INDIANA, Pa. -- The IUP football program looks to avenge it's season-opening loss to Ashland with a PSAC non-confeernce matchup with the Bald Eagles of Lock Haven. The Crimson Hawks dropped the game against Ashland after giving up 13 unanswered second-half points, including a one-yard halfback dive in the fourth quarter to surrender the game for good.
Lock Haven comes into their second game of the season after defeating Glenville State by three points in their opener. The Bal Eagles held on with 16 first half points, giving up just a second half touchdown to the Pioneers.
Neither of the teams come in ranked and both teams missed out on the NCAA playoffs last season. IUP currently has a two-year NCAA Regional drought, the longest in the Paul Tortorella tenure.
Quick Notes/ Story Lines
• IUP has won the last 35 matchups against Lock Haven; this win streak began in 1982.
• The most recent matchup against Lock Haven was down to the wire with a three-point victory against the Eagles.
• Lock Haven finished the 2024 season with a 5-6 record and 3-4 in the PSAC East. The Eagles have recorded a total of ten wins in the previous two seasons. It took Lock Haven from 2016 until 2022 to record a total of ten wins before the last two seasons. The season high in wins in that run was four in 2016.
• IUP returns 13 total starters from last season, four offensive starters and nine defensive playmakers.
• Out of the 13 returnees, four players were All-PSAC selections in the 2024 season. One First Team honoree (Massey) and three Second Team honorees (Younger, Frazier, and Andrasi).
• IUP has won six out of 11 games that followed a loss under Tortorella. The Hawks have lost back-to-back games three times in the last two-plus seasons.
• 2025 marks the first time in the Tortorella era that the Crimson Hawks dropped their season opener. The team was 7-0 in the previous season's openers.
• IUP Quarterback
Matthew Rueve threw three interceptions against Ashland on Sept. 4. Previously, Rueve had thrown multiple interceptions four times in his career, with three being his career-high, happening one other time.
• IUP will look to avoid having a 0-2 start for the first time since 2005. In that season, IUP opened with losses to Millersville and West Chester while being outscored 58-29.
• Both teams come into this game after posting a scoreless second half in their opening game.
• IUP and Lock Haven outscored their opponents 19-6 in the first half, while being outscored 20-0 in the second half.
• After one game, both IUP and Lock Haven have top five ranked PSAC defenses, while trotting out offenses ranked in the bottom three.
Notebook
TOTAL DOMINATION
IUP has not lost to Lock Haven since 1981, winning 35 consecutive matchups. Overall, IUP has a 60-15-3 record against the Bald Eagles. Under Tortorella, the Hawks have outscored LHU 158-48 in three matchups, including the 77-14 victory. The 63-point difference is the most significant point differential in the series. Two of the three matchups under Tortorella were at Lock Haven.
IT'S A GREAT DAY FOR THE PASS GAME
In last season's matchup, IUP Tight End
Marcus Day had the game of his season, with 41 receiving yards on three receptions and a long reception of 24 yards. Overall, IUP has ten of its 15 receptions from last season's matchup with Lock Haven playing in Saturday's game, including 102 out of the 159 receiving yards.
RUMBLE YOUNGER RUMBLE
JD Younger had 21 rushing attempts against Lock Haven last season for 50 yards, with a long of 12 yards. Overall, the Hawks rushed for 133 yards against the Eagles. The team will look to right the ship against Lock Haven, after rushing for a net of -15 yards against Ashland in Week One. Younger and senior wide receiver
Maurice Massey are the only two players returning for IUP who recorded positive rushing yards against Lock Haven. Of note:
Cyair Clark also rushed the ball two times in last year's meeting for -9 yards.
RAIN, RAIN, STAY AWAY
Due to the less-than-ideal weather,
Matthew Rueve had the second-fewest passing attempts in a single game in his career against Ashland on Sept. 4. Rueve threw the ball 23 times for 221 yards, which is the fourth-fewest passing yards in a game in his career. Rueve threw the ball 21 times against Lake Erie in September of last season and had three games with fewer than 200 yards passing for the Oilers last season as well.
WIN THE TURNOVER BATTLE
IUP lost the turnover battle against Ashland on Sept. 4, while also surrendering the ball more than their opponents five times last season. Overall, the Crimson Hawks have lost four of the last six times that they turned the ball over more than their opponent. Lock Haven had an interception and two fumbles, one of which was lost against Glenville State on Sept. 6, but still won the game despite being unable to score in the second half.
THE BATTLE IN THE TRENCHES
IUP had three new starters on the offensive line against Ashland. With a game under their belt, the running game will look to take a giant stride forward as the team had a net gain of -15 yards against the Eagles last week. Between Younger.
Tavion Banks, and last week's touchdown scorer,
Randy Washington, the Hawks will look to get downhill against Lock Haven and win on the line of scrimmage. IUP did not record a rushing first down last week, while the offensive line of Ashland was able to get their running back to the yard to gain ten times during the game.
THE FAVORITE TARGET
Despite the loss,
Maurice Massey remains the dominant receiving option for the Crimson Hawks. Massey's breakout game of four receptions and 110 receiving yards against Ashland landed him as the PSAC's leading receiver in receiving yards per game. This performance against Ashland is his second game where he logged a minimum of 100 receiving yards; the previous contest was against Gannon where Massey recorded six receptions for 181 yards.
Key Defensive 2025 Overall Statistics
Name GP/GS TTKL TFL SCK QBH INT
Noah Johnston 1/1 13 1.5 - - -
Nathan Rosario-Santos 1/1 10 0.5 - - -
Tai'Don Strickland 1/1 10 1.0 - 1 -
Logan Goodwin 1/1 5 1.0 1.0 1 -
