#15 Slippery Rock "The Rock" (6-1, 3-1 PSAC West) at Clarion Golden Eagles (3-5, 1-3 PSAC West)
Thursday, Oct. 31 // 6 p.m.
Clarion, Pa. // Memorial Stadium

Trunk or Treat Event - Starts at 5:45 p.m.
Children are invited to join us for a Trunk or Treat event inside Memorial Stadium! Costumed children and their family get free admission to the game, as well as the chance to check out the candy selection provided by our student-athletes!

Quick Notes

• The Golden Eagles will host a rare conference midweek contest on Thursday, October 31 when they welcome 15th-ranked Slippery Rock to Memorial Stadium in the battle for the Milk Jug.
• This will be the 82nd meeting between the Golden Eagles and The Rock, with Slippery Rock owning a 53-25-3 advantage in the all-time series with Clarion. 
• Last week Clarion held a halftime lead against Seton Hill on the road, but the Griffins rallied in the second half to take a 31-16 win over the Golden Eagles at Offutt Field.
• Wide receiver Trevon Tate has been one of the most productive receivers in the nation this year, ranking fourth in the country in receiving yards (881) and 17th in receptions per game (6.1).
• Over his last six games, Ray Jackson has 20 receptions and is averaging 60.8 receiving yards per game.
• Clarion boasts the third-best passing offense in the PSAC and second-best in the West division this season, averaging 230.1 yards per game. Their 7.7 yards per attempt is second in the PSAC West.
• Running back Logan Kent had perhaps his best game in a Golden Eagle uniform against Seton Hill, rushing 14 times for 98 yards and catching four passes for 36 yards against the Griffins.
• Quarterback Ty Hurst made his first career start on Saturday, throwing for 245 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 33 yards, against Seton Hill.
• The Clarion offense has recorded 400+ yards of total offense in each of the last three games and four times total this year, after not hitting the mark at all during the 2023 season.
• Defensive end Jake Tarburton leads the PSAC with 7.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss through seven games, both already career-highs for the senior defensive end.
• As a team, the Golden Eagles rank fourth in the PSAC and third in the West with 18 total sacks, and they have also recorded 47.0 tackles for loss through eight games. 
• Punter Hunter Robertson leads the PSAC in punts over 50 yards (13) and is third in punts landed inside the 20-yard line (14). He also boasts the third-longest punt in the PSAC so far this season, and is one of three PSAC punters to boot a ball longer than 70 yards in 2024.
• The Golden Eagles are 7-4 in Thursday night games dating back to the 2009 season.
• Tonight's game against The Rock kicks off a three-game home stand to end the season for Clarion; they wrap up against Gannon and East Stroudsburg.

Series History

• This will be the 82nd meeting between the Golden Eagles and The Rock, with Slippery Rock owning a 53-25-3 advantage in the all-time series with Clarion. The series dates back to the 1928 season, a barn-burner that the Rock won by a 2-0 score.
• The rivalry took a holiday from 1934-47, and Clarion won their first in the series in 1951, a 19-14 victory in the season finale. The Rock are 37-18-2 dating back to the 1958 season.
• Slippery Rock has won each of the last six meetings between the teams dating back to the 2017 season, and 11 of the last 12 overall. The lone victory for Clarion in that span came on Oct. 29, 2016, when the Golden Eagles came away with a 27-23 victory at Memorial Stadium.
• Quarterback Connor Simmons returned after missing several games due to injury, and the senior signal caller threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Kevin Genevro pulled in 12 passes for 199 yards and two scores, including what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 1:05 remaining after the Golden Eagles had fallen behind earlier in the fourth quarter.
• The Rock won last year's meeting at Mihalik Thompson Stadium by a 42-14 score. The Golden Eagles held what was the conference's top offense scoreless in the first quarter but Slippery Rock eventually gained traction and the win. Anthony Guercio threw touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to Tony Powell and Paul Newton.

Scouting The Rock

• Slippery Rock was predicted to win the PSAC West division in 2024, receiving all six first place votes from the other members of the PSAC West. They entered this past week ranked 15th nationally.
• This year the Rock enter the Milk Jug game with a 6-1 record, including a 3-1 mark in the PSAC West division. They lost their most recent contest, falling 28-7 on the road to California (PA) on Oct. 19. The Vulcans limited Slippery Rock to one scoring drive a touchdown late in the second quarter, and proceeded to shut them out in the second half.
• The Rock have been one of the best teams in the conference at limiting mistakes and protecting the football. They are tied for first with just six lost turnovers in seven games, helping their +7 turnover differential.
• Quarterback Brayden Long is a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy, college football's premier scholar-athlete award that takes into account athletic performance as well as academic success and leadership. 
• Todd Hill ranks second in the PSAC with 11.0 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, and teammate Munchie Johnson ranks third in the league with an average of 1.29 tackles for loss per game.

Last Week

The Golden Eagles football team led at halftime and did an effective job limiting the Seton Hill offense for three quarters, but the Griffins chipped away and eventually broke through in the fourth quarter as Clarion fell 31-16 at Offutt Stadium.

Clarion's offense moved the ball for much of the game, gaining yards in big chunks through the air and on the ground. The Golden Eagles rushed for 200 yards as a team, averaging 4.8 yards per carry, and quarterback Ty Hurst threw for 244 yards and a touchdown. One of those big plays was the Golden Eagles' lone touchdown of the day, a 39-yard strike from Hurst to Trevon Tate down the left sideline to even the score at 7-7.

Logan Kent had perhaps his best day in a Golden Eagle uniform, rushing 14 times for 98 yards and catching four passes for 36 yards. Tate went over the 100-yard mark for the sixth time this year, hauling in five passes for 101 yards and the score. Ray Jackson caught five passes for 76 yards, including a handful of key completions along the sidelines.

Tate's score proved to be the last time the Golden Eagles reached the end zone, though the defense did an admirable job of keeping the Griffins away from the goal line for a length of time. Hunter Robertson went 3-for-4 on field goal attempts, including a season-long 43-yarder just before halftime, but the Griffins outscored Clarion 24-3 in the second half for the win.

Shane Kemper made the defensive play of the day in the first quarter to set up Tate's touchdown, ripping the ball loose from  Ethan Fame on a deep downfield throw for a forced fumble and recovery. He returned it to midfield and just a few plays later Tate struck, pulling down the perfect pass from Hurst. Ryan Stahl had 11 tackles and a tackle for loss.

Disruptive Force

Defensive end Jake Tarburton has built off his all-conference season in 2023 to start quickly in 2024, ranking among the conference's most disruptive defensive players:

• Tarburton leads the PSAC with seven sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss through seven games played;
• Tarburton leads Super Region 1 with an average of 1.90 tackles for loss per game, and his average of 1.00 sacks per game ranks second in the region. Those averages also rank third and sixth, respectively, across all NCAA Division II so far this season.
• Thanks to his 3.5 TFL against Edinboro on Oct. 19, Tarburton became the first Golden Eagle to break double-digits in tackles for loss in consecutive seasons since Julian Howsare did it three straight times from 2012-14;
• Seven sacks in a season is the most for a Golden Eagle since Tyrone Archie finished with seven sacks in the 2015 season;
• The last Golden Eagle to record 13.0 TFL or more in a single season was Brandon Short, who had 13.5 in the 2014 season.

Hey, Remember When?

Clarion's win against Edinboro on Oct. 19 was significant for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it broke rare precedent in the all-time series with the Fighting Scots. With wins over Edinboro in 2023 and 2024, It was the first time the Golden Eagles beat the Fighting Scots in consecutive meetings since 1997-98. 

Clarion Context for Trevon Tate

• Trevon Tate has six 100-yard receiving games thus far in 2024. That is the most for a Golden Eagle since Alvin Slaughter had eight 100-yard receiving games during the 1998 season.
• Tate is on pace to become the first Golden Eagle receiver to top 1,000 yards in a season since Genevro did it that same year. The latter finished with 1,096 yards.
• Only three players in program history have gone over 1,000 yards receiving in a season - Genevro (2016), Slaughter (1,369 - 1998) and Bob Green (1,018 - 1984).

The National Perspective on Tate

• Through eight games, Trevon Tate has been one of the most productive receivers in the region as well as the country.
• Tate ranks fourth in NCAA Division II and first in Super Region 1 with 881 total receiving yards through eight games, and his 110.1 receiving yards per game ranks sixth in the nation and first in the region.
• He also ranks 17th in the nation, fourth in Super Region 1 and first in the PSAC with an average of 6.1 receptions per game.

Kick It Long

So far this year it's been fair to say that punter/kicker Hunter Robertson has been a weapon on special teams, ranking among the conference's best punters and in terms of booming the ball deep and keeping it out of the end zone. 

• The sophomore punter leads the conference in punts longer than 50 yards (13) and is third in punts downed inside the 20-yard line (14). 
• With a 44.2 yards per kick average - third in Super Region 1 and 11th in the country - so far this year, Robertson is on pace to produce the best season average since Jim Levey averaged 46.6 yards per kick in 1965, just ahead of Phil Bujakowski's 42.6 yards per punt average in 1985.
• Robertson currently ranks second in the conference and Super Region 1, as well as 10th in the nation, in net punt average, at 40.2 yards per kick.
• In addition to his punting duties, Robertson now has the Golden Eagles' longest field goal of the season, kicking a 43-yarder against Seton Hill on Oct. 26. That is the longest field goal for a Clarion player since Phil Esposito made a 44-yarder in a win over Gannon on Sept. 26, 2015.

Notes on the Golden Eagle D

• After allowing seven points to Millersville on Aug. 29 and nine points to Lincoln on Sept. 5, Clarion limited opponents to single-digits in scoring in back-to-back games for the first time since 2018;
• The Golden Eagles are fourth in the PSAC with 18 sacks through eight games this year;
• The Golden Eagles defense has forced opponents into more third downs than all but one team in the West (109), and opponent third down conversion rate is 34.9 percent, the fifth-lowest mark in the conference and third in the West division.

Don't Shoot Yourself in the Foot

Clarion ranks fourth in the PSAC and second in the West in terms of lowest penalty yards per game, at 49.8 yards per contest. The Golden Eagles have also committed just 49 penalties on the year, the third-lowest total in the PSAC West.

The Brass Tacks on Guercio

• Anthony Guercio ranks third in the PSAC and fourth in NCAA Super Region 1 in total offense with an average of 293.4 yards per game;
• Guercio's 225.6 passing yards per game ranks third in the conference and ninth in NCAA Super Region 1;
• Guercio's eight rushing touchdowns are the most for a Golden Eagle since Patrick Graham-Murphy had 10 in 2011;
• Guercio has thrown for 300+ yards in two games this year, making him the first Golden Eagle quarterback since Connor Simmons in 2016 to do it, and his 372 yards against Edinboro on Oct. 19 are the most since Simmons put up that same number against Slippery Rock in 2016.

Big Day Offensively vs. Shippensburg

The Golden Eagles had their best day in terms of total offensive yardage in nearly a decade on Sept. 14. Clarion totaled 551 yards of total offense against the Red Raiders, their best output since putting up a school record 676 yards of total offense against Seton Hill on Oct. 17, 2015, a span of 82 games. It had been almost five years since the last time the Golden Eagles had cracked the 500-yard mark; that last came on Sept. 28, 2019 at Gannon.

500 Yards, Part 2

It took considerably less than 82 games for the Golden Eagles to crack 500 yards of total offense again. This time it was a matter of only four games, as Clarion recorded 513 total yards against Edinboro on Oct. 19. The Golden Eagles last cracked 500+ yards of offense in a game multiple times in 2015, when they did it three times.

Next Week

Clarion will enjoy a nine-day layoff before their next game, when they welcome the Gannon Golden Knights to Memorial Stadium for the final conference contest of the year. Kickoff is scheduled for noon on Saturday, November 9.