SLIPPERY ROCK — On paper, Slippery Rock should have its way with Edinboro when the Fighting Scots visit Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

Of course, college football games aren’t played on paper.

While 10th-ranked SRU (8-1, 5-1) is coming off a 31-0 shutout of Clarion and is riding a four-game winning streak, Edinboro (4-5, 2-4) was outscored 31-0 by previously winless Seton Hill in the second half of a 45-14 loss last week.

“It’s easy to be motivated for this game,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “If we win this game, we’re PSAC West co-champions. If we lose, we become a laughing stock and we blow everything.”

By “everything,” Lutz was referring to a would-be fourth consecutive PSAC West title (at least a share of it) and fourth consecutive NCAA Division II playoff berth. The Rock is ranked fifth in Super Region One this week. The top 10 ranked teams after play next week qualify for the postseason.

Lutz is more into critiquing his own team’s play rather than the opponent these days.

“I saw more negatives than positives last week, to be honest,” he said. “We didn’t run the ball very well (93 yards on 25 carries) for the second straight week and that bothers me. We need to get our running game straightened out this Saturday.

“We also had three missed tackles in the first half, eight in the second half. That’s way too many.”

Edinboro is allowing an average of 222.3 rushing yards per game this season. The Scots are averaging only 62.8 yards per game on the ground themselves. Quarterback Isaac Bernard has thrown for 1,834 yards, but has 15 interceptions to go with only eight touchdown passes.

“We’ve had some injuries on defense this year and our run defense hasn’t developed the way we’d like it,” second-year Edinboro coach Jake Nulph said. “We have a young football team and we’ve been going through the growing pains.”

Thaddeus Standfield leads the Edinboro passing attack with 53 catches for 692 yards.

“They’ve got a couple of good receivers and their quarterback can throw it pretty good,” Lutz said. “We have to make sure he’s under duress and try to force mistakes. Our defensive line has been outstanding all year and we expect to dominate there each week.”

D.J. Adediwura and Jeff Marx rank 1-2 in the PSAC West this season in quarterback sacks with 9.0 and 6.5, respectively.They’ve combined for 24 tackles for loss as well. Linebacker Brandon Tuck-Hayden needs six tackles Saturday to reach 300 for his career. He leads The Rock, with 76 tackles.

Fellow Rock linebacker Brandon Bischof is playing in his 50th career college game this week.

“Slippery Rock is a complete, balanced football team,” Nulph said. “Their defense is structured and primed to take the ball away. Their pressure forces you into mistakes. With the possible exception of Tyson Bagent with Shepherd, Noah Grover will be the best quarterback we’ve seen this year.

“He’s playing at an extremely high level right now.”

Grover has thrown for 2,488 yards, 23 touchdowns and only sx interceptions this season. He threw for 440 yards at Clarion last week. Kyle Sheets caught nine passes for 206 yards in that game, giving him 45 catches for 770 yards and seven TDs on the year.

“Kyle Sheets has developed into one of the best Division II receivers in the country,” Lutz said. “He’s 6-foot-5 and runs like a deer. He’s definitely become our go-to guy.”

Former Slippery Rock High School and SRU defensive lineman Tony Papley is Edinboro’s defensive coordinator. Butler graduate Nate Hartung is the Scots’ tight ends coach and assistant recruiting coordinator.

“I coached with Tony at Duquesne, so when I got this job, I knew who to call for defensive coordinator,” Nulph said. “He is young, aggressive and passionate about this game and that’s infectious.

“We’ve had four home games so far and had about 200 high school players at those games. A lot of that is Nate’s work, bringing in prospective recruits.”

SRU owns a 59-28-7 lead in the all-time series between the teams, including a 49-13 win at Edinboro last year. The Rock has won nine of the last 11 meetings between the teams.

Satrurday marks the 250th SRU game played at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.