Mercer Closes Season with Furman on Senior Day - Bears are seeking their best finish in SoCon playMACON, Ga. – Mercer will seek to finish the 2018 regular season with a 5-3 record in Southern Conference play as it hosts Furman for Senior Day and Military Appreciation Day on Saturday at Five Star Stadium.
Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. The Bears (5-5, 4-3 SoCon) can earn their best finish in conference play since joining the league in 2014 with a win over the visiting Paladins (5-4, 5-2), who are still in contention for a share of the SoCon title.
Saturday's game will be broadcasted via ESPN+. Fans can also tune into the "Voice of the Bears" Rick Cameron and Mercer Sports Network on 100.9 The Creek FM or the SportsMic app.
GAMEDAY LINEUP» Date/Time: Saturday, November 17 | 3 p.m. (ET)
» Teams: Mercer (5-5, 4-3 SoCon) vs. Furman (5-4, 5-2 SoCon)
» Location: Macon, Ga. | Five Star Stadium (10,200)
» Television: ESPN+
» Television Talent: Frank Malloy (PxP), Chad Pilcher (Analyst), Kristin Banks (Sideline)
» Radio: Mercer Sports Network | 100.9 The Creek FM | SportsMic
» Radio Talent: Rick Cameron (PxP), Roger Jackson (Analyst), Charles Davis (Sideline)
» Live Stats: MercerBears.com
» Twitter Updates: @mercerfootball
» Game Notes: Mercer | Furman | SoCon
MILITARY APPRECIATION DAYSaturday is also Military Appreciation Day at Five Star Stadium. All active Military personnel and veterans, along with their immediate families, receive free general admission to the game.
QUICK HITS* Bobby Lamb will face his alma mater, Furman, for the fifth time since becoming Mercer's head coach. Lamb starred at quarterback at Furman before joining the Paladins' coaching staff for 25 years, including nine years as their head coach.
* Lamb will also be coaching against former teammate and staff member Clay Hendrix, who is in his second year as head coach at Furman. Lamb and Hendrix grew up together in Commerce, Ga., and were teammates at Commerce High School and Furman. They won three SoCon titles as players and six SoCon titles and the 1988 national championship as coaches at Furman.
* Mercer can go 5-3 in SoCon play, which would be its best finish since joining the league in 2014. The Bears have gone 4-4 in league play each of the last two seasons.
* Tee Mitchell needs 94 all-purpose yards to break Mercer's program record of 3,526. [Hope he's healed up and ready to go for this record]
* Mercer is 2-2 against Furman in the modern era (2013-present).
All four games have been decided by seven points or less.* A win on Saturday would be Mercer's 100th all-time victory in Macon. The Bears are 99-56-3 all-time in Macon.
* Stephen Houzah leads the SoCon with 17.2 yards per catch and was the SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week (Nov. 12) for his 177 kick return yards at Chattanooga on Nov. 10.
* Mercer has held two opponents (Jacksonville, Sept. 8; Chattanooga, Nov. 10) without touchdowns this season.
* The Bears rank seventh nationally in red zone offense. They are 33-for-36 in the red zone with 24 touchdowns scored.
* Mercer ranks seventh in the FCS with an average of 25.57 yards per kick return, highlighted by Houzah and David Durden's individual efforts [Hope Mr. Durden is healed up and ready to make some "individual efforts" on Saturday].
THANK YOU, SENIORS!Saturday is Senior Day for 17 Bears who will be playing in their final home game at Five Star Stadium. The Class of 2018 has won 21 games since the 2015 season and has continued to build the foundation of Mercer's football program.
» [Starting C] David May (2017-18)
» [Starting RB] Tee Mitchell (2014-18)
» [Starting TE] Sam Walker (2014-18)
» [Starting WR /Starting PR] Marquise Irvin (2015-18)
» [Regular WR / Starting KR] Stephen Houzah (2015-18)
» [Starting DE] Isaiah Buehler (2014-18)
» [Regular DE] Austin Wysor (2014-18)
» [Starting OLB] LeMarkus Bailey (2014-18)
» [Starting OLB] Bradley Earnest (2018)
» [Regular OLB] Travonte' Easley (2014-18)
» [Backup, but Fairly Regular ILB] Brandon Coney (2014-18)
» [P/T Starting CB] Kam Lott (2016-18)
» [DB] Dylan Calhoun (2017-18)
» [Backup, but Fairly Regular DB] Brandon Gurley (2014-18)
» [Starting PK] Cole Fisher (2015-18)
» [Starting P] Matt Shiel (2015, 2018)
» [Starting LS] Steven Nixon (2015-18) *expected to be early graduate
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Above article has been augmented [...] and rearranged a bit by FUBeAR
Looking ahead to 2019...
* Specialists positions will be a HUGE question mark for Mercer. All 5 (including Kickoff & Punt Returners) departures have been OUTSTANDING in 2018
* Replacing Walker, Irvin, and Houzah from one of the best corps of pass catchers in the SoCon will be a major challenge. Durden, Cannon, Jones, Ellison, Ellington, and Graham (if he can stay healthy)...et al, may very well be able to rise to that challenge...and, eventually, surpass even this outstanding group.
* Losing key 'edge Players,' DE Buehler, OLB Bailey, and OLB Earnest, in addition to DE Wysor and OLB Easley is another area of significant talent departure. Some younger Players will need to "rise up" to replace these 5. True FR DL McDaniel has shown promise and played some DE, but I think at 6-0, he may be more of a NG. I've also been impressed with True FR DL Perkins. Also seen promise in R-FR DL King. I think we might see some position changes to fill the large holes Bailey, Earnest, and Easley are leaving at OLB. True FR Bullard is on the 2-deep @ OLB, so he will be counted on to step up next season and, perhaps, DB's Gammage and Ward, could get a look at OLB as they are similar in size to Bailey (actually, a little bigger), who began his career at DB. I was impressed with True FR LB Brown's HS vid. I suspect he is Redshirting this year and may be in the mix @ OLB next season.
If the Bears can effectively re-load with Specialists, Pass Catchers on O, and Edge Players on D, they should be in excellent stead to compete for the SoCon Championship in 2019 and certainly have a better than solid chance to make the FCS Playoffs.
