At first glance, it seemed like Bo Waddell had made a costly error during IUP’s game against Slippery Rock on Saturday. Since then, the senior defensive back from Pittsburgh has become the face of how the Crimson Hawks let the game slip away.
Waddell was flagged for roughing the punter on the game’s most pivotal play—just as Slippery Rock was trying to seal its 30–27 victory and IUP was desperate to regain possession for a final chance to take control.
However, IUP head coach Paul Tortorella said Wednesday that he doesn’t hold Waddell responsible. In fact, he said Waddell followed his coaching instructions and Tortorella chalked up the incident to bad luck rather than poor judgment.
Tortorella explained that Slippery Rock punter Kevin Roberts had used a rugby-style kick earlier in the game, when he took the snap and went to his right and kicked the ball on the run, and it was downed at the IUP 4-yard line. The Crimson Hawks wanted to avoid that happening again.
“Everybody was doing the right thing,” he said. “We were in a punt force. We didn’t want them to get into a rugby, take their time, and pooch-punt it like they did once and pin us at the four-yard line. So, one side was in force, and the other side was in hold-up. That’s what it was. The force side didn’t get blocked, so they kept going. If you’re coming on force to make the ball get off quickly, and nobody blocks you, we don’t tell you to stop. We don’t tell you to just stand there. So he went to block it because nobody blocked him.”
At the line of scrimmage, neither Slippery Rock’s Michael Henwood nor Eryck Moore-Watkins blocked Waddell, who was lined up across from them. And then once Waddell got through the line, upman Mehki Twillie also failed to block Waddell, and the IUP defender was given a free run at Roberts.
Roberts punted the ball just as Waddell dived at him, and the football went under Waddell’s left arm and away downfield, just as Waddell crashed into Roberts. Had Waddell touched the football in any way, drilling Roberts would not have been a penalty.
On punt returns, players are taught that if you get an unabated run at the punter, you take it, and you block the kick. The only thing Waddell did wrong, Tortorella said, was that he didn’t get a hand on the punt.
“It’s hard to explain what it was,” Tortorella said. “It was a screw up by Slippery Rock that we tried to take advantage of. … (Waddell) got a great, great jump, and he was coming, and they never touched him.”
IT HAPPENED AGAIN: For the second time this season, IUP found itself in a close game near the end, and for the second time this season, the Crimson Hawks came up empty.
“Yeah, we’ve got to find a way to get over the hump and make up the difference in those three or four points,” Tortorella said. “We couldn’t get anything going on offense in the second half this past week. Defensively, we couldn’t get stops because of penalties and mistakes on third down. I mean, if we get the ball to our offense a couple more times, we’re going to score at least 10 more points. Not saying we played great—we let some opportunities slip on offense too—but you’ve got to get the ball to the offense more. When you don’t get off the field on third down because of mistakes, that’s a problem.”
It’s a part of a larger problem, which is that the Crimson Hawks have been struggling for the last couple of years to win close games. In fact, their last seven losses, dating to 2023, have all been by seven points or fewer.
“We’ve got to get back to being a harder team to play against and playing the right way,” Tortorella said. “That’s the key—being harder to play against on both offense and defense.”
SCHEDULING MISERY: This season marks the 15th time since 2007 that IUP has had to play its two toughest divisional rivals, Slippery Rock and California, in back-to-back weeks. The PSAC makes the schedule, and for whatever reason, has had this happen 15 times in the past 18 seasons. The only years IUP had a breather between these two were 2010, 2011, and 2024.
But there could be a change coming. The PSAC recently agreed to look into hiring a scheduling consultant to make the league schedules for all PSAC sports.
The only problem for IUP is that any potential changes won’t take place until the 2027 season. Next year, IUP will play Slippery Rock on October 17 and California the next week.
NEWS AND NOTES: Tortorella said TE Marcus Day (shoulder) is the only player injured against Slippery Rock who is listed as questionable for this week’s game. Otherwise, the Crimson Hawks are relatively healthy. … This week’s opponent, California, is coming off a wild 31-28 win over Clarion. The Golden Eagles lined up for a 42-yard field goal with about 15 seconds to play, holding a 28-24 lead. California blocked the kick and needed two plays to score the winning touchdown –– on a 56-yard TD pass. … The Vulcans have given IUP fits like no other team has in the past 20 years. Since snapping a 20-game losing streak to IUP in 2005, California is 14-6 against IUP since then.
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