Oct 27, 2012 4 min read

CALIFORNIA – Two unsuccessful trips inside the red zone, a secondary that was burned for five completions for more than 30 yards, a missed 25-yard field goal that hit the right upright of the goal post, or a running game that produced just six first downs and 89 yards. Pick any one of those shortcomings, add 13 penalties for 88 yards and you will know why California University’s football team was looking at the losing end of a 28-26 score against Slippery Rock Saturday at Adamson Stadium. The loss was the first for the Vulcans (5-1, 7-2) in the PSAC West Division. Still, Cal can wrap up the division title next week with a win at Mercyhurst (5-1, 7-2). Indiana also is 5-1 in the conference, but Cal owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, thanks to a win over IUP earlier in the season. Slippery Rock, which moved to 5-4, and 4-2 in the conference, became the first PSAC West opponent to win two straight games over Cal since the 2003-04 season. “We’ve been good all season in the red zone,” said Cal head coach Mike Kellar. “We just missed so many opportunities.” It was hard to point a finger at redshirt freshman Cody Schroeder, who completed 23 of 46 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown. He threw his only interception of the game on Cal’s final offensive play but he was solid. Schroeder will be Cal’s starting quarterback next week as Kellar revealed Peter Lalich has a staph infection in his leg and is on antibiotics. Lalich, the leading passer in the West Division, has been treated for the past two weeks, and Kellar believes the process takes four to six weeks to heal. “He’s still week-to-week,” said Kellar. “It’s been two weeks. I’d like to tell you he’ll be back, but I’d be lying to you.” Slippery Rock quarterback Nigel Barksdale completed 15 of 22 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown. Barksdale, known for his running, gained 119 yards on 26 carries and scored on a nine-yard run in the first quarter to give The Rock a 7-3 lead. Barksdale became the first quarterback to run for more than 100 yards against Cal since Charles Dowdell of Saginaw did it in the 2010 opener. Slippery Rock rushed for 185 yards and Monessen graduate Brett Crenshaw scored two touchdowns in the third quarter that gave The Rock a 28-13 lead with 3:53 left in the third quarter. Schroeder, making his third straight start, drove Cal back on a 14-play, 71-yard march that ended when Schroeder hit Mike Williams with a two-yard touchdown pass. “The cornerback jumped into the flat, and that left Mike wide open,” said Schroeder. Cal got the ball right back on a fumble by Barksdale after a bad snap and Greg Cochrane recovered. But Schroeder threw three incompletions, including one on fourth down. The Vulcans held, then blocked the second punt by James McCombie from the Slipppery Rock 36. Cal players scrambled for the ball, which somehow rolled into the end zone and was recovered by Jeff Knox for a touchdown that cut Slippery Rock’s lead to 28-26 with 7:06 to play. Cal went for two but Schroeder couldn’t connect on a pass to Williams. “We got (three) turnovers and blocked two punts,” said Kellar. “That’s (five) turnovers to our one. Punt blocks are turnovers to me.” The first blocked punt came on the second play of the second quarter but Cal couldn’t convert. A 25-yard field goal by Cody Nuzzo hit the right upright. One series later, Rontez Miles returned a fumble by Barksdale 31 yards for a touchdown and gave Cal its last lead of the game, 10-7, with 12:13 left in the half. “Our long snapper was struggling with the weather,” said Slippery Rock head coach George Mihalik. “Cal is so quick; they were right on top of it.” Cal’s only turnover came at the Slippery Rock 21 with 39 seconds to play when Schroeder was intercepted by Anthony Saunders at the 14. “Every goal we have is still in front of us,” said Kellar. “If we go to Mercyhurst and win, we come back for the PSAC championship. We have our work cut out for us, but we’re going to try to get in that state game.”