Timing is not on the side of Slippery Rock University's football team.

After facing Indiana (Pa.) and Edinboro at the peak of their games, SRU heads into a 1 p.m. Saturday kickoff at Shippensburg, which moved into the No. 1 spot in the Northeast Region rankings this week.

Since a 17-0 loss to IUP four weeks ago, Shippensburg, which is ranked 17th nationally, has defeated Lock Haven, California (Pa.) and Clarion by a combined 121-21 margin, including a 44-0 whipping of Clarion last week.

"We've been hitting teams at their best," Rock coach George Mihalik said. "This week is certainly no exception."

Shippensburg (8-1, 4-1) is outscoring its opponents by an average of 33.9-10.2 per game.

Quarterback Tony Gomez has thrown for 1,164 yards, nine touchdowns and only three interceptions. The first-year starter beat out incumbent Rick Henshaw during training camp.

By comparison, Rock quarterback Nate Crookshank has thrown 12 interceptions.

"Tony's arm is a little more stronger and accurate than Rick's," Shippensburg coach Rocky Rees said. "He's made us a little better in the passing game."

Fullback John Kuhn leads the Red Raider ground attack with 1,096 yards and 12 touchdowns. His 51 career rushing touchdowns place him fourth on the PSAC's all-time list.

Walter Crump adds 427 yards rushing while Pat Ferguson has 17 catches for 560 yards and six touchdowns.

"A lot of defenses bunch up in the box and try to stop Kuhn," Rees said. "We've thrown a little more and have become more balanced as a result."

"If you look at their numbers over the past few games, they're just dominating everybody," Mihalik said.

Defensively, the Red Raiders have allowed 360 total yards the past three weeks. SRU allowed 449 yards to Edinboro last week alone.

Except for its lone loss, Shippensburg is allowing a paltry 55 yards rushing per game.

John Sharbaugh and Dan Walsh have combined for 61 solo tackles and 101 stops overall. Ryan Hoffman has 4½ quarterback sacks while Mike Street and Brent Grimes have nine interceptions between them.

Overall, the Red Raiders have 22 sacks and 17 interceptions.

SRU running back Josh Kniess enters the game needing 48 yards rushing to reach 1,000 for the year. Kniess also leads the PSAC with an 18.7-yard average on punt returns. Teammate Paul Favers is second in the league with a 26.7-yard average on kickoff returns.

"If Josh reaches 1,000 yards against that defense, he will have earned it," Mihalik said.

Shippensburg is dangerous returning kickoffs in its own right. Howard Chavous averages 28.4 per return and Ferguson averages 32.1.

Rees insists his team won't take SRU lightly. The Rock (3-6, 1-3) has already clinched its second straight losing season and is trying to avoid its first five-game losing streak since 1981.

"All we have to do is look at the numbers," Rees said. "They've gotten the better of us over the years and they were just 1-4 when they knocked us off last year."

Shippensburg held a 373-109 yardage advantage over SRU last year, but suffered a 16-14 loss at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium. The Rock leads the series between the schools, 38-18-2.

"Our struggles on run defense coincided with the season-ending injury to (linebacker) Justin Poorbaugh," Mihalik said. "He was our strongest linebacker physically and we've missed him.

"Bill Lamb went down with a concussion in the same game, and since then, our numbers and our ability to match up at linebacker have been limited."

Shippensburg has rushed for 840 yards in its last three games.

"If we don't find a way to control that, we're in for a long day," Mihalik said.