Rock set for another struggle with Vulcans

By John Enrietto Eagle Sports Editor

October 15, 2010 Last Updated: October 15, 2010 03:01 PM College

SLIPPERY ROCK — California isn't about the west coast for Slippery Rock University's football team.

It's about winning the PSAC West.

California (Pa.) University has won five consecutive Western Division titles and is working on a sixth. The Vulcans (6-0, 3-0) are No. 4 in NCAA Division II and carry a 23-game PSAC West winning streak into Saturday's 3:30 p.m. kickoff vs. SRU (5-1, 2-1) at Adamson Stadium.

"They are the real deal," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "They are defending league champion until someone knocks them off."

The Rock has defeated the Vulcans only once in the past seven seasons after beating them 13 times in succession from 1990-2002.

Now in his eighth year, coach John Luckhardt is 74-28 at Cal and owns 211 wins in his career.

"This is George's best team since 2007," Luckhardt said. "(Running back Akeem) Satterfield is a great player, they have a veteran offensive line coming off the ball and (Devin) Goda is the leading receiver in the league.

"They pose a threat to us and our guys have to understand that."

Satterfield has 737 rushing yards in five games and needs 170 yards Saturday to top Dorrian Glenn's team record of 907 yards through six games, which was set in 2001. Satterfield enters this weekend as the No. 3 rusher in Division II.

Goda has 40 receptions for 476 yards and three TDs, including 16 total catches in the past two games. Quarterback Ryan Sabo completed 17-of-23 passes for 192 yards in SRU's 28-14 triumph over Edinboro last week.

"That was a breakout game for Ryan, a confidence game," Mihalik said. "It couldn't have come at a better time.

"Our guys feel good about this game. They're ready to go down there and compete," he added.

Cornerback Anthony Saunders and safety Jayson Nickson suffered concussions last week. Nickson will play Saturday, but Saunders is out.

Kicker C.J. Bahr returns to the Rock lineup after missing two games with a thigh injury.

California leads the PSAC in 14 statistical categories, including scoring average at 40.5 points per game and total offense at 452.8 yards per contest. Former Pitt head coach Walt Harris is the offensive coordinator.

The Vulcans haven't allowed a second-half touchdown in their last five games and have outscored the opposition 125-16 in the final two quarters overall.

"We've been able to get leads on people and take away their running game," Luckhardt said. "That's enabled us to make big plays defensively."

Cal leads the league with 24 sacks and the team has 13 interceptions, paced by Shawn Anderson's four.

Quarterback Josh Portis stands 6-feet-4, 205 pounds, and is coming off his best passing game of the campaign. He threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-7 win over Gannon.

Portis has completed 103-of-164 passes for 1,331 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions.

SRU leads the league in pass defense, however, allowing just 144 yards per game.

"That's an intriguing matchup: our secondary vs. their passing game. But the X-factor there is our pass rush," Mihalik said. "We have to get some pressure on Portis.

"The first eight or nine minutes of this game are the key for us. We don't want to fall behind early."

Windell Brown was to be Cal's top running back this year, but he was involved in a near-fatal automobile accident over the summer and is still recovering.

Lamont Smith moved to running back from the secondary and has rushed for more than 100 yards in five straight games. He has 770 yards and 12 TDs rushing.

Saturday's game will be televised live on FSN.