Saturday, October 15
Macon, Ga.
4 PM
Mercer University
3-3 , 2-2
38
vs
24
Western Carolina
1-5 , 0-4
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Western Carolina
0
7
14
3
24
Mercer
0
3
21
14
38
Team Stats
WCU
MER
Total Yards
483
499
Pass Yards
384
224
Rushing Yards
99
275
Penalty Yards
102
75
1st Downs
25
28
3rd Downs
3
8
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
23:30
36:30
2nd Quarter
WCU 0, MER 3
MER - Cole Fisher 38 yd field goal 14 plays, 58 yards, TOP 5:32
WCU 7, MER 3
WCU - Detrez Newsome 24 yd pass from Tyrie Adams (Logan Howard kick) 8 plays, 73 yards, TOP 1:01
3rd Quarter
WCU 14, MER 3
WCU - Connell Young 2 yd run (Logan Howard kick), 6 plays, 61 yards, TOP 2:01
WCU 14, MER 10
MER - Sam Walker 19 yd pass from John Russ (Cole Fisher kick) 10 plays, 79 yards, TOP 4:11
WCU 14, MER 17
MER - Alex Lakes 4 yd run (Cole Fisher kick), 1 plays, 4 yards, TOP 0:09
WCU 14, MER 24
MER - Marquise Irvin 21 yd pass from John Russ (Cole Fisher kick) 2 plays, 33 yards, TOP 0:40
WCU 21, MER 24
WCU - T. Robinson 43 yd pass from Tyrie Adams (Logan Howard kick) 8 plays, 82 yards, TOP 2:36
4th Quarter
WCU 21, MER 31
MER - Chandler Curtis 5 yd pass from John Russ (Cole Fisher kick) 4 plays, 61 yards, TOP 1:25
WCU 24, MER 31
WCU - Logan Howard 30 yd field goal 11 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:14
WCU 24, MER 38
MER - Alex Lakes 2 yd run (Cole Fisher kick), 7 plays, 40 yards, TOP 3:55
Players Mentioned
LB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DT
/ Football
K
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
RB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
K/P
/ Football
Photo by: Allyson Lamb
Mercer Rallies for 38-24 Win over Western Carolina
10/15/2016 8:44:00 PM | Football
MACON, Ga. – Mercer rallied from a 14-3 deficit and took advantage of five Western Carolina turnovers in a 38-24 win over the Catamounts Saturday afternoon at Five Star Stadium in Macon.
The Bears (3-3, 2-2 SoCon) forced WCU into three turnovers in four possessions in the program's first win over Western Carolina (1-5, 0-4 SoCon).
TURNING POINT
The major turning point of the game came when Western Carolina kickoff returner Detrez Newsome fumbled and LeMarkus Bailey recovered on the WCU 4-yard line. The Bears had just scored on a Sam Walker 19-yard reception to pull within four but the Catamount turnover set up a one play, four-yard score from Alex Lakes that gave Mercer a 17-14 advantage, a lead Mercer would never relinquish the remainder of the game.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
While Western Carolina kept it close, Alex Lakes put the game out of reach with his two-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left in the game. That pushed the Mercer lead to the final 14-point margin the game ended with, 38-24. Prior to that, WCU was still just a touchdown away from tying the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a lethargic first half left the Bears trailing 7-3 – 30 minutes that witnessed a surprising two missed field goals by Cole Fisher – Mercer found its spark in the second half. Similar to the Tennessee Tech game, it took the opponent scoring points off a turnover to ignite the team.
Following a fumble on the team's opening drive in the second half, Mercer rallied off four straight scores while forcing Western Carolina to turn the ball over on three out of four straight possessions. It started with Sam Walker's 19-yard touchdown pass from John Russ. Then LeMarkus Bailey recovered a fumble to set up Alex Lakes' four-yard touchdown run. Another Bailey-forced turnover – this time an interception – set the stage for Marquise Irvin's 21-yard touchdown pass from Russ. WCU would manage one more touchdown before the action-packed third quarter would come to a close with Mercer holding a 24-21 lead.
But the Bears were not done yet. Mercer was knocking on the door of another touchdown when the third quarter drew to a close and just four seconds into the final frame Chandler Curtis scored on a five-yard pass from Russ. WCU would fumble its next possession then only manage a field goal before Lakes scored his second touchdown of the game, this time a two-yard run. Lendell Arnold put the nail in the coffin with under two minutes left in the game, intercepting Western Carolina Tyrie Adams at the WCU 35-yard line.
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OFFENSIVE STAR
Chandler Curtis bested all players Saturday with 187 all-purpose yards while adding his first touchdown of the year. In his first game played at Five Star Stadium this season, Curtis caught four passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, had a carry for 12 yards, returned three kickoffs for 71 yards and registered an eight-yard punt return.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT
LeMarkus Bailey – have a day, kid. The junior finished with his first career interception, recovered a fumble (both turnovers, by the way, directly led to a combined 14 points) and registered five total tackles, one shy of matching his career best.
RECORDS UPDATE
TEAM
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
SPECIAL TEAMS
"I want to talk about our defense first. They really came to play in the first half. It was unbelievable…they were flying around the ball. Western has some big-time receivers and they've got people who can hurt you down the field. I was excited to see [our defense] do that.
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"Offensively, we just couldn't get going [in the first half]. We wanted to run the ball because this team hasn't stopped the run a whole lot. We needed Alex Lakes…Payton [Usher] went out again early…Kyle Trammell came in there. I also want to mention CJ Kleckley from Rutland High School here in Macon. He really came in – this is his last year and he's paid his dues – and gave us a spark several times.
Â
On coming out strong in the second half after a lackluster first half performance:
"It says a lot about our character, it says a lot about our toughness. We did some good things [in the first half] – we had 155 yards rushing at the half! We did some nice things but we kept kicking ourselves with penalty after penalty in the red zone and moved ourselves back. We were not able to overcome those penalties, but, wow, in the second half our defense really sparked us with turnovers and got our offense jumpstarted a little bit. Sam Walker makes a diving catch…Western roughs the quarterback…we take the penalty on the kickoff. We sky-kicked it and I told the coaches on the headset, 'if the wind is blowing in our faces, the ball may drop straight down.' It did drop straight down, the young man dropped it, and we jumped on it. What a big play that was to change the momentum in our favor.
Â
On the momentum-changing sequence of two touchdowns and the fumble recovery in the third quarter:
"That did [change the momentum]. It really ignited our sideline. The [sequence] was bang-bang-bang. We created a great play with Sam Walker – an unbelievable catch while John made an unbelievable throw and got roughed. We then get the turnover and the easy touchdown. Then, there's a certain renewed confidence on our bench. You could really feel it. Football is a game of momentum. I was really proud…Western cut it to 31-24 and had a little momentum, but our offense went out there and took care of business to win the game."
Â
On how big special teams play was in Saturday's win:
"It was big. Let's face it, we should've been up at halftime at least 9-7, but we missed two field goals. We felt like we should've scored down here, but at the end of the day we were down 7-3. For our guys to come out and have the defense play a big part…the "hit squad" …the kickoff team has done a marvelous job over the last few weeks. Our return team – Chandler Curtis almost popped one; he tripped over a guy. I thought Tyler Zielenske punted the ball really well tonight. We had a fake punt, I thought we had it. Kyle reached out and tried to get extra and the ball popped out."
Â
On returning home after three weeks and playing in front of Five Star Stadium:
"It's huge anytime we can come back home. The atmosphere was great. The Bear Walk had a lot of people there, lots of people were all over campus today. The weather man didn't cooperate because it was supposed to be 82 degrees and all the sudden it was cloudy with a little front moving in. What a great night to play football and what a great fan base we've got. We had a lot of recruits here on campus and they were able to see all that. We've now got to go back on the road for two weeks in a row."
Â
On getting Chandler Curtis back into the offense:
"It's big. You've got Chandler in the middle, Avery on one side, Marquise on the other. You've got some complimentary receivers with those guys. John really found the holes and we were working the weak side with Marquise which opened the middle for Chandler. We've just got to find more ways to get mismatches like that and have got to do it in the first half compared to the second half."
Â
On getting Alex Lakes going:
"Alex has been beat up all year but he's a tough son of a gun and he really looked like the old Alex Lakes today. He had 20 carries for 112 yards…looked like the old Alex. Payton got dinged up again with a hamstring and of course CJ Kleckley came in, Kyle Trammell got some carries, so we're going to keep working the three-headed monster but Alex will be our workhorse."
The Bears (3-3, 2-2 SoCon) forced WCU into three turnovers in four possessions in the program's first win over Western Carolina (1-5, 0-4 SoCon).
TURNING POINT
The major turning point of the game came when Western Carolina kickoff returner Detrez Newsome fumbled and LeMarkus Bailey recovered on the WCU 4-yard line. The Bears had just scored on a Sam Walker 19-yard reception to pull within four but the Catamount turnover set up a one play, four-yard score from Alex Lakes that gave Mercer a 17-14 advantage, a lead Mercer would never relinquish the remainder of the game.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
While Western Carolina kept it close, Alex Lakes put the game out of reach with his two-yard touchdown run with 1:53 left in the game. That pushed the Mercer lead to the final 14-point margin the game ended with, 38-24. Prior to that, WCU was still just a touchdown away from tying the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a lethargic first half left the Bears trailing 7-3 – 30 minutes that witnessed a surprising two missed field goals by Cole Fisher – Mercer found its spark in the second half. Similar to the Tennessee Tech game, it took the opponent scoring points off a turnover to ignite the team.
Following a fumble on the team's opening drive in the second half, Mercer rallied off four straight scores while forcing Western Carolina to turn the ball over on three out of four straight possessions. It started with Sam Walker's 19-yard touchdown pass from John Russ. Then LeMarkus Bailey recovered a fumble to set up Alex Lakes' four-yard touchdown run. Another Bailey-forced turnover – this time an interception – set the stage for Marquise Irvin's 21-yard touchdown pass from Russ. WCU would manage one more touchdown before the action-packed third quarter would come to a close with Mercer holding a 24-21 lead.
But the Bears were not done yet. Mercer was knocking on the door of another touchdown when the third quarter drew to a close and just four seconds into the final frame Chandler Curtis scored on a five-yard pass from Russ. WCU would fumble its next possession then only manage a field goal before Lakes scored his second touchdown of the game, this time a two-yard run. Lendell Arnold put the nail in the coffin with under two minutes left in the game, intercepting Western Carolina Tyrie Adams at the WCU 35-yard line.
Â
OFFENSIVE STAR
Chandler Curtis bested all players Saturday with 187 all-purpose yards while adding his first touchdown of the year. In his first game played at Five Star Stadium this season, Curtis caught four passes for 96 yards and a touchdown, had a carry for 12 yards, returned three kickoffs for 71 yards and registered an eight-yard punt return.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT
LeMarkus Bailey – have a day, kid. The junior finished with his first career interception, recovered a fumble (both turnovers, by the way, directly led to a combined 14 points) and registered five total tackles, one shy of matching his career best.
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 3-3 (2-2, SoCon)
- Western Carolina: 1-5 (0-4 SoCon)
- Mercer: at Austin Peay (0-6, 0-5 OVC) on Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT
- Western Carolina: at No. 24/24 Samford (5-1, 3-1 SoCon)
TEAM
- Saturday marked the first time Mercer has defeated a SoCon foe by more than one possession.
- Saturday marked Mercer's first-ever win against Western Carolina. The Bears still trail in the all-time series, 2-1.
- QB John Russ and C Kirby Southard made their 41st consecutive starts for the Bears.
- Chandler Curtis finished with a game-high 187 total all-purpose yards.
- The win marked head coach Bobby Lamb's 80th win while coaching in the Southern Conference.
OFFENSE
- Mercer set season-highs in total offensive yards (499), rushing attempts (53), rushing yards (275) and points (38).
- The Bears' 38 points are the most they've ever scored against Western Carolina.
- Mercer has scored in 46 straight games dating back to a 52-0 loss to Rollins on October 24, 1941.
- Chandler Curtis' 55-yard reception to end the third quarter is the second-longest catch by Mercer this year. Since returning from an injury, Curtis leads all Bears with three catches of 30-plus yards.
- Mercer's one-play, four-yard touchdown drive is the shortest scoring drive by the Bears since the program was reinstated.
- Alex Lakes crossed the century mark in the fourth quarter and finished with 112 rushing yards on 20 attempts with two touchdowns.
- John Russ has thrown a touchdown pass in 36 of 41 contests over his career including Saturday's game against Western Carolina. He reached 65 career touchdown passes with his 19-yard strike to Sam Walker in the third quarter.
- Russ' three touchdown passes are the most he's thrown since tossing a trio in Mercer's 52-0 win over ETSU on Oct. 17, 2015.
- Walker and Marquise Irvin both hauled in touchdown catches Saturday. They are tied for the team-lead with three touchdown receptions this season.
- Mercer's 7-3 deficit at halftime marked the second straight game the Bears have only recorded a field goal in the first half.
DEFENSE
- LeMarkus Bailey had a career day by recording his first career interception and second career fumble recovery. His five total tackles were just one shy of matching a career-best.
- Lendell Arnold notched his third career interception in the second half.
- Tyler Ward surpassed 300 career tackles Saturday with his nine-tackle performance.
- The Bears have forced a turnover in 23 of the last 27 games, including 13 in a row at one point.
- Tosin Aguebor has at least one sack in 14 of his 29 career games. He recorded one Saturday and leads Mercer with four on the season.
- Five Bears recorded tackles for a loss Saturday – Aguebor, Isaiah Buehler, Kyle Trammell, Lee Bennett and Marvin Davis.
SPECIAL TEAMS
- Cole Fisher converted a 38-yard field goal in the second quarter. He converted one of three field goal attempts on the day. Fisher has connected on at least one attempt in all six games this season.
- 79 of Chandler Curtis' 187 all-purpose yards came in the return game. He finished with three kick returns for 71 yards and one punt return for eight yards.
"I want to talk about our defense first. They really came to play in the first half. It was unbelievable…they were flying around the ball. Western has some big-time receivers and they've got people who can hurt you down the field. I was excited to see [our defense] do that.
Â
"Offensively, we just couldn't get going [in the first half]. We wanted to run the ball because this team hasn't stopped the run a whole lot. We needed Alex Lakes…Payton [Usher] went out again early…Kyle Trammell came in there. I also want to mention CJ Kleckley from Rutland High School here in Macon. He really came in – this is his last year and he's paid his dues – and gave us a spark several times.
Â
On coming out strong in the second half after a lackluster first half performance:
"It says a lot about our character, it says a lot about our toughness. We did some good things [in the first half] – we had 155 yards rushing at the half! We did some nice things but we kept kicking ourselves with penalty after penalty in the red zone and moved ourselves back. We were not able to overcome those penalties, but, wow, in the second half our defense really sparked us with turnovers and got our offense jumpstarted a little bit. Sam Walker makes a diving catch…Western roughs the quarterback…we take the penalty on the kickoff. We sky-kicked it and I told the coaches on the headset, 'if the wind is blowing in our faces, the ball may drop straight down.' It did drop straight down, the young man dropped it, and we jumped on it. What a big play that was to change the momentum in our favor.
Â
On the momentum-changing sequence of two touchdowns and the fumble recovery in the third quarter:
"That did [change the momentum]. It really ignited our sideline. The [sequence] was bang-bang-bang. We created a great play with Sam Walker – an unbelievable catch while John made an unbelievable throw and got roughed. We then get the turnover and the easy touchdown. Then, there's a certain renewed confidence on our bench. You could really feel it. Football is a game of momentum. I was really proud…Western cut it to 31-24 and had a little momentum, but our offense went out there and took care of business to win the game."
Â
On how big special teams play was in Saturday's win:
"It was big. Let's face it, we should've been up at halftime at least 9-7, but we missed two field goals. We felt like we should've scored down here, but at the end of the day we were down 7-3. For our guys to come out and have the defense play a big part…the "hit squad" …the kickoff team has done a marvelous job over the last few weeks. Our return team – Chandler Curtis almost popped one; he tripped over a guy. I thought Tyler Zielenske punted the ball really well tonight. We had a fake punt, I thought we had it. Kyle reached out and tried to get extra and the ball popped out."
Â
On returning home after three weeks and playing in front of Five Star Stadium:
"It's huge anytime we can come back home. The atmosphere was great. The Bear Walk had a lot of people there, lots of people were all over campus today. The weather man didn't cooperate because it was supposed to be 82 degrees and all the sudden it was cloudy with a little front moving in. What a great night to play football and what a great fan base we've got. We had a lot of recruits here on campus and they were able to see all that. We've now got to go back on the road for two weeks in a row."
Â
On getting Chandler Curtis back into the offense:
"It's big. You've got Chandler in the middle, Avery on one side, Marquise on the other. You've got some complimentary receivers with those guys. John really found the holes and we were working the weak side with Marquise which opened the middle for Chandler. We've just got to find more ways to get mismatches like that and have got to do it in the first half compared to the second half."
Â
On getting Alex Lakes going:
"Alex has been beat up all year but he's a tough son of a gun and he really looked like the old Alex Lakes today. He had 20 carries for 112 yards…looked like the old Alex. Payton got dinged up again with a hamstring and of course CJ Kleckley came in, Kyle Trammell got some carries, so we're going to keep working the three-headed monster but Alex will be our workhorse."
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