It was only nine days, but IUP’s performance Saturday made the September 4 season opener seem like it was light years ago.
The offense was crisp and in control. The defense was dominant and unbreakable. Special teams made a difference, and the coaches made the right calls.
Add it up, and it’s easy to see why the more than 4,000 fans left Miller Stadium happy.
Quarterback Matthew Rueve tied a school record with five touchdown passes, and the Crimson Hawks buried their season-opening loss to Ashland by burying Lock Haven under an avalanche of points and yards, 42-10, in a PSAC crossover game.
“I feel like we just came together as a team,” said wide receiver Devin Whitlock, who caught seven passes for 150 yards and a touchdown. “From the jump, we came out shooting — we didn’t come out lazy. We’d been practicing all week to come out strong, and if we get a good start on things, we can get the ball rolling.”
Rueve connected with Whitlock on a short pass over the middle on the third play from scrimmage, and the speedy slot receiver did the rest, racing 57 yards for a touchdown just 3:32 into the game.
IUP added three more touchdowns in the half, on passes from Rueve to Jeremiah Coleman (9 and 72 yards) and a 60-yard punt return for a score from DB Kalen Frazier as the Crimson Hawks (1-1) rolled to their 37th consecutive win over the Bald Eagles (1-1). Rueve tossed scoring passes to Cyair Clark 30) and Maurice Massey (10) in the second half.
In last week’s season opener against Ashland, IUP coughed up a 9-0 halftime lead and lost to visiting Ashland, 13-9, in a game in which the vaunted IUP offense struggled all night. But against the Bald Eagles, the Crimson Hawks were in high gear, totaling 25 first downs and 405 total yards.
“The first game was a curveball — a really good defense, a new offense, a new quarterback,” said IUP head coach Paul Tortorella. “It wasn’t the perfect storm. Today we were better, and that’s where we’re at. We’ve got talent and some big-play guys. We’ve got to get the run game going. If we do, we’ll be in really good shape.”
Rueve was the star of the day. In only his second start since transferring from D2 Findlay, he completed 24 of 32 passes for 365 yards. His five touchdown passes tied the school record, shared by Harry Woodbery (2021 vs. Slippery Rock) and Brian Eyerman (2002 vs. Edinboro and 2002 vs. New Haven).
“I think it’s the perimeter I’ve got behind me,” said Rueve. “I’ve got an O-line that’s busting their butt for me. That just comes with having great players on offense. They make it easy on me.”
The other star of the day was the IUP defense, which more or less pitched a shutout. Lock Haven’s only points came off IUP turnovers: a 70-yard interception return for a score by Troy Miller and a 42-yard field goal from Caden Bauer that was set up by an IUP fumble at the Crimson Hawks’ own 10-yard line.
“The biggest thing I need to take away is keeping the defense in a good position,” Rueve said. “Those 10 points they scored were on me. I gotta keep the ball on our side because our defense is doing one heck of a job. Coach Tort and Coach Smith have them locking people down.”
Otherwise, the IUP defense gave up only 130 total yards, including minus-15 on the ground. Except for the fumble-aided drive that started at the IUP 10, the Bald Eagles never got closer to the end zone than the IUP 39-yard line.
“(They have a) pretty good quarterback, but we liked our matchups outside and up front,” said Frazier. “We honed in on that during the week and then executed out there.”
Noah Johnston led the Crimson Hawks with 11 tackles, including 2.5 for loss. Nathan Rosario-Santos had seven tackles with a sack, a forced fumble, and a recovered fumble, and Logan Goodwin had five tackles, including two for loss.
All in all, it was a great day for the Crimson Hawks, who welcome Millersville (0-2) next Saturday at 2 p.m. It was a far cry from the opener against Ashland, where the Crimson Hawks looked stuck in first gear.
“I think (the Ashland game) was actually good to a point,” Frazier said. “If we would’ve won that game — we still wanted to — but maybe guys would’ve had a false reality of where we’re at. Losing shows your character and how you’re gonna come back. We took it as a positive, worked on what we needed to work on, and today was a representation of that.”
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