Game 11 - Furman - Saturday 11/17 - 3:00 PM

Looking at the table in the post above makes me sad because the games at home vs. The Citadel & ETSU were clearly "winnable" games.

I think about the ridiculous "runner was down" call in the CIT game when their RB clearly fumbled (with Mercer recovering) and it was clearly visible on the replay that he had fumbled...but not overturned...

3rd and 6 at CIT08 Grant Drakeford rush for 15 yards to the CIT23, 1ST DOWN CIT (Malique Fleming;Bradley Earnest).

IMO, that was a 14 point swing as the bellhops treated that Referee's gift like a turnover and went deep the next play for a TD. At that point in the season, if Mercer goes up 24-7 at half...and getting the ball coming out of half...which ended up as a TD drive....so, 31-7....I just don't see them coming back from that...and then Mercer's Starting QB isn't trying desperately to make a play at the end to put up the tying/winning score...and maybe he doesn't get hurt. Of course, their Kickoff Return for a TD was big, but I think the game...and maybe Mercer's season 'turned' on that 1 Fumble; not called, not overturned. That said, if Mercer holds them on 3rd & 6 on their own 23, instead of giving up that 15 yard run...maybe the Bears have that same 31-7 lead in the 3rd quarter anyway.


Then, I think about ETSU...what if that OT hadn't been running after the guy that he just whiffed on PassPro, Mercer has 2 guys there to recover that Sack/Strip in the end zone...and that's 7 points instead of 2? But I think that game turned more on a series than on a single play.

Quarter #4
ETSU 21-18 Mercer
Mercer at 06:06 / 1 Timeout
1st and 10 at MER34 Harrison Frost pass complete to Sam Walker for 6 yards to the MER40 (Jared Folks).
2nd and 4 at MER40 Harrison Frost pass incomplete to Stephen Houzah (Blake Bockrath).
3rd and 4 at MER40 Harrison Frost pass incomplete to Marquise Irvin (Jeremy Lewis).
4th and 4 at MER40 Matt Shiel punt 60 yards to the ETSU0, touchback.

No guarantees, but I think if Mercer gets the 1st down there, and the clock running down, it's all 4 downs after that (in hindsight, shoulda been 4 downs here, as Mercer never touched the ball again) and only need about 30 yards to get in range to tie it up.

Whatever was "the turning point" in those games, they were both certainly winnable...and then this week against FU would be about whether Mercer is going to win the SoCon outright or share it with Furman and Wofford (and would get the Autobid, I think, because of the win over Samford), and, possibly, ETSU (which would probably mean Wofford would get the Autobid (on SoCon points allowed), but at 7-4, Mercer would still be in solid contention for a Playoff bid...this year).

Such an, oh so very, short 'distance' from the penthouse to that other house...4 yards & 1 awful call/review, maybe. I guess that what makes all of this so much fun....kinda.

Great question. You know, there should be a shot, but there isn’t really.

Everyone is ‘assuming’ Furman is in with a win over Mercer. The Paladins would be 6-4 / 5-2 and, potentially SoCon Co-Champs (at worse, tied for 2nd). They also have a ‘good win’ over most-likely-Playoff-bound Wofford and their only ‘bad loss’ would be to Samford. But everyone knows Samford is a capable Team.

Mercer would be 6-5/5-3 and 3rd in the SoCon. The Bears would have no ‘good wins’ and ‘bad losses’ to The Citadel & Yale. That’s not really a strong enough resume to knock out some of the many other 6-5 Teams. At 7-4 /5-3, if the Bears had beaten Yale, it would be a “maybe.” Still unlikely though. While we KNOW those wins over Samford (actual) and Furman (hypothetical, at this point) are ‘good wins,’ they would not be viewed as such by the committee, even if Samford beats ETSU.

So, the very winnable games against The Citadel & ETSU...and the Also-winnable game against Yale (provided the Bears don’t start the game by digging themselves into a 6 foot deep mudhole...are the daggers. Turn all those around (which really is not much of a ‘turn’) and Mercer, at 9-2 /7-1 with a win over Furman, whose only losses were to an FBS & a ‘forgivable’ one (due to the in-game injuries to key Players) to Wofford is looking at being solo SoCon Champs, getting a Seed, a bye, and a 2nd Round Home Playoff game. Even with a loss to Furman, an 8-3 / 6-2 Mercer is pretty much a Playoff-lock.

I’m getting sadder. 

Thanks for registering bearsfan - while our host, BearDownMU, is recovering from a serious health issue, I wasn’t sure if new peeps could register here.

What thoughts do you have about the game this Saturday with Furman?

Do you think a 3rd outstanding performance in a row by Mercer’s D is in the cards?

Do you think the O, perhaps with the return of Riley...maybe even Riddle...can find the firepower they displayed in the 2nd half vs. Yale, and vs. VMI & WCU...or maybe even what they showed vs. Samford?

How about the returns game? Mercer leads the SoCon & is highly ranked nationally in both Kickoff & Punt returns? Do you see that being a factor or will the very strong of Furman’s Kicker minimize it?

Weather is supposed to be great! Will you be bringing a big crowd with you to the game? What does the Tailgate experience at Mercer usually entail for bearsfan & friends/family?

Let's add North Dakota State to our SOS. We didn't play them, but that doesn't seem to actually matter.

Bobby also drove the spike into the heart of his replacement, which I'm sure was fun for him and judging off the state of the Furman board today they seem most appreciative.


I think the Bears should at least be mentioned in almost a next four out type of situation if they win big on Saturday. Personally, I think we would need Riddle back or Riley at the top of his game to have a shot at winning. Less than 150 yards on offense might be an all time low since we rebooted.

bearsfan, I believe it was Coach Billy Shakespeare who once said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” He never said it to FUBeAR, obviously.

So, FUBeAR, and I’m sure others, do appreciate your clearly witty participation here; just having a difficult time grasping the full meaning of your commentary given your economical use of the language.

Feel free to elaborate upon your thoughts a bit more in your posts, if you would like. As far as I know, BearDownMU isn’t charged for the hosting of this site by the volume of words posted.

If he is, I’m gonna owe him A LOT of qwan!