Football Prepping to Black Out ETSU in Final Non-Conference Test
10/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University football team will be back at home this Saturday, as the Bears welcome East Tennessee State to town for a 4 p.m. kick-off at Five Star Stadium.
Mercer, which sports a 13-4 record at home over the past three seasons, will face an ETSU program that is in its first year of football in over decade. Fans are asked to wear black to the game, as the Bears "Black Out" the Buccaneers, who will officially join the Southern Conference in football during the 2016 season.
GAMEDAY LINEUP
Date: Saturday, Oct. 17, 2015 | 4 p.m.
Teams: Mercer (2-3) vs. East Tennessee State (0-5)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Five Star Stadium
Television: ESPN3
Television Talent: Dan Mathews (Play-by-Play), Tyrone Poole (Analyst), Nancy Mousa (Sideline)
Radio: 97.3 FM The Bull Icons | iHeartRadio
Radio Talent: Rick Cameron (Play-by-Play), Roger Jackson (Analyst), Megan Trammell (Sideline)
Livestats: MercerBears.com
Tickets: Mercer Ticket Office
Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's match-up will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Bears are 11-4 against first time opponents during head coach Bobby Lamb's tenure and 1-1 against teams from the state of Tennessee this season.
RECAPPING THE BEARS' LAST GAME
Mercer dropped its third straight heartbreaker, as Western Carolina scored the final 21 points of the game to record a 24-21 victory on Saturday afternoon at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
Turning Point
Western Carolina converted a pair of big third downs in its game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter, before Detrez Newsome sealed the victory with a 22-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-short to complete the comeback and hand the Catamounts a 24-21 advantage with 42 seconds remaining.
How it happened
Mercer got its SoCon road opener off to a great start, marching 74 yards on the first drive for a quick 7-0 lead on Tee Mitchell's 12-yard run. After a field goal by WCU, the Bears poured on 14-straight points on its next two series to grab a 21-3 lead following a 13-yard scoring run by John Russ and a 2-yard touchdown by Alex Lakes.
However, Western Carolina responded with 21 straight points for a wild comeback in Cullowhee. The Catamounts made it a 21-10 game at the half on Tyler Sexton's 14-yard completion to Tyler Sexton. After both teams went scoreless in the third quarter, WCU pulled with four points on C.J. Goodman's 14-yard touchdown run, before Newsome put the team on top for good.
The Bears had an opportunity to send the game to overtime for the second straight week, as Russ drove the team to the WCU 25-yard line with 18 yards through the air and another 18 on the ground. However, Jagger Lieb's potential game-tying field goal from 42 yards out would go wide left as time expired
Offensive Standout
Avery Ward continued his recent assault, hauling in six receptions for a program-record 111 yards. Two of those receptions came of the big play variety with gains of 47 and 31 yards on the day. Ward now has two 100-yard receiving performances in his career.
Defensive Star
Tripp Patterson finished with six tackles including a team-high 1.5 tackles-for-loss to lead a group that held the Catamounts to 338 yards of total offense. Patterson also had a big sack in the closing minutes of the first half to help keep WCU off the scoreboard.
A CLOSER LOOK AT ETSU
ETSU comes into this weekend's contest with a 0-5 record in the program's first season of football in over a decade.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Austin Herink leads a Buccaneer offense that is averaging 305.2 yards of total offense per game, as he has compiled 627 yards through the air with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Running back Jajuan Stinson paces the the team with 209 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while former Mercer player Dalton Ponchillia leads the receiving corps with 208 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 13 receptions.
Linebacker Dylan Weigel has been the main man on defense for ETSU, as he ranks among the nation's leaders in total tackles (11.0) and solo tackles (7.2) per game. Defensive back Tony Welch is adding 25 tackles and two pass break-ups, while linebacker River Boruff owns 23 stops and two tackles-for-loss.
MERCER STORYLINES
- The Bears have rolled through their non-conference schedule over the past three seasons, posting an impressive 11-1 mark in those contests. Mercer's 11 victories have been of the dominant variety with the team compiling an average win margin of 36.1 points per game in those contests.
- Mercer has been near perfect in the redzone this season, scoring on 20 of its 21 opportunities inside the opponents' 20-yard line. 75 percent (16 times) of those trips have resulted in touchdowns with 12 rushing and four passing scores. The Bears, who rank seventh nationally with that statistic, topped the nation during the 2013 campaign, when they turned 91.8 percent of their red zone attempts into scores including 33 touchdowns.
- The Bears are coming off three straight heartbreaking losses, after seeing two fourth quarter leads slip away as well as a gut-wrenching defeat in overtime. Mercer's three losses have come by a combined 11 points with the team outgaining its opposition in all three contests.
- Mercer is once again one of the best teams in the Southern Conference in winning the turnover margin, as it enters this weekend ranked third in the league with a turnover margin of positive three. The Bears had a season-best three picks in the rout of Stetson, before forcing a pair of key fumbles in the overtime loss to Wofford.
- Mercer's pass defense has stepped up in the last two contests, holding Western Carolina and Wofford to a combined 196 yards through the air. During that time, opponents have only tossed one touchdown pass. The Bears currently rank fourth in the league in pass defense, holding the opposition to 188.2 yards per contest.
- Sophomore running back Tee Mitchell has exploded on the scene early this season, rushing for over 100 yards in each of the past three games including a career-best 130-yard effort against Tennessee Tech. The Jacksonville native ranks second in the SoCon with 104.6 yards rushing per game, while also notching seven total touchdowns including two of the team's biggest plays from scrimmage.
- Linebacker Tripp Patterson enters today's game on fire, having compiled 20 stops, including 2.5 tackles-for-loss, over the past two games. The junior leads the team with 7.0 tackles per game this season, while ranking among the league leaders in tackles-for-loss and force fumbles.
- Avery Ward has emerged as one of the SoCon's top receivers, as he tops the league with 70 yards per game thanks to four straight contests with 60 yards or more. The Alpharetta, Ga., native set a program record with 111 yards on six catches at Western Carolina, after hauling in eight passes for 85 yards and a career-best two scores against Wofford the week before.
Head Coach Bobby Lamb's Game Week Quotes
Final thoughts on the Bears' game at Western Carolina:
"It was another great Southern Conference football game if you're a fan. Mark Spier had his guys playing really well. We got off to a great start with a 21-3 lead, but Western Carolina did a great job in the second to come back and take the lead with 42 seconds left. We did a fantastic job with our two minute offense and had a 42-yard field goal to tie it that was wide left.
It was a tremendous effort by our guys. If you look at the stats, we had 404 yards of total offense, zero turnovers and just one penalty. So we are playing clean games and playing hard, but we are not coming up with the victory which is the most disappointing thing. I'm very proud of our effort and the guys that had to step up and fill in key spots due to injuries."
On dealing with psyche of the team after several nail-biting losses:
"I don't think we've had to worry about that much. Last year it would have been an issue, but we are a more mature football team this year. We only have two seniors on this team, but we do have a lot of juniors who provide a lot of leadership."
"I was very encouraged by our Sunday meeting and practices later that evening. Of course we just got off the field from a great practice this morning, so I'm very encouraged by the direction we are going. Certainly we have a tough challenge this weekend, but if you look at the big picture we have six games left with four in Macon so we are excited about that."
On what he likes about the offense's continued improvement:
"They are kind of in the state that we were in two years ago, certainly a start-up program that is playing a lot of freshmen with a couple transfers in the mix. They have great size, but just haven't gotten a win although they have played in a lot of close ball games. I'm sure they are hungry for a win and look at Mercer like "hey they've lost the last three and are reeling a bit" so I'm sure they are excited to come down here and play."
"I've known Carl Torbush for a long time and I'm also very familiar with their offensive coordinator Mike O'Cain and defensive coordinator Billy Taylor. However, we are not familiar with their personnel since they are new, so it will be a big challenge for us. We are excited to play at home and look forward to a good game on Saturday."
On the difficulty of facing a team with so many unknown faces:
"It is difficult. You can certainly tell their ability on tape, however, you really don't what the sciences are until they get off the bus and come out and warm up. So it is definitely more difficult, but they play extremely hard and are hungry for a win like we are so it will be a great match-up here in Macon."
