Slippery rock vs California football: What to know with PSAC West title on the line
SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock University’s football game at California (Pa.) on Saturday is not for the PSAC West championship.
But it’s close.
The sixth-ranked Rock (6-0, 3-0) head to Adamson Stadium for a 3 p.m. kickoff against the Vulcans (5-1, 3-0) with first place in the West Division on the line.
“This is a very important game. It’s huge,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said.
“We’ve worked too hard to get this point ... We don’t want to lay an egg now.”
While California coach Gary Dunn acknowledged the importance of this game from that perspective, he said: “We’re not looking at it that way. This is is another game on our schedule. In college football, you have to win them all to keep playing. This is just another game we have to win.”
Dunn went on to say SRU “has no weaknesses.”
The Rock attack begins with quarterback Brayden Long, who has thrown for 1,290 yards, 12 touchdowns and only one interception. Long is completing 66.7% of his passes this season and is SRU’s most accurate passer all-time.
“He makes excellent decisions and runs their offense really well,” Dunn said.
While Kylon Wilson and tight end Kam Kruseylak lead The Rock in receptions this season, SRU has added two more weapons recently in receiver Logan Ramper (coming off an injury) and freshman JayJay Jordan, a running back turned receiver. Lutz decided to burn Jordan’s redshirt last week.
Jordan caught a 44-yard touchdown pass against Gannon.
“Next to Kylon, JayJay is the fastest kid on our team,” Lutz said. “He’s explosive. It’s good to have Logan back because he’s one of those guys who can high-point the ball, go up and get it. We needed someone like that.”
California quarterback Davis Black has thrown for 1,576 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions. Eric Willis III is his favorite target with 37 catches for 520 yards and four scores. Three other receivers have between 15 and 19 catches, combining for eight touchdowns.
Bobby Boyd Jr., a sophomore, leads the Vulcan running attack with 440 yards and five touchdowns. By comparison, Rock running backs Chris D’Or and Idris Lawrence have combine for 851 yards and five TDs.
“We still have to stop the run, but this is the best passing attack we’ve seen this year,” Lutz said of the Vulcans. “Their quarterback throws an accurate ball and he gets rid of it quickly. We’re going to play man on defense and press their receivers.
“We played one last week against Gannon and left too many receivers open.”
Defensively, freshman linebacker Teddy Gregory Jr. leads SRU with 43 tackles and has produced double-digit each of the past two weeks. Defensive end Todd Hill leads the PSAC with 10 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Lutz said strong safety Dominic Solomon Jr. and cornerback Rashan Murray are California’s top defensive players. Seneca Valley graduate Josh Miller starts at outside linebacker and is a team captain for the Vulcans.
“Josh has been banged up this year, but he’s been back for a few games and is one of our leaders,” Dunn said.
The Rock has defeated California in each of their last six meetings, 10 of the last 12. Dating back to 2019, SRU is 21-1 on the road in the regular season.
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