• Game Notes (.pdf)

#13/11 CAL U (7-1, 5-0) vs. SLIPPERY ROCK (4-4, 3-2)
• When: Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012
• Where: California, Pa.
• Stadium: Adamson Stadium (6,500)
• Kickoff: 3:30 p.m.
• TV: Pittsburgh CW I CUTV (tape delay)
• Live Radio: WCAL (91.9 FM) I WLER (97.7 FM)
• Live Video: America One (PPV) I WatchESPN
• Live Stats: Flash Stats I Media Stats

GAME INFORMATION
• General Admission: $8 adults
• Chairback Seats: $12 adults
• Parking: $3
• Directions to Adamson Stadium
• Promotions

SERIES BREAKDOWN
• All-Time Series: Slippery Rock leads 43-28-3
• First Meeting: 1919 - Cal U 7-0
• Last Meeting: Oct. 15, 2011 @ Slippery Rock - Slippery Rock won 17-3
• Streak: Slippery Rock +1

CAL U NOTES
• Cal U continues divisional play this weekend with sole possession of first place in the PSAC West standings following a 41-0 win at Gannon last Saturday. Meanwhile, Slippery Rock posted a 38-31 Homecoming victory in overtime against Edinboro last week.

• Cal U posted its second-straight shutout and rushed for four touchdowns last Saturday, registering a 41-0 victory at Gannon. The Vulcans rushed for 200 yards for the second-straight game, finishing with a season-high 226 yards. Senior Lamont Smith led the team with 96 rushing yards and sophomore Cody Cook added 74 yards and a touchdown. The Cal U defense allowed just 164 yards of total offense at Gannon. The Vulcans yielded only 11 rushing yards after registering six sacks and forced four turnovers. Senior BJ Stevens led the defense with a career-high nine tackles (two solo), including 3.5 TFL and 1.5 sacks.

• The Rock leads the all-time series that started in 1919 by a 43-28-3 margin. Cal U has won seven of the last nine meetings against Slipery Rock.

• One of the winningest active coaches in NCAA Division II, Dr. George Mihalik is in his 25th year as head coach of The Rock. A 2011 inductee into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Western Chapter, he has posted a 165-102-4 record as a head coach. Mihalik was selected the PSAC West Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career last season after leading Slippery Rock to an appearance in the PSAC Championship game.

• Slippery Rock returns 14 starters (six offense, six defense) from last year's team that made its first berth in the PSAC Championship since 1974. The Rock enters the weekend with the fifth-ranked scoring offense in the league, averaging 34.4 points per game. Junior quarterback Nigel Barksdale has passed for over 250 yards in three of the last four games and also ranks second on the team with 343 rushing yards. He has accounted for 14 touchdowns this season after transferring from Mt. San Jacinto (Calif.). Senior running back Akeem Satterfield leads the team with 587 rushing yards this year and ranks eighth in school history with over 2,800 career rushing yards. Junior LaQuinn Stephens-Howling, a former running back, leads the team with 28 receptions and five receiving touchdowns. Slippery Rock currently features the 10th-ranked scoring and total defenses in the PSAC. Junior linebacker John Allen leads the team with 65 tackles (25 solo), while fellow linebacker Quindell Dean has posted 56 stops (29 solo), 5.5 TFL and 3.0 sacks. Senior defensive lineman Jeff Thompson, the reigning PSAC West Defensive Player of the Week, leads the team with 9.0 TFL and 6.5 sacks this season. On special teams, junior James McCombie ranks third in the PSAC with an average of 41.2 yards per punt with eight punts of 50-plus yards.

• Cal U moved up one spot to Nos. 13 and 11 in the AFCA and D2Football.com Top 25 polls, respectively. The Vulcans have been ranked in the AFCA poll for 13-consecutive weeks and the D2Football.com poll every week since October 2009.

• The Vulcans were ranked fourth in the initial Super Region One rankings released on Monday. In the first edition of the regional rankings, Cal U was behind three undefeated teams and two of those teams are facing each other on Saturday. The two top teams in the regional rankings receive first-round byes in the NCAA Playoffs, while the third and fourth seeds host opening-round games on Nov. 17.

• This weekend's contest will feature two junior wide receivers in Trey Johnson (Cal U) and LaQuinn Stephens-Howling (Slippery Rock) that started their collegiate careers as reserve running backs. Johnson ranks second on the team this year in all three major receiving categories, including five touchdown receptions. In his first two years, he posted 485 rushing yards and made only 10 catches. Stephens-Howling leads The Rock with 28 receptions and five touchdowns this year after rushing for 522 yards over the last two seasons.

• Last season, the Vulcans became the fourth school in PSAC history, and the first since West Chester (2004-08), to reach the NCAA Playoffs in five-straight years. No program in the league has made six-consecutive berths in the NCAA Playoffs and IUP is the only school to have reached the postseason five-straight years on multiple separate occasions.

• Over the last two weeks, the Vulcans have yielded just 280 yards of total offense while posting back-to-back shutouts. Cal U has recorded two-straight shutouts for the first time since the 2007 season.  The Vulcans have limited their last two opponents to only 14 rushing yards on 44 attempts after tallying a combined 16.0 TFL.

• Senior defensive back Rontez Miles, the 2011 PSAC West Defensive Player of the Year, is currently tied for the league lead with four interceptions. He also leads the team with 60 tackles (30 solo). A First-Team All-American last year, Miles is on pace to establish career highs in both tackles and interceptions. He ranks fifth in school history with 242 career tackles (143 solo) and is the first player with 10 career interceptions since Terrence Johnson (2006-09).

• Behind five field goals in the last two weeks, sophomore kicker Cody Nuzzo now ranks third in the PSAC with a career-high nine field goals this season. He established a personal best with a 46-yard field goal last week at Gannon, becoming the first kicker since Marc Domonkos in 2010 to make a field goal of 45 yards or longer.  Nuzzo has converted 81.8 percent (9-of-11) of his field goals this year and leads the team with 60 points.

• Senior Lamont Smith has rushed for 290 yards over the last three weeks and is now only 83 yards shy of reaching 3,000 rushing yards for his career. A three-year starter, he would become just the fourth player in school history to reach the prolific milestone. Smith has surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in each of the last two seasons and leads the team with 638 rushing yards this year.

• Last weekend against Gannon, the Vulcans registered a pair of blocked kicks on special teams for the third time in the last six years. In the first quarter, sophomore Jeff Knox, Jr. blocked a punt that was recovered at the Golden Knights' 19-yard line and led to a field goal. Later in the first half, junior Darnell Harding blocked a 35-yard field goal by Gannon. Over the last eight years, the Vulcans have posted 35 blocked kicks despite tallying only one in both 2008 and 2010.

• In his first year as a starter, junior defensive end BJ Stevens ranks among the league and national leaders in TFL and sacks. He has recorded at least 1.0 sack in four-straight games and is tied for second in the PSAC this season with 9.0 sacks, which surpasses his previous career total. A former standout at Gateway, Stevens leads the league with 14.5 TFL after tying his career high with 3.5 TFL last week at Gannon.

• The Vulcans and Rock have a combined three players on NFL active rosters, including former Cal U cornerbacks Tommie Campbell (Tennessee) and Terrence Johnson (Atlanta). Former Slippery Rock center Brandon Fusco has started all seven games at guard this year with the Minnesota Vikings. Cal U defensive lineman Noah Taylor is the younger brother of former NFL All-Pro Jason Taylor and Slippery Rock wide receiver LaQuinn Stephens-Howling is the younger brother of Arizona Cardinals running back LaRod Stephens-Howling.

• This weekend's contest will feature two of the top punters in the PSAC in Cal U freshman Andrew Cerett and Slippery Rock junior James McCombie. Cerett currently leads the PSAC and is No. 15 in NCAA Division II with an average of 42.3 yards per punt. He has placed 11 of his 29 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line, including two last week. McCombie averages 41.2 yards per punt with eight punts of 50-plus yards and 12 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

• In his first significant action since Sept. 22, junior Darnell Harding registered six tackles (five solo) and scored a touchdown on a 32-yard fumble return after forcing a fumble on a sack in the second quarter last week.