WCU Looks For Revenge Against Slippery Rock

WEST CHESTER, PA (CBS) -- The 2015 college football season was a successful one for the Division II West Chester University football team. The Golden Rams went 7-4 advancing to the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title game. However, the campaign ended with a thud as the Golden Rams were dismantled in that title game by Slippery Rock, 61-12.

On Saturday, West Chester will look for a bit of revenge as they host Slippery Rock in their home opener.

That loss in the PSAC title game was more than nine months ago, but it is very much in the mind of the 2016 Golden Rams.

"We referenced in the spring," West Chester head coach Bill Zwaan tells KYW Newsradio. "We referenced it in the winter workouts and we referenced it in the summer workouts and the summer camp and we'll definitely reference it this week. They thought about it the whole off-season and that's what they should do. They didn't feel like they gave the effort they should have, they were embarrassed by what happened and now we've got to fight back and make something out of it."

Listen to the entire interview with West Chester's Bill Zwaan

West Chester will come into this game 1-0 after winning its opener last Saturday on the road, at Bentley, 31-24. The Golden Rams actually trailed that game, 24-14, heading into the 4th quarter, but they scored the game's final 17 points to pick up the win.

"We were tested, for sure," Zwaan says. "We had to find a way to win. We weren't playing well, we had a couple of injuries early in the game that hurt us. But our kids fought back and got a win on the road."

West Chester played two quarterbacks in that game, Pat Moriarty and Andrew Derr, with Moriarty starting. Moriarty completed just 2 of 12 passes and threw a pair of interceptions, he did have a touchdown. Derr, meanwhile, was 11 of 19 for 163 yards. He had a touchdown and an interception. Derr also rushed for 63 yards and another score.

"We're going to have Andrew start for us now and see how that works out," Zwaan says. "No coach likes to yo-yo quarterbacks, you'd like to have one guy establish themselves and take the job. That really didn't happen between Pat and Andrew (in the preseason), but Andrew played better Saturday. We feel like he should get the opportunity right now and we'll see how that goes and hopefully he can establish himself."

Slippery Rock beat New Haven, 31-28, in its opener last week.

Saturday's game will kick-off at noon at Farrell Stadium.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.