ERIE — Slippery Rock's defense could generate no takeaways Saturday at Tullio Field.

But its offense played a pretty good game of keepaway.

After host Mercyhurst pulled within three points by scoring a touchdown with 4:23 left to play, The Rock possessed the football for all of the remaining time in salting away a 31-28 PSAC West victory.

SRU is off to its first 6-0 start since 1962.

“We ran for that final first down on a third-down play,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “Not giving the ball back to them at the end was important.

“We did a nice job on their running game, but they were hurting us through the air.”

Lakers quarterback Doug Altavilla threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns. His final completion was a 14-yard TD pass to Brad Novak that capped a 78-yard drive and pulled Mercyhurst within a field goal.

SRU quarterback Tanner Garry — playing with a bruised elbow on his throwing arm — threw for 335 yards and four touchdowns. His 27-yard scoring pass to Milly Raye knotted the game at 7-7 in the second quarter and his 8-yard touchdown toss to Andrew Bridgeforth squared the game at 14 before halftime.

Garry threw a 4-yard touchdown strike to Dylan Stapleton to give his team the lead, only to watch Altavilla knot the game at 21 on a 1-yard run with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

Sophomore Jake Chapla put The Rock ahead for good with a 45-yard field goal with 11:47 left in the contest.

“That kick was against the wind,” Lutz pointed out. “Jake has turned into an outstanding kicker and it's exciting he's going to be around for a while.”

SRU (6-0, 3-0) extended its lead to 31-21 on Garry's 64-yard bomb to Marcus Johnson with 8:30 left. Mercyhurst (3-3, 2-1) responded with its 78-yard scoring drive, but couldn't get the ball back.

Raye had 10 catches for 121 yards, Johnson four catches for 108 yards.

“None of those guys were at 100 percent,” Lutz said. “Marcus (knee) didn't start the game and we weren't sure how much he was going to play. We needed him in there and he responded.

“Milly Raye is banged up and Tanner was in a lot of pain when he left the field (late in the first half). He took a hard hit and landed right on that elbow.

“All of those guys gutted it out. That was an impressive effort,” Lutz added.

The Rock limited Mercyhurst to 66 rushing yards, a season-low for the SRU defense. Isiah Neely had 19 carries for 88 yards for The Rock, including the thirddown conversion that enabled his team to run out the clock.

Neither team had a turnover in the game.

The Rock won by seven points or fewer for the fourth time this season.

“We could easily be 2-4 and we know that,” Lutz said. “I wish we were earning more style points, but we are 6-0 and we're excited about it.

“I don't know if it's good luck, resiliency or what, but these guys keep finding a way.”

Saturday's win, coupled with Indiana's 26-10 win over California (Pa.), sets up a battle for first place in the PSAC West this Saturday as unbeaten IUP comes to SRU for a 2 p.m. homecoming kickoff.

“That should be quite a scene,” Lutz said. “The crowd should be overflowing, we're the showcase Division II game of the week on ESPN 3 ... These are the kind of games you want to be playing in.”

Notes: SRU defeated Mercyhurst for the third consecutive year and has a 6-4 lead in the series between the teams. ... Raye has caught a touchdown pass in all six Rock games this year and has caught at least one pass in 33 straight games. ... Johnson moved into second all-time at SRU with 23 touchdown receptions. ... Garry has thrown for 2,028 yards and 22 touchdowns through six games. ... Seneca Valley graduate and Mercyhurst sophomore linebacker Corbin Kessler had six tackles Saturday, including three solos. ... Butler graduate and SRU middle linebacker Tim Vernick had six tackles. Delmar Henderson paced The Rock with eight tackles.

Slippery Rock 0 14 7 10 — 31

Mercyhurst 7 7 7 7 — 28

SRU M

24 First Downs 22

32-114 Rushes-Yards 30-66

335 Passing Yards 326

26-39-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 26-40-0

449 Total Yards 392

0-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0

7-54 Penalty Yards 6-55

First Quarter

M — Garrett Owens 3 run (Mark Shafer kick), 12:04

Second Quarter

SRU — Milly Raye 27 pass from Tanner Garry (Jake Chapla kick), 13:15

M — Austin Hence 42 pass from Doug Altavilla (Shafer kick), 11:03

SRU — Andrew Bridfgeforth 8 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 8:34

Third Quarter

SRU — Dylan Stapleton 4 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 10:49

M — Altavilla 1 run (Shafer kick), 1:31

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Chapla 45 field goal, 11:47

SRU — Marcus Johnson 64 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 8:30

M — Brad Novak 14 pass from Altavilla (Shafer kick), 4:23

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Isiah Neely 19-88, Chacar Berry 7-36, TEAM 1-(-3), Tanner Garry 5-(-7). Mercyhurst, Garrett Owens 18-61, Grayson Taylor 5-6, Doug Altavilla 5-2, Clay Waldron 1-0, TEAM 1-(-3).

Passing: SRU, Tanner Garry 26-38-335-0. Mercyhurst, Doug Altavilla 26-40-326-0.

Receiving: SRU, Milly Raye 10-121, Marcus Johnson 4-108, Isiah Neely 3-44, Dylan Stapleton 3-21, Andrew Bridgeforth 2-18, Mike Merhaut 2-12, Brian McNally 1-6, Zach Cirillo 1-5. Mercyhurst, Austin Hence 5-90, Brad Novak 7-85, Garrett Owens 6-57, Zach Smith 2-38, Theo Blackston 3-23, Marcus Placke 1-18, Bryce Mostoller 1-12, Joe Carbone 1-3.