All week long, the members of the IUP football team must have wondered if they were on a boxing team.
Head coach Paul Tortorella kept saying things like, “answer the bell,” and “get up off the canvas” as the Crimson Hawks prepared to take on California in the annual Coal Bowl.
Coming off a painful loss at Slippery Rock last weekend, it was imperative for Tortorella to make sure his team had a few punches left to throw and that it had the resolve needed to avoid getting knocked out by the Vulcans.
The Crimson Hawks (5-2 overall, 3-1 PSAC West) listened. And on Saturday, they landed some huge punches and avoided enough to hang on for a 38-30 win over California (5-3, 2-3) at Miller Stadium.
“I’m proud of our guys,” said quarterback Matthew Rueve, who threw for 260 yards and two touchdowns. “This was a big one for us. Every game is a big one. I’m proud of how we came out and fought. Coach Tort said it best all week: ‘Answer the bell.’ He kept preaching it, and we believe everything he says. We’re going to keep fighting together as a team. We’ve got a good group here.”
Stat Book: IUP 38, California 30 (October 25, 2025)
For a moment, the game on Saturday started to feel like many of the other recent meetings in this series. Three times in the past 15 years, IUP led the Vulcans entering the fourth quarter and lost. Last year, the Crimson Hawks led 10-7 with less than a minute to play and lost in overtime.
But this time was different. IUP took a 21-17 lead into halftime and maintained the four-point lead into the fourth quarter. But Tortorella’s troops then took control and held on despite the Vulcans’ best efforts, suffocating the visitors in the closing minutes.
“Just attack and don’t let up,” said receiver Devin Whitlock, who caught nine passes for 69 yards and two touchdowns and was named the Coal Bowl MVP. “(We said) ‘Don’t give them room to breathe. Play our style of football. Don’t get into the second half and start playing another team’s type of football. Just play IUP football and we’ll be good.’”
IUP led by 11 late into the fourth quarter, but California made it a one-score game when Harry Radcliffe made his third field goal of the day. But that’s as close as the Vulcans would get. The win was sealed when IUP receiver Maurice Massey recovered an onside kick with 44 seconds to play.
IUP outgained California 334-264, and went 6-for-6 in red one opportunities, scoring five touchdowns and one Nick Andrasi field goal. Both of Rueve’s TD passes went to Whitlock, from 5 and 4 yards. Leon Parson added 47 rushing yards and two scores, and Tavian Banks had a 14-yard scoring run.
California took a 14-7 lead in the first quarter–– the first time IUP trailed in the opening 15 minutes all season. But the Crimson Hawks rallied and led 21-17 entering the break.
The Vulcans quickly took control of the game when Deontae Williams ran back the second-half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and a 24-21 lead. After forcing IUP to punt, the Vulcans made their biggest mistake when punt returner Kenny Lewis muffed the return, and IUP’s Rylan Jeter recovered at the IUP 39-yard line.
10 plays later, Whitlock caught his second touchdown pass of the game, and IUP had a lead back that it would not relinquish.
“Things happen in the game—people get punched—but you’ve got to get back up,” said IUP linebacker Tai’Don Strickland. “(Tortorella) told us Muhammad Ali got knocked down and got back up. He realized he wasn’t supposed to be down. We’re not supposed to be down in these games.”
The IUP defense, which gave up 14 points and 97 yards in the first quarter, switched from a mostly zone to a man defense after falling behind 14-7 and allowed just three field goals and 167 yards the rest of the way.
“I’m proud of our guys and coaches (and) how we won this game,” Tortorella said. “We were in trouble in the second half, but we recovered and controlled the game from that point on.”
IUP plays its final home game of the regular season next Saturday when it hosts last-place Gannon (1-7). The Golden Knights lost to Edinboro this weekend, 41-20.
The Crimson Hawks are in first place in the PSAC West and can clinch at least a share of the division title with a win over Gannon. IUP will win the title outright with a win and a Slippery Rock loss to Clarion.
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