INDIANA, Pa. – The 13th-ranked IUP football team remained undefeated following a 44-7 blowout of Seton Hill on Saturday at Miller Stadium.
IUP (7-0, 5-0) threw five touchdown passes and limited Seton Hill (0-8, 0-5) to negative yardage on the ground in another impressive team effort. The Crimson Hawks took advantage of great starting field position throughout the day, opening up a 23-0 lead at the half.
Mak Sexton tossed four touchdown passes and
Logan Horn added one more score late.
Adam Houser powered in from one yard out in the second and
Nick Andrasi booted a 39-yard field goal before the half to account for Saturday's scoring.
The IUP defense nearly pitched another shutout, holding Seton Hill scoreless until a 33-yard completion in the fourth quarter put the Griffins on the board.
Duane Brown pulled in three touchdown catches, going over 2,500 receiving yards for his career and moving into third on the school's all-time yardage list.
Qashah Carter and
Luke Hardy also had touchdown receptions as IUP led wire-to-wire.
Connor Kelly led the way for the IUP defense with nine tackles, while
Jaheim Howard and
Zayaan Cobb added interceptions. The defense swarmed to the ball throughout the day with five sacks and tackles for loss throughout the lineup.
The Crimson Hawks punted the ball away on their first possession after a three and out.
Aiden Spitler made his punting debut, rolling a ball down inside the Seton Hill one. Backed up, Seton Hill was forced to punt and IUP took over inside Griffin territory at the 31.
Sexton found Brown over the middle for a seven-yard scoring connection, pushing the Crimson Hawks ahead 7-0 following the extra point. Both sides traded punts over the next few possessions before IUP forced its first turnover of the afternoon with an athletic interception from Howard, who jumped the ball along near the SHU sideline and set the Crimson Hawks up with prime real estate once again.
Sexton and the IUP offense capitalized in six plays, capped by a 12-yard find to Carter for a 14-0 advantage. A short rush and consecutive incompletions forced the SHU punting unit onto the field once again as IUP took over at midfield. In the second, Sexton found Brown for 28 yards down into the Seton Hill redzone, before the Crimson Hawks powered the ball in from short yardage for a 20-0 lead.
The Crimson Hawks tacked on a field goal before the half, leading 23-0. The opening two Seton Hill drives of the second half went for negative yardage. After an 11-yard punt rolled out of bounds at the SHU 27, IUP wasted little time with Sexton dialing up a pass to his favorite target, Brown, for a comfortable 30-0 cushion.
Sexton found Brown for his third receiving touchdown of the day later on in the third. SHU responded with its lone score of the day in the fourth before IUP used a pop pass to Hardy to account for the final 44-7 tally. Cobb added one final interception to seal the game late in the fourth quarter.
Notes
IUP is now 9-0 against Seton Hill… The Crimson Hawks have registered 40 or more points in six of nine victories against the Griffins… IUP has scored 40 or more points in three games this season... IUP went over 120 minutes of game action between allowing points; the last touchdown scored at Cal came late in the third quarter, while the lone SHU score came with 8:35 in the fourth… The Crimson Hawks allowed just eight first downs on the day… Brown surpassed Walt Pegues for third on the all-time yardage list, bringing his career total to 2,532… His 31 career touchdowns rank just three behind Carmelo Ocasio (34) for second all-time… Brown moved to fifth on the IUP single-season receiving touchdowns list with three more today, brining his total to 11… Brown is two shy of tying his own single-season touchdown mark of 13 for third all-time… IUP head coach moved to 45-9 at the helm of the program, pushing his record to 17-3 in the month of October…
Up Next
IUP visits Erie for a key PSAC west matchup at Gannon on Saturday, October 29 at noon.
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