October 17th, 2026 3:00pm
INDIANA, Pa. – The seventh ranked Slippery Rock University football team earned a fourth straight win in the series against rival Indiana University (Pa.) with a 42-26 win over the 19th ranked Crimson Hawks in the 100th meeting of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division rivals Saturday from Miller Stadium.
The Rock improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the PSAC West and take over sole possession of first place in the division with three games left to play. Indiana (Pa.) drops to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the PSAC West after suffering back-to-back home losses to Lock Haven and SRU.
Saturday's win marked the fourth straight in the series against IUP, which has now seen 100 meetings dating back to 1907. The Hawks lead the series 53-45-2, but SRU has won six of the last eight and nine of the last 13 meetings.
Both teams endured a nervous start in the opening minutes. Slippery Rock got the ball first and fumbled it away on the second play from scrimmage for just its third turnover all season and first lost fumble of the year. IUP couldn't capitalize on the short field and settled for a short field goal, but missed wide right.
After that, Slippery Rock settled in and went to work on offense. JayJay Jordan broke off a 63-yard rush on the next series and scored three plays later with a short TD run to make it 7-0 with 10:06 to play in the first.
IUP endured a number of unforced errors in the opening quarter that negated multiple first downs and kept the momentum with SRU. One of those included an illegal formation call on a perfectly executed fake punt
Slippery Rock capitalized on the miscues and raced out to a 21-0 lead. DaOwens broke free for a 34-yard run to make it 14-0 late in the first quarter and Carson Heckathorn scored on an 18-yard screen pass that made it 21-0 with 11:55 to play in the second.
IUP flipped the momentum and closed the half on a 10-0 run. Leon Parson scored on a 47-yard run and Preston Rathaway closed the half with a 50-yard field goal that just crept over the crossbar to send it to the break with SRU leading 21-10.