Cal win away from State Game
Give Steve Murray credit. He understood the problems a pandemic could cause the football teams in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, of which he is commissioner.
Prior to the start of the season, the PSAC decided that losses, not wins, would be the determining factor in breaking ties for the conference teams.
And California fell into that quandary when Clarion pulled out of its game with the Vulcans for COVID-19 reasons a few weeks ago.
That left the Vulcans with a 5-0 record heading into today’s game at Slippery Rock, which is 5-1 in the PSAC West.
The Vulcans have clinched at least a share of the conference title even though they could end up losing to Slippery Rock, which would put them a half-game behind the Rock in the standings.
The winner of the West Division plays in the State Game against the winner of the East Division, Kutztown. Most times, the two teams are invited to participate in the NCAA Division II playoffs.
And teams with one loss are normally welcome.
For Gary Dunn, this is one of the issues that turns his stomach. The head coach of the Vulcans hates to look ahead, even if most of the fan base does.
“(The no contest) with Clarion doesn’t affect us,” Dunn said. “We’ve already claimed a share of the conference title. We’re just treating it like a 10-game schedule. We’re just trying to stay with our details. That’s what’s going to determine Saturday’s game.”
And so will Noah Mitchell. The junior quarterback has passed for 2,565 yards and 22 touchdowns. Mitchell has just four interceptions in 315 attempts.
“Noah is doing a good job,” Dunn said. “He has a good group of receivers around him. What’s exciting is it’s a different receiver stepping up each week. That tells me he’s reading defenses really well. Two weeks ago he and Cam Tarrant had really good games, then early in the season it was JaQuae Jackson, then Tyson (Hill), and this past week JaQuae and Derek Lockhart had good games. So he’s doing a good job of putting the ball where it needs to be according to what the defense is doing.”
Slippery Rock entered last Saturday’s game against Gannon having turned the ball over eight times in its previous two outings, with four turnovers and 21 points in a loss to IUP Oct. 16 and four more turnovers and a season-low 20 points in a 20-17 win at Mercyhurst Oct. 23.
Those struggles prompted a change at the quarterback position as SRU rolled out North Dakota transfer Noah Grover for his first career start against Gannon. He threw for 439 yards and eight touchdowns, cementing the starting job. For the season, Grover has passed for 660 yards and 11 touchdowns with just one interception in 72 attempts.
Wash & Jeff at Carnegie Mellon:
There is a three-way tie at 6-1 at the top of the Presidents’ Athletic Conference among Westminster, Washington & Jefferson and Carnegie Mellon.
Carnegie Mellon, which has won five in a row, needs a win to have a shot at the conference title. A loss to W&J all but eliminates CMU. Westminster needs a win over Saint Vincent, plus Geneva and W&J to win out in order to tie for the conference title and get the automatic bid to the NCAA Division III playoffs, thanks to a 23-18 win over W&J earlier in the season.
W&J has switched to Colt Jones at quarterback and he led the team to a 28-24 win over Grove City last week.
Bethany at Waynesburg:
Waynesburg has a chance to move up a spot in the PAC standings. Both teams are 1-6 in the conference.
Trevor Miller will make his third straight start at quarterback, replacing Josh Gibbons.