SLIPPERY ROCK — While Edinboro has nothing to lose, Slippery Rock doesn’t want to think about losing.

So while The Rock (9-0, 6-0) has already clinched the PSAC West football title and has a date at Kutztown next week for the league championship, it very much wants to defeat the Fighting Scots at noon Saturday at Sox Harrison Stadium.

“They always give us trouble. We’ve had a number of close games against Edinboro over the years,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “We’re treating this game like every other. It’s hard to stay undefeated. We’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”

SRU is ranked No. 1 in Super Region One. Wins at Edinboro and Kutztown would wrap up that top seed and hand The Rock a first-round bye in the Division II playoffs.

“We really want that bye. We want to be able to rest up,” Lutz said.

Edinboro (2-7, 1-5) has lost its last four games while battling injuries of late. The Scots have been making untimely mistakes as well.

“At the worst possible tiomes,” Edinboro coach Jake Nulph said. “We’ve turned the ball over five times in the past two weeks. You’re just not going to win games that way.

“This is the most balanced Slippery Rock team I’ve seen since I’ve been coaching here. They are explosive on offense. They’re good on defense. Their special teams have been excellent. That team just does everything well.”

While Edinboro has struggled in the turnover department, The Rock leads all of Division II with a turnover ratio of plus 1.89. SRU has turned the ball over only six times — least in the PSAC — and has 23 takeaways.

Rock quarterback Brayden Long leads the PSAC in virtually every passing category and has thrown only two interceptions in 281 passes. He’s thrown the least amount of picks in Division II among quarterbacks with at least 181 pass attempts.

SRU slot receiver Cohen Russell has caught at least one pass in 22 straight games and has at least 50 yards receiving in each of his team’s last eight games. He had a career-high 135 yards receiving in last week’s 42-14 win over Clarion. Kyle Sheets’ 13 touchdown catches are most in Division II this season.

Isaac Bernard threw for 272 yards and three touchdowns for the Scots in last week’s 38-28 loss to Seton Hill. Amani Bailey had six catches fior 114 yards.

Matt Carlisle, Edinboro’s quarterback to start the season,. has been out with an injury in recent weeks. He may return this Saturday.

“I’m not sure who’s going to play quarterback,” Nulph said. “I’ll let you know Saturday. Injuries do help to build depth and we’ve gotten deeper in a few positions.”

Bailey, Mike Watkins, Thaddeus Stanfield and tight end Aaron Hopkins all have between between 28 and 34 receptions for Edinboro. Brian Trobel leads the ground game with 558 yards rushing.

“Carlisle is a running quarterback, Bernard throws the ball,” Lutz said. “We have to be prepared for both. We may see both. They complete a lot of passes to their running backs and tight ends, more than we’ve seen from other teams.”

The Rock defeated Edinboro, 27-21, last year at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. SRU leads the all-time series — dating back to 2013 — by a 60-28-7 margin and has won each of the last four meetings, 10 of the last 12.

Slippery Rock High graduate Braiden Reich and Union/A-C Valley graduate Landon Chalmers are freshman defensive linemen on Edinboro’s roster.

“Braiden has a lot of guys in front of him (on depth chart) and is being red-shirted,” Nulph said. “Landon has worked himself into the rotation at nose tackle and has been getting more and more snaps each week.”

Slippery Rock High School and SRU graduate Tony Papley is defensive coordinator at Edinboro. He played for Lutz when the latter was defensive coordinator at The Rock. Butler graduate Nate Hartung is assistant recruiting coordinator for the Scots.