INDIANA, Pa. – The 13th-ranked Crimson Hawks opened with 24 points in the first quarter, and ended up with three touchdowns off of four Slippery Rock turnovers, to post an impressive 48-19 victory over The Rock on IUP Homecoming at George P. Miller Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
 
IUP used big offensive plays to gain early momentum, while the defense picked off two passes and recovered a pair of fumbles. The Crimson Hawks outgained 16th-ranked SRU by nearly 100 yards (462-365), averaging nearly eight yards per play.
 
The Crimson Hawks improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Western Division. Slippery Rock is now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the division.
 
Junior receiver Allen Wright made several big plays, starting things off with an 89-yard touchdown reception on the Crimson Hawks' first play of the game. Wright caught a quick pass in the left slot from redshirt sophomore quarterback Lenny Williams, Jr., made a defender miss, and outran the SRU defense to give IUP an early 7-0 lead.
 
The 89-yard score is tied for the second longest pass play in IUP history and the longest offensive play since Justin Warren rushed for an 89-yard touchdown at Millersville in 2008. The program's longest pass play was a 98-yarder from Bryan Eyerman to Greg Dorsey against Shippensburg in 1999.
 
The next splash play came on SRU's ensuing possession, as junior end Matt Mowad forced a fumble that junior cornerback Jay Watkins picked up, racing 49 yards to put the Crimson Hawks up 14-0.
 
After a Slippery Rock touchdown and blocked extra point cut the lead to 14-6, senior Ryan Stewart booted a 32-yard field goal to make it a 17-6 game. IUP then broke into its bag of tricks, using a reverse pass from freshman receiver Zac Kelly to Wright for a 51-yard touchdown.
 
Wright had a career day, catching six passes for 185 yards and two touchdowns.
 
IUP went up 31-6 in the second quarter when Williams scrambled and found a wide open Chris Temple, who ran it in from 15 yards out. Williams then had his own score, converting play action fake from one yard out.
 
Williams' rushing touchdown was set up by a 71-yard pass play to junior receiver Walt Pegues. The touchdown came on third and goal as Williams put a move on All-American defensive end Marcus Martin, who fell to the ground while the quarterback scored.
 
Martin was held in check by senior tackle Ethan Cooper and the IUP offensive line, registering just three tackles, one solo. The Crimson Hawks did a great job on the entire SRU defense, giving up zero sacks while the only "negative" plays coming on IUP kneel downs at the end of each half.
 
The Crimson Hawks slowed the pace of the game down in the second half, consistently running the play clock below 10 seconds before Williams called for the snap. IUP controlled the ball for 20:28 combined in the third and fourth quarters, compared to a 9:32 time of possession for SRU.
 
Stewart converted a 29-yard field goal in the third and Temple capped off the IUP scoring with a two-yard plunge midway through the fourth quarter to five the Crimson Hawks a 48-12 lead. With backups on the field, SRU scored a final touchdown with 1:04 left to play.
 
Williams finished 11-of-19 for 244 yards and two scores through the air. Coming off what appeared to be a serious injury last week at California (Pa.), he added seven rushing yards that touchdown on limited carries.
 
Pegues finished with two catches for 73 yards, extending his streak to 28 straight games with a reception. Receivers JoJo Gause and Chris Wuestner also caught passes.
 
Freshman running back Samir Bullock quietly ran for 120 yards on 21 carries, including a 44-yarder. Temple added 32 yards on the ground with his rushing score.
 
Defensively for the Crimson Hawks, senior linebacker Kevin Clarke led all tacklers with 12 stops, including one tackle-for-loss. It was his third straight game of double-figure tackles, running his season total to a team-leading 43 despite missing two games.
 
Senior safety Steve Franco and freshman linebacker Damon Lloyd each had eight stops. Watkins also had an interception, pass breakup, and two tackles to go along with his fumble recovery for a touchdown. Senior linebacker Nick Dubowski had IUP's other interception, leaping high for a pick in the second quarter.
 
Nine different Crimson Hawks combined for 8.0 total tackles-for-loss, as IUP allowed just 120 rushing yards on 38 carries (3.2 average). SRU quarterback Don King III had 58 of those yards, with 29 coming on a scramble.
 
The IUP special teams also impressed, with Stewart nailing both of his field goal attempts to improve to 4-for-5 on the year. Senior punter Jordan Spangler averaged 41.2 yards on five punts, pinning two inside the SRU 20-yard line. Redshirt freshman Dillon Sarka moved into the kickoff specialist role, seeing his first action by averaging 59.0 yards on nine kickoffs. Freshman Malik Anderson also averaged 10.4 yards on five punt returns.
 
The win broke a three-game losing streak in the series, as IUP won for the first time since a 33-16 victory in 2012. It was also IUP head coach Curt Cignetti's seventh win in six years over a ranked opponent.
 
The game also started a stretch of four home contests in five weeks for the Crimson Hawks, who will host Clarion next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
 
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP football on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPfootball.