How QB Brayden Long is putting it all together as No. 9 Slippery Rock football preps for No. 24 IUP
SLIPPERY ROCK — Brayden Long is used to achieving — in the classroom and on the football field.
The Slippery Rock University senior and second-year starting quarterback has only 19 starts at SRU, yet is among the top of the program’s career charts in numerous categories. He is one of 18 Division II players to be named a national semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, known as the “Academic Heisman.“ He is among 203 semifinalists overall for the award, which covers all of college football.
Long sported a 4.0 grade point average as a Rock graduate majoring in sport management, with a minor in leadership. He is one of only three semifinalists sporting a 4.0 GPA.
“I’m so proud of him,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “He’s such an intelligent kid. His success in academics spills out on to the field. Brayden knows what he’s doing out there.
“This is a guy we recruited out of high school. He came here and waited his turn. To see the success he’s having here, in this age of NIL and transfer portal, is a rare thing these days.”
So is stepping behind center for an undefeated team against an unbeaten foe on the road, which Long will be doing when No. 9 SRU (4-0, 1-0) travels to No. 24 Indiana University of Pennsylvania (4-0, 1-0) for a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday at IUP’s Miller Stadium.
The game is IUP’s homecoming.
“Games like this one are the reason you play college football,” Long said. “We take each game as it comes, of course, but we know we have to have this one. As a competitor, I love the challenge a game like this one brings.”
Long is already the fourth quarterback in Rock history with 400 career completions. He has 411 entering Saturday’s game. He is 61 yards shy of 5,000 total yards of offense and 177 yards short of 5,000 career passing yards. He will be the fifth SRU player to ever attain those marks and is sixth in career touchdown passes with 42.
His career pass completion percentage of 67.6% ranks first in Rock history.
While continuing to work on his legacy on the football field, Long’s legacy in the academic field means more.
He was named Atlantic Region Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year for 2023-24. He was an Academic All-American last year and was one of just 26 men from all Division II sports to earn a 2023-24 NCAA Division II 50th Anniversary Scholarship, in recognition of his academics, athletics and community leadership.
“I was raised the right way,” the New Oxford High School graduate said. “Both of my parents are educators in the Conewago Valley School District, where I went to school. They emphasized to me all my life that school comes first, football second.”
Long’s mother is a retired fourth-grade teacher. His father teaches 11th grade.
While sitting behind quarterbacks Andrew Koester and Noah Grover early in his college career, Long never thought of leaving the program to seek greener pastures.
“I know the transfer portal has given us some good players, but the portal was never for me,” Long said. “I made a commitment to myself and to this university. Sure, it was hard sitting my freshman and sophomore years, but Andrew and Noah were mentors to me. They showed me what playing college football was all about.
“I came to Slippery Rock because I liked the balance here between school and football. The family culture is very real here, too.”
So is the possibility of winning a sixth straight PSAC West title — which goes through IUP, for the time being.
“We’ll be ready to go,” Long said. “We probably have to run the table to win the West. They (IUP) are probably thinking the same thing.”
Notes: IUP leads the all-time series with The Rock, 53-42-2. ... SRU is 20-1 in regular season road games since 2019, the lone loss coming in 2022 at Indiana. ... The Rock-IUP game is the only matchup of Top 25 teams in all of Division II this weekend. ... Lutz is 74-19 with five PSAC West titles and five NCAA playoff trips with The Rock. IUP coach Paul Tortorella is 58-16 with two PSAC West crowns and three playoff trips with the Crimson Hawks.
