This Week: For the third time since 2018, Notre Dame College and Slippery Rock University will meet in the NCAA Division II Football Postseason. The contest will be played on Mueller Field with a scheduled kickoff time of 12 p.m.
 
NCAA D2 Playoffs: In Super Region One, Notre Dame is the three seed, while Slippery Rock is the six seed. The winner of Saturday's matchup will face the winner of the Shepherd (two seed)-Findlay (seven seed) matchup. No. 4 seed New Haven battles the five seed, Bentley, for a chance to play the top seed Kutztown.
 
Records: Notre Dame enters the playoffs with a record of 10-1 following a 72-7 victory over Alderson Broaddus. That win also clinched the Falcons' fourth consecutive Mountain East Conference title. Slippery Rock has a record of 9-2, after falling 38-32 to Kutztown University in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship.
 
Coaches Corner: Mickey Mental is in his second season as head coach of the NDC football program. He has a 15-1 (13-1 MEC) record. Shawn Lutz is in his fifth season as head coach of Slippery Rock. He holds a record of 48-13.
 
Rankings: In the latest polls, Notre Dame is ranked No. 6 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II top 25 and No. 11 in the D2Football.com top 25. Notre Dame has been ranked in a national poll every week since Sept. 24, 2018. The Falcons have been inside the top-15 of the AFCA poll every week since Oct. 15, 2018. This is the 32nd consecutive week that NDC has been ranked. Notre Dame was given the third seed in Super Region One. Slippery Rock is currently No. 19 in the AFCA poll and No. 18 in the D2Football.com poll. SRU was named the six seed in Super Region One.
 
Series History: Notre Dame and Slippery Rock will be meeting in the playoffs for the third consecutive season (playoffs were not held in the spring 2021 season). Both of the previous contests were NCAA Quarterfinal matchups. In 2018, Notre Dame became champions of the region and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals with a 21-17 victory over the Rock. In the 2019, Slippery Rock and NDC combined for 124 points as SRU advanced with a 65-59 victory.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame broke a program record and an MEC record with 72 points scored. The Falcons also tied a program record and an MEC record with 10 touchdowns scored. Notre Dame wasted little time on Senior Day as they scored four times in the first quarter and would score on their first eight drives. Chris Brimm threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns. He broke the program record in career passing touchdowns, and now has 83, as well as, career passing yards (8,646). For the sixth time this season, an NDC opponent was held to under 100 rushing yards in a game. NDC went 8-for-11 on third down conversions and 6-for-6 on red zone conversions. The Falcons have now gone 17-for-17 on red zone attempts. The last time NDC did not score on a trip to redzone came on their final trip in a win over West Virginia Wesleyan, on Oct.16. NDC threw for 309 yards and ran for 305, going over 600 yards (614) of total offense for the second time this season.

NDC Football broke the Mountain East Conference record for most consecutive conference titles. Shepherd and NDC had held the previous record with three consecutive MEC titles. The Rams won three in a row from 2015-2017.

Nineteen players were given all-conference yearly awards this week. Guam Lee became the first player in program history to earn Defensive Player of the Year. He split the award with Frostburg State's Carl Igweh. Joining Lee on the First Team list is Chris Brimm, Devanaire Conliffe, Nick Beans, Brandon Nicholson, Noah Harris-Lyles, Jack Kosko, Nathan Moore, Antoine Holloway II and Bryce Sheppert. On Second Team, Tyris Dickerson is joined by CJ Kiss, Jimmy Burchett, Michael Kyle, Dylan Spaeth, Ron Salters, Dominic Buttazzoni and Tanner Harding. Adam Riegler took Honorable Mention, as did Bryce Sheppert, as a returner. This marks the Falcons' fourth consecutive season with at least 16 players on the all-conference teams. NDC did not receive Offensive Player of the Year or Coach of the Year honors this season, which ends a streak of three consecutive years with those awards.

Tanner Harding now has the MEC and NDC record in field goals made (52), extra point kicks (254) and total points scored (410). Guam Lee is first in program history in total tackles (335), solo tackles (188), forced fumbles (7), fumbles recovered (8), fumble return yards (272) and fumbles returned for TD (4). He needs 14 assisted tackles to become the NDC career leader in that category and three tackles for loss to take the lead in that category. Lee is also just two tackles for loss away from breaking the NDC single-season record and he needs nine solo tackles to have the single-season record. Chris Brimm holds the NDC record with 8,464 career passing yards and 83 passing touchdowns. He is at 92 career touchdowns responsible for, and needs 8 to break the record. Brimm is currently in first place in program history in average yards per completion (13.2), completion percentage (60.4) and pass efficiency (148.6). The quarterback needs just five passing touchdowns to take the career lead in the MEC. Bryce Sheppert needs one interception (currently at 9) and one pick-six (2) to break the NDC records. Antoine Holloway II needs one more interception, currently at six, to break the NDC single-season record in interceptions.

In NCAA Division II, the NDC defense now ranks second in turnover margin per game (+1.64), second in defensive touchdowns (6) and second in blocked punts (5). They are third in takeaways (32), fourth in interceptions (17), fifth in fumbles recovered (15), 6th in tackles for loss per game (8.8), 10th in team sacks per game (3.55), 10th in red zone defense, allowing teams to convert just 63.3-percent of the time in the red zone, 15th in third down conversion percentage, allowing teams to convert just 28.9-percent of the time, 16th in rushing yards allowed per game (90), 17th in points allowed per game (15.9) and 18th in yards allowed per game (275.8). The offense ranks 7th in the country by allowing 0.73 sacks per game, 7th in points per game (41.9), seventh in redzone offense (91.7) and 17th in team passing efficiency (158.6).

Noah Harris-Lyles ranks sixth in sacks per game (1.05) and eighth in tackles for loss per game (1.9). Guam Lee ranks fifth in D2 in fumbles recovered with three and seventh in tackles for loss per game (1.9). Antoine Holloway II is tied for sixth in Division II with six interceptions on the season. Chris Brimm ranks 11th in yards per pass attempt (8.96), 12th in passing efficiency (164.1), 15th in passing touchdowns (25) 19th in completion percentage (64.1) and 23rd in passing yards (2,696). Bryce Sheppert has a kick return and a punt return touchdown and is one of five in Division II to return both a kick and a punt for a touchdown.

Guam Lee is now seventh among active Division II players in total tackles (335), tied for seventh in forced fumbles with seven, sixth in solo tackles (188) and 19th in assisted tackles with 147. Chris Brimm is eighth in passing yards (8,646), ninth in total offensive yards (8,988), 16th in passing efficiency (148.63) and 20th in passing yards per game (201.1). Devanaire Conliffe has 41 touchdown receptions in his career, which is 2nd best in the country among active players. He is also 15th with 162 receptions in his career and 24th in receiving yards per game (59). Tanner Harding is tied for first among active career leaders in field goal makes, with 52, he also ranks seventh among active players in D2 with 7.5 points per game, 17th in field goals made per game with 0.95 and 18th in field goal percentage (72.2). Noah Harris-Lyles is tied for third in forced fumbles with eight, 8th in total sacks, with 26 and 13th among active leaders with 1.25 tackles for loss per game. Bryce Sheppert is 23rd with nine interceptions in his career, along with sitting in 19th punt return average (11.2 yards).

Noting the Rock: Slippery Rock battled injuries as they tried to win their second consecutive PSAC Championship. The Rock led 10-7 at the end of the first quarter, but Kutztown outscored them 17-7 in the second quarter. Despite throwing three interceptions and a 3-for-13 performance on third down, Slippery Rock still scored on five of its seven chances in the redzone. Down 38-20, about midway through the fourth quarter, SRU scored two touchdowns. Tim Smith ran the ball in and then Henry Litwin caught a TD pass with 43 seconds to play. However, their onside kick was unsuccessful. Noah Grover threw the ball 49 times, and completed 29 of the passes for 298 yards and two touchdowns. Tim Smith ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns, while Henry Litwin led the way for the Rock with 11 catches and 112 receiving yards. Tim Vernick and Trysten McDonald both had nine tackles.

Slippery Rock will be playing in their third consecutive game against a nationally ranked team. They defeated California University of Pennsylvania (who was No. 3 at the time), 38-26, before losing to No. 16 Kutztown last week, 38-32.

After taking over as quarterback three weeks ago, Noah Grover has 401.0 passing yards per game, 1,203 yards with 14 touchdowns, including eight in his first start. The Rock offense is averaging 44.3 points and 548.3 yards per game over those three games.

The Falcons are very familiar with senior Henry Litwin, who will be a main target. He leads the team with 63 receptions for 999 yards. He also has caught 13 touchdowns.

Tim Vernick leads the team with 74 tackles. Chad Kuhn has recorded nine sacks and seven quarterback hurries.