

FROM THE TOP LOOKING DOWN... IUP is the only PSAC West school with a perfect 5-0 record. Gannon is the only other in the division to boast a 2-0 record in the division, but hold a 3-2 overall record. Slippery Rock, California, Edinboro and Clarion are all 1-1 in the West.

SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE... It's a clash of styles on Saturday with IUP's top-ranked defense (6.0 pts/game) going up against Slippery Rock's high-scoring offense (50.4 pts/game). The Crimson Hawks have two shutouts this year and have given up just 10 points in the last four games while Slippery Rock has hit the 58-point mark on three different occasions.

A FAMILIAR FACE... Rock RB Teddy Blakeman, who transferred from IUP, has 171 yards and 5 rushing TDs this year. Blakeman ran for 751 yards and 9 TDs with the Crimson Hawks from 2010-11.

DEFENSE IS KING... The IUP defense ranks near the top of DII in several categories, including points/game (6.0 - 1st), total yards/game (213.4 - 1st), red zone defense (33.3 pct. - t-1st), interceptions (12 - t-1st), passing yards/game (118.2 - 4th), and opponent 1st downs allowed/game (13.4 - t-4th).

AWAY FROM THE ENDZONE... The Crimson Hawks have allowed opponents to reach the red zone just nine times in five games, giving up scores just three times (2 TDs, 1 FG). IUP has not given up an offensive TD in 16 consecutive quarters, a streak that stretches back to the 4th quarter against Southern Connecticut State and includes 51 opponent offensive drives.

PICKING SOME GOOD ONES... Three different IUP defenders have 3 interceptions this year, helping the Crimson Hawks lead the nation in that category. R-Sr. DB Terrell Holloway (Penn Hills/Penn Hills), along with R-Sr. FS Marco Pecora (Johnstown/Richland) and R-Jr. SS Eric Williams (Yardley/Pennsbury) have accounted for 9 of IUP's 12 picks and have added 3 more pass breakups.

OUT OF THE BOX... R-Sr. QB Mike Box (Lawrenceville, GA/Collins Hill) threw for 3 TDs on Saturday, the 2nd time this season he's reached that mark. He's on pace to throw for 20 TDs and nearly 2,100 yards this season.

4-HEADED MONSTER?... IUP has four RBs who average at least 36 rushing yards/game, helping IUP to its 203.8/game average. R-Sr. De'Antwan Williams (Woodbridge, VA/Woodbridge) has reached the 100-yard mark twice while Fr. Izzy Green (Trotwood, Ohio/Trotwood-Madison) got his first 100-yard game against Millersville. Williams averages a team-leading 96.2 yards with 6 TDs while R-Sr. Erik Finklea (Cincinnati, OH/Woodward) averages 53.2 yards with 4 TDs, Green averages 36.8 yards with 3 TDs and Fr. Patrick Ferguson (Pittsburgh/Taylor Allderdice) has averaged 40.0 yards in his two games.

TURN BACK TIME... The Crimson Hawks have gone back to their 2012 ways over the past two games, controlling the ball an average of 35:10. In the opening three games of this year, IUP only held on to the ball an average of 26:46.

COVERING THE KICK... IUP leads the PSAC in kickoff coverage, averaging a net of 50.5 yards per kick. With the help of Jr. K Brett Ullman (Baltimore, Md./Perry Hall), IUP leads the conference with 12 touchbacks.

COUNTDOWN TO 800... The game against Slippery Rock will be the 796th game in IUP history, with the 800th game coming at home against Gannon on Nov. 9. In IUP's nearly 800 games, they hold a 518-254-23 record. The team sits at 16th in all-time victories in Division II, two games behinid Northwest Missouri State.

SCOUTING THE ROCK

OFFENSE... The Rock has one of the best offenses in Division II, ranking 3rd in passing yards (389.6/game), 4th in total yards (565.4/game) and 4th in scoring (50.4/game). QB Nigel Barksdale leads the attack, averaging 374.6 total yards per game, tossing 18 TDs and adding one more on the ground. WR John Schademan leads the team with 31 catches for 658 yards and 8 TDs. Four players have at least 36 carries. RB Shamar Greene leads the way with 336 yards rushing. However, SRU has fumbled 17 times this year, giving away 9 with 5 more interceptions.

DEFENSE... SRU has given up plenty of yards and points this year, as teams have thrown for 257 yards and scored over 31 per game. Although, The Rock is 6th nationally in opponents 3rd down conversions with a paltry 24.4 percent. FS Austin Miele has been a playmaker on defense, leading SRU with 38 tackles and 7.5 TFL, also returning a pick for a TD and breaking up 3 more passes.

SPECIAL TEAMS... Mike Wainauskis has been a consistent kicking threat this year, making 28-29 PATs and 4-6 FGs, coming between 20-39 yards. James McCombie averaged a 46.7 yards per punt, including 8 of more than 50 yards. Opponents have returned a kickoff and a punt for TDs against The Rock, averaging 25.4 and 14.3 yards per return, respectively.