SLIPPERY ROCK — George Mihalik is in desperate need of some air traffic controllers.

The Slippery Rock University football coach shudders at the thought of bringing his team to Miller Stadium to face rival Indiana Saturday afternoon, based on what he’s seen from his pass defense the past two weeks.

“They probably can’t wait for us to get there,” Mihalik said. “This week poses a pretty big challenge for us.”

The Rock (5-2, 4-2) has allowed 791 yards and seven touchdowns through the air in losses of 48-26 and 45-23 to California and Mercyhurst, respectively, in the past two weeks.

The Crimson Hawks (5-2, 4-2) tied school records in a positive way in last week’s 21-13 loss at California. Quarterback Chase Haslett, son of former NFL coach Jim Haslett and a transfer from Illinois, tied an IUP record with 34 completions against the Vulcans while throwing for 359 yards.

Receiver Drew Carswell, a transfer from Pitt, caught 15 passes in that game — tying a record set in 1979 — for 150 yards. Fellow receiver Brock DeCicco had 11 catches for more than 100 yards.

“Those guys are big-time receivers and we have to find a way to disrupt them,” Mihalik said. “But they run the ball well enough to keep you honest. You can’t sell out against that passing game.”

IUP suffered five turnovers and had a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown last week.

“They should have beaten California,” Mihalik said.

Luigi Lista-Brinza, a true freshman from Central Catholic, leads IUP with 679 yards and nine touchdowns rushing. Haslett has thrown for 1,348 yards.

“Luigi has a good motor and he played against great competition in high school,” IUP coach Curt Cignetti said. “He’s made the transition to college ball pretty smoothly.

“Chase is a first-year starter at quarterback for us and he’s been improving every game.”

Turnovers have been the issue for the Crimson Hawks. They lead the PSAC with 16 giveaways on the year, throwing 10 interceptions and losing six fumbles.

“They’ve certainly been a factor in our play,” Cignetti said of the turnovers. “We’ve prided ourselves over the years in being among the leaders in takeaway-turnover ratio, so that’s something we need to get turned around.”

Defensively, Indiana leads the PSAC with 300 yards allowed per game and only 54 yards rushing per game. The Rock had led the conference in rushing, but has gained only 188 total yards on the ground the past two weeks.

Shamar Greene leads SRU with 943 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.

“Indiana is always known for its great defense and this year is no exception,” Mihalik said. “They have a solid all-around football team.”

Linebacker Kevin Clarke anchors the Crimson Hawks with 73 total tackles, 26 solo stops and three quarterback sacks.

“Kevin’s play has been big for us since we have two returning all-conference linebackers (Alexander Berdahl and Dorian Lane) who have been injured and have been off the field more than on this year,” Cignetti said.

Jared Buck, originally an IUP recruit, will make his second straight start at quarterback for The Rock. He connected on 10 of 12 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns in the first half last week before hitting on just six of 17 aerials in the latter two quarters.

Melvin German’s nagging hamstring injury may finally be a thing of the past. The receiver is averaging 23.2 yards per catch.

“Having Melvin healthy will help and Jared gives us a better threat to complete the deep pass,” Mihalik said. “He’s proven he can stretch the field and we’ll need that this week.”

SRU has some key starters on defense — cornerback Admire Carter, linebacker Bob Vernick and end Matt Martin — who are banged up and questionable this week. Guard Kirk Nypaver and safety Isaiah Coleman remain sidelined by injury.

Saturday’s winner will remain a strong contender for the Division II national playoffs and maintain slim hopes of winning the PSAC West title. The loser is likely out of both of those things.

“Yeah, that’s probably the case,” Cignetti admitted.

“This game carries huge implications in terms of the playoffs,” Mihalik said. “The thing I’m most worried about with last week is once we fell behind, we seemed to lose our confidence that we could come back, though we’ve done that many times this year.

“We need to get our spark back, find that confidence again.”

Cignetti expects The Rock to give it their best shot Saturday.

“They had two rough weeks, that’s all,” he said. “They’re going to come in here and play hard. This should be a very good game. Slippery Rock has good balance offensively and they hit hard defensively.”

IUP leads the series between the teams 45-35-2, though The Rock hung a 42-16 loss on the Crimson Hawks last year.

“We beat them pretty good last year and I’m sure they remember it. They’ll be looking to even the score,” Mihalik said.