ANN ARBOR, Mich. - After struggling to get anything going on offense in its first four games of the season, redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Boylan and the Mercyhurst University football team have certainly erased those problems in the last three contests.

Boylan had another huge afternoon on Saturday, throwing for 385 yards and four touchdowns, lifting the Lakers to 31 unanswered points and a 45-23 thumping of Slippery Rock University in front of 15,121 fans at Michigan Stadium. The "Big House Battle" proved to be Mercyhurst's third consecutive victory. The Lakes improved to 3-4 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC West standings. Meanwhile, The Rock dropped to 5-2 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Mercyhurst improved to 4-3 lifetime against Slippery Rock, avenging a 58-34 loss at the hands of The Rock last season.


Over his last three starts, Boylan has been impressive. He has completed 65-of-106 passes (61.3%) for 1,072 yards and 11 touchdowns (zero interceptions). The redshirt junior from Independence, Ohio completed 24 of his 37 pass attempts on Saturday afternoon, accounting for 385 yards and four touchdowns while also adding another 27 yards on six carries on the ground. Meanwhile, redshirt junior Brandon Brown-Dukes tied a Mercyhurst record with his 14th career 100-yard game on the ground. He finished with an even 100 yards on 25 carries while also posting career-highs in receptions (4) and receiving yards (46).

Slippery Rock jumped out to a 10-0 lead after the first quarter thanks, in large part, to a roughing-the-kicker penalty on The Rock's opening drive. Mercyhurst stopped Slippery Rock on a 3rd-and-1 play at The Rock's 33-yard line. But, a roughing the punter penalty against the Lakers gave Slippery Rock a first down, and, on the very next play, Rock quarterback Jared Buck found Leroy McClain in stride for a 52-yard touchdown pass for the first points of the day.

The Rock drove down the field on its next possession, getting all the way to the Mercyhurst 2-yard line before having to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Mike Wainauskis with 4:52 left in the opening quarter.

Slippery Rock finished the opening quarter with 146 total yards of offense and seemed to be well on its way to another big day offensively. But, Mercyhurst had other ideas.

On the first play from scrimmage to start the second quarter, the Lakers were faced with a 4th-and-4 from the SRU 21-yard line. Mercyhurst elected to go for it and Boylan hooked up with Brown-Dukes, who was left wide open in the right flat, for a 21-yard touchdown pass to get the Lakers on the board. Sophomore Dylan Kondis added the extra point and Mercyhurst trailed 10-7 with 14:54 left in the first half.

After the teams exchanged punts on their next drive, Slippery Rock took a 16-7 lead with 3:56 left in the opening half when Jaimire Dutrieuille scampered into the endzone from four yards out. However, junior defensive lineman James Karasek blocked the extra point - Mercyhurst's fifth blocked kick of the season - to hold the SRU advantage at nine points. The Lakers went to work as Boylan went 4-for-4 for 69 yards on the team's next possession, resulting in a 41-yard touchdown pass to redshirt senior Stephen Yarbrough. Kondis added the extra point and the Lakers trailed 16-14 with 1:13 left in the opening half.


Buck hooked up with Nick Davis on a 41-yard touchdown pass with just 28 seconds left in the opening half to give Slippery Rock a 23-14 lead. But, a big 41-yard kickoff return by sophomore Drew Robinson gave Mercyhurst the ball at the Slippery Rock 48-yard line on the Lakers' ensuing drive. After a roughing the passer penalty and a 20-yard completion from Boylan to junior tight end John Matarazzo, Mercyhurst had the ball at the Slippery Rock 13-yard line with four seconds left. Instead of going for a touchdown, head coach Marty Schaetzle elected to try for three points and Kondis nailed the 30-yarder as time expired to put Mercyhurst within 23-17 at halftime.

The second half was dominated by the Lakers. Mercyhurst outscored Slippery Rock 28-0 in the second half and held The Rock to just 83 yards of offense over the final 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the Laker offense countered with 304 yards of total offense in the second half.

Mercyhurst took its first lead of the game on its first possession to start the second half. Boylan drove the Lakers all the way down the field but had to leave the game for one play after he was shaken up on a two-yard run to the Slippery Rock 6-yard line. Redshirt sophomore Zach Emerick entered for one play - a six-yard touchdown pass to redshirt junior fullback Donny Holl and, after Kondis booted the extra point, the Lakers led 24-23. It was Holl's first collegiate touchdown reception.

Boylan came back on the Lakers next drive and hooked up with redshirt senior tight end R.J. Miller on a six-yard connection for a touchdown, giving the Lakers a 31-23 lead with 3:07 left to play in the third quarter. The touchdown was aided by a 51-yard pass play from Boylan to Robinson. The duo combined for the team's longest play from scrimmage two weeks prior - a 78-yard screen pass in a 28-0 win against Clarion at Tullio Field.


The Lakers' lead ballooned to 38-23 with 12:39 left in the fourth quarter when Boylan found junior Jaquan Williams on a 39-yard touchdown throw - his fourth passing touchdown of the contest. Williams put the finishing touches on the victory with a 22-yard touchdown run with 5:14 left in the game. It was Williams' first career rushing touchdown.

Mercyhurst, which entered the game 12th in the PSAC in total offense, racked up 536 yards of total offense against The Rock defense. The Lakers were 15th out of the 16-team conference in total offense prior to last Saturday's victory over Gannon. But, Mercyhurst has totaled 1,144 yards of offense over its last two games. Slippery Rock, which entered third in the conference with nearly 515 yards o offense per game, was held to 361 for the contest, but just 83 yards in the second half.

Boylan spread the ball around to nine different receivers on Saturday with R.J. Miller leading the way with five catches and Yarbrough leading with 77 receiving yards. The Lakers also had their second consecutive game of at least 100 yards on the ground, finishing with 145. Brown-Dukes, who finished with 100 yards, is now just 607 yards behind Richard Stokes to become the program's all-time leading rusher. He tied Stokes on Saturday with his 14th career 100-yard game.

Buck was 18-of-29 for 239 yards and two scores for Slippery Rock. Meanwhile, Shamar Greene, who was leading the country in rushing after the first three weeks and who was second in the conference entering the game, was held to just 56 yards on 13 carries by the Laker defense.


Redshirt senior Michael Foster led the Laker defense with ten total tackles while redshirt senior Pat Behm had eight tackles and two tackles for a loss. Deonte Huggins and Keith Robinson Jr. broke up two passes in the Laker secondary. Austin Miele led Slippery Rock with nine stops.

Mercyhurst will have a short week as it gets set to entertain Edinboro at Erie Veterans Memorial Stadium on Thursday night, October 23. It is the second installment of the "ALL IN vs ALS" game in which proceeds from ticket sales, program sales, 50-50, and raffles throughout Thursday's contest will be donated to the local chapter of the ALS Foundation. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.

Mercyhurst and Edinboro have split ten prior meetings, with Mercyhurst having won the last two and five of the last eight.