For the second consecutive week, Slippery Rock had unfinished business against an NCAA Division II playoff opponent on the road.
The Rock emphatically continued its revenge tour Saturday afternoon.
No. 11 Slippery Rock dominated host No. 20 California University of Pennsylvania from the onset of the NCAA Super Region One championship game, racking up 399 yards of total offense, before emerging with a 31-13 victory at Adamson Stadium.
It will be the fourth trip to the NCAA semifinals in program history, and first since 2019, for the Rock (12-1), which had its 16-game regular-season winning streak dashed in a 28-7 loss to the Vulcans (10-3) in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division contest Oct. 19.
“We used these two words, I’m not going to lie to you, we used, ‘redemption’ and ‘revenge,’” ninth-year Slippery Rock coach Shawn Lutz said. “It was nothing against Cal, but Cal took away one of our goals. One of our goals was to win the West and then play in the PSAC championship game. They took that away from us. They were deserving.”
For Rock quarterback Brayden Long, the victory against Super Region One’s third-seeded Vulcans marked a two-week span during which he and his teammates were bent on getting revenge.
After upending New Haven in the first round of the NCAA playoffs, Slippery Rock earned a thrilling 25-24 overtime victory last weekend against No. 3 Kutztown, Super Region One’s top seed, in a second-round clash on the road.
The Rock had its 2023 season ended by the Golden Bears with a loss in the Super Region One championship game. Just three weeks before that game, Slippery Rock fell to Kutztown in the PSAC championship game.
“We didn’t really need much more than what’s happened in the past with the teams that we’ve lost to,” Long said. “It makes motivation easy, but when you have a group of guys in the locker room that are all sharing that same mindset it makes it a lot easier.”
Slippery Rock advances to face No. 2 Ferris State (12-1) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Top Taggart Field in Big Rapids, Mich., in the NCAA Division II semifinals. The Bulldogs defeated Harding, 41-7, in the Super Region Three championship game.
Top-seeded Valdosta State (12-0) and Minnesota State (11-3) will square off at 12 p.m. Saturday at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium in Valdosta, Ga., in the nation’s other semifinal.
“There are four teams left,” Lutz said. “We won the region championship and we are just blessed. We will play whoever is next to play. Just to tell these guys, ‘We are one game away from playing for a national championship’ is just a big-time accomplishment.”
It was Long who got the Slippery Rock offense going early against the Vulcans.
The first two-time Harlon Hill Trophy finalist in school history, Long completed 17-of-21 passes for 154 yards and three touchdowns. His 18-yard touchdown pass to Logan Ramper and 20-yard scoring strike to Mike Solomon on the Rock’s first two offensive drives of the game were critical to providing early momentum.
When Long then led Slippery Rock on a nine-play, 80-yard drive, which culminated with running back Chris D’Or’s 2-yard touchdown run with 1:12 left before halftime, the Rock held a commanding 21-0 lead it would never relinquish.
Ramper finished with four catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns, while Solomon chipped in seven receptions for 73 yards.
Long became the first quarterback in Slippery Rock history with consecutive 3,000-yard seasons. He is the fourth signal-caller in program history with more than 7,000 career passing yards.
“It feels good, it feels amazing,” Long said. “It really hasn’t set in quite yet, to be honest with you, but just knowing where this team came from since spring ball, just coming together to this point now, that hard work just really paid off. It’s very rewarding, but we’re also not satisfied yet.”
Slippery Rock rushed for 245 yards, with 137 yards coming in the second half. Idris Lawrence rushed for 162 yards on 23 carries, while D’Or added 42 on 11 carries.
“When the whole world knows that you’re running the ball, what can we do?” Long said. “I feel like we went out and showed it and the credit goes to the o-line. Those boys, they dominated today.”
The Slippery Rock defense was equal to the task against an explosive California passing attack.
Vulcans quarterback Davis Black threw for just 90 yards. His 12-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown pass to wide receiver Omari Hopkins came with the game well out of reach.
“I just knew in this game, if we were going to win, we were going to have to make big plays and cause turnovers,” said Slippery Rock defensive tackle Todd Hill, a Steel Valley product, who is a finalist for the Gene Upshaw Lineman of the Year award.
Hill previously played at Pitt and Duquesne. He had seven tackles, two for a loss, with two sacks – including a critical first-quarter strip sack of Black.
“I actually manifested it, I’m not lying, I had a dream about it,” Hill said. “Somehow it happens, so I’m blessed to just be here. I’m just excited.”
The game was less thrilling for the Vulcans.
After knocking off Slippery Rock midway through the season, California won the PSAC West Division title before falling to Kutztown in the conference championship game.
The Vulcans rebounded for playoff victories against East Stroudsburg, 30-27, in the first round before notching a last-second 34-33 win against Ashland prior to facing the Rock.
“It just wasn’t our day,” said ninth-year Vulcans coach Gary Dunn. “We gave up a couple big plays early and kind of shot ourselves in the foot offensively early and dug a hole that we couldn’t get out of. Give Slippery Rock credit, but I think our injuries on defense finally caught up with us.
“I’m just proud of our guys,” he added. “I’m proud of the way our guys have competed and battled and went about their business all day.”
Sophomore running back Bobby Boyd Jr., a McKeesport product, provided one of the few bright spots for the Vulcans’ offense Saturday. He rushed for 99 yards and a 4-yard, third-quarter touchdown on 13 carries.
“No matter what, no matter how bad the score looked, we kept playing,” Boyd said. “No matter what, even when we were down three touchdowns, we kept going out there fighting. We just wanted to play. We just wanted to finish.
“That just really taught me no matter what, no matter the opponent, play like it’s never over for that full 60 minutes.”
Despite ultimately falling short of its goal of playing for a national championship, Black said he is proud of the strides his program made.
California made its eighth appearance in the NCAA playoff field, but its first since 2017. The Vulcans are 3-2 in NCAA quarterfinal contests, which includes a streak of winning their Super Region three years in a row from 2007-09.
“I think we did a great job all year putting ourselves in a position to be here,” Black said. “Today, we just couldn’t get it done.”
NCAA Division III
• Quarterback Ben Mills completed 17-of-29 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns, but No. 13 Carnegie Mellon was unable to capitalize on a late fourth-quarter drive en route to having its NCAA Division III playoff run end with a 24-19 loss to No. 5 Mount Union in the third round Saturday afternoon at Kehres Stadium in Alliance, Ohio.
After trailing by as much as 24-13 in the third quarter, Mills led the Tartans back in the fourth. The senior connected with sophomore wide receiver Reece Kolke for a 9-yard touchdown reception, which trimmed Carnegie Mellon’s deficit to just five points with 14:15 left in the contest.
It was as close as the Tartans would get.
Carnegie Mellon (10-2) drove the ball 31 yards in seven plays against the Mount Union (12-0) defense over the game’s final two minutes, but turned the football over on downs at its own 45-yard line with 1:20 left in the fourth quarter.
Sophomore wide receiver Brendan McCullough, a Peters Township product, led Carnegie Mellon’s passing attack with nine catches for 98 yards and a touchdown, while Kolke added five catches for 55 yards.
Tartans running back Tre Vasiliadis rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries and quarterback Joey McGinnis IV contributed 42 yards and a touchdown on five carries.
Raiders running back Tyler Echeverry, the nation’s leading rusher, carried the football 27 times for 112 yards and two touchdowns to pace his team’s offensive attack.
Carnegie Mellon’s defense was ranked second in the nation in total defense and fifth across Division III football against the run. Just a week earlier, the Tartans held Centre to a school-record minus-33 rushing yards in a 24-15 victory in the second round at Gesling Stadium in Oakland.
Linebacker Robert Coury finished his career with five tackles, 1½ for a loss, with one sack against Mount Union. He is the Tartans’ all-time leader in tackles and tackles for a loss.
John is a copy editor and page designer at the Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at jsanta@unionprogress.com.