MACON, Ga. – Well, at least Mercer isn't ranked in the Football Championship Subdivision.
After playing back-to-back Top 25 FCS team in the last two weeks in Illinois State and Eastern Kentucky—and three out of the last four weeks—the Governors will play Mercer, 3 p.m. CT, Saturday, at Mercer University Stadium.
Although the Bears may not be ranked, they enter the contest with a 4-2 record, including 1-1 as a first-year member of the Southern Conference. It has been quite the whirlwind for Mercer since it would return to playing football in 2010 after disbanding the program in 1941.
Bobby Lamb was hired as coach. Mercer initially returned as a non-scholarship (Pioneer Football League) program in 2012 but before ever playing one game announced in 2013 it would transition to a scholarship program. The Bears played in the PFL in 2013 before moving over to the SoCon to start this season.
The Bears went 10-2, 6-3 in the PFL, in its first season back as a football program in 2013. This season the Bears are off to a 4-2 start, winning their first-ever SoCon game against VMI, 27-24, Sept. 27. Mercer is coming off a 21-18 SoCon loss to Samford a week ago.
Leading the SoCon in total offense with 417.7 yards per game, Mercer is using a balanced attack that features Alex Lakes, the league's top rusher (100 yards per game) and quarterback, John Russ, the conference's leader in passing touchdowns (10), averaging 180 yards per contest. In addition, kicker returner Chandler Curtis has been named SoCon Special Teams Player of the Week for three straight weeks—he won last week after returning a punt 99 yards.
Defensively, middle linebacker Tyler Ward leads the team with 57 tackles while end Tunde Ayinla and linebacker Kyle Williams have combined for 9.5 tackles for loss.
The 0-5 Govs, meanwhile, will attempt to build off last week's defensive improvement that saw them force No. 18 Eastern Kentucky into seven punts and four three-and-outs. Safety Damien Whitfield and linebacker Antonio Turner, both sophomores, each had 10 stops against the Colonels while stalwart senior defensive tackle Malcolm Goines had six stops in the interior.
For the Govs to snap FCS's longest losing streak, they must develop a semblance of offensive consistency. APSU tallied just 11 first downs and 190 yards total offense. APSU challenged the end zone one time and the drive ended at the one-yard line with a fourth-down fumble.
-AP-
