Mercer Hosts Furman in Season Finale

MACON, Ga. – One last chance. For the "fathers" of this generation of Mercer Football, that is all that remains after five years of hard work, sacrifice and dedication when the final game of the 2016. Mercer will close out the season – and the storied careers of a senior class that built the program from the ground up (literally and figuratively) – when the Bears host Furman Saturday at 3 p.m. at Five Star Stadium.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
Date: Saturday, Nov. 19 | 3 p.m. ET
Teams: Mercer (5-5, 3-4 SoCon) vs. Furman (3-7, 3-4 SoCon)
Location: Macon, Ga. | Five Star Stadium
Broadcast: FOX Sports Southeast | FOX Sports Go | ESPN3 (Blackout restrictions apply)
Broadcast Talent: Pete Yanity (play-by-play), Ray Goff (analyst), Hannah Chalker (sideline)
Radio: Mercer Sports Network (Flagship: 97.3 FM The Bull Icons) | iHeartRadio
Radio Talent: Rick Cameron (play-by-play), Roger Jackson (analyst), Megan Trammell (sideline)
Live Stats: MercerBears.com/livestats
Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball
Game Notes: Mercer | SoCon | Furman

Series History
Last season Mercer, in its first game since rebooting football, ended an eight-game winless streak against Furman with a 27-20 win over the Paladins. Now Mercer's attention is turned to stopping a home losing streak to Furman - the Bears have dropped the last five matches in Macon to the Paladins with the last home win coming in 1925.

Make it Three!
With a 21-13 win over East Tennessee State on Nov. 5, Mercer registered its third Southern Conference win of the season. The Bears, in just their third season of Southern Conference play, have improved their record in league games with each succeeding season.

Year	SoCon Record
2014	1-6
2015	2-5
2016	3-4

No, He Didn't Move to Running Back
Quarterback John Russ is still Mercer's quarterback although after the Bears' game at No. 21/22 Samford on Nov. 12, we can see why you would think otherwise. Russ ran the ball 41 times in that game for 185 yards marking the second-most number of rushes for a player in a single game in the nation this year and the most by a quarterback.

NCAA Single Game Leaders in 2016 (Rushing Attempts)

Rk.	No.	Name, School (Conference)	Yr.	Pos.	Opponent	Date
1	45	Tyler Renew, The Citadel (Southern)	Sr.	RB	Samford	11/05/2016
2	41	John Russ, Mercer (Southern)	Sr.	QB	Samford	11/12/2016
3	39	Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks, Albany (NY) (Colonial)	So.	RB	New Hampshire	11/12/2016
3	39	Joshua Mack, Maine (Colonial)	Fr.	RB	Stony Brook	11/12/2016
5	37	Chase Edmonds, Fordham (Patriot)	Jr.	RB	Georgetown	10/22/2016
5	37	Conley Wilkins, Drake (Pioneer)	Sr.	RB	Valparaiso	10/08/2016

Learning How to Come from Behind
Also part of building a program, this Mercer team is learning how to rally when forced to. The Bears are 2-4 this season when trailing entering the fourth quarter. On its own that is not a great mark but considering the program was 0-15 when trailing at the end of the third quarter prior to this season, it seems that Mercer is refusing to lay down at any point in time.

Of Course, They've Had Practice
Of course, not getting discouraged early comes with plenty of practice for this year's team. Entering this week's contest, Mercer has trailed at halftime in seven of its nine games, posting a 3-4 record overall (three of those games were against ranked or FBS opponents).

Opponent	Halftime Score	Outcome
#15 The Citadel	3-21	L, 23-24
at Georgia Tech	7-21	L, 10-35
Tennessee Tech	10-21	W, 34-27
at #3 Chattanooga	3-38	L, 31-52
Western Carolina	3-7	W, 38-24
at Wofford	0-14	L, 21-31
East Tennessee State	7-13*	W, 21-13	(Mercer led at half, 7-0, but trailed 13-7 entering 4th Qtr)
Samford	21-10	L, 19-24

Marquise Irvin Scores Six in Six of Last Seven
With a 33-yard touchdown reception against East Tennessee State on Nov. 5, Mercer receiver Marquise Irvin marked his sixth consecutive game with a touchdown reception and scoring six points. A sophomore that scored two total touchdowns last season, Irvin did not reach the end zone in the first three games of the season but has crossed the plane into the end zone in every game since.

Irvin TD Receptions in 2016
Sept. 1	The Citadel	0
Sept. 10	at Georgia Tech	0
Sept. 17	Tennessee Tech	0
Oct. 1	at VMI	1
Oct. 8	at Chattanooga	1
Oct. 15	Western Carolina	1
Oct. 22	at Austin Peay	1
Oct. 29	at Wofford	2
Nov. 5	ETSU	1
Nov. 12	at Samford	0

Close Calls Continue
At this point we are starting to think we should just list our year-by-year results when listing close games. The 2015 season was marked by more close calls than anyone would like to imagine. Out of the 11 games Mercer played last year, seven were decided by one score or less with four games determined by three points or less. Of those close calls, six of the games were played in a span of seven weeks while two games required more than 60 minutes of playing time to determine a winner and required overtime.

Those close calls have continued into 2016 as four of the Bears' games have been decided by one score including an overtime win at VMI on Oct. 1. In all, 13 of Mercer's last 19 games have had one possession be the deciding factor.

Mercer's Close Calls Since 2015

Date	W/L	Opponent	Score
Sept. 19	L	at Tennessee Tech	22-29
Oct. 3	L (OT)	Wofford	33-34
Oct. 10	L	at Western Carolina	21-24
Oct. 24	L	VMI	21-28
Oct. 31	L	at The Citadel	19-21
Nov. 7	W	#3 Chattanooga	17-14
Nov. 14	W (OT)	at Furman	27-20
Sept. 1	L	#15 The Citadel	23-24
Sept. 17	W	Tennessee Tech	34-27
Oct. 1	W (OT)	at VMI	33-30
Oct. 22	W	at Austin Peay	41-34
Nov. 5	W	East Tennessee State	21-13
Nov. 12	L	at Samford	19-24

Against Ranked Teams Too
Mercer doesn't just play it close against some teams, the Bears have been tantalizing close to upsetting several ranked teams over the course of the program's history. In seven meetings against ranked opponents, five of those games have been decided by a possession.

Mercer vs. Top 25 (1-6)
Oct. 28, 1939	at #1 Tennessee	L	0-17
Sept. 6, 2014	#17 Furman	L	20-25
Oct. 25, 2014	at #14 Chattanooga	L	31-38
Nov. 7, 2015	#3 Chattanooga	W	17-14
Sept. 1, 2016	#15 The Citadel	L	23-24
Oct. 8, 2016	#3 Chattanooga	L	31-52
Nov. 12, 2016	#18 Samford	L	19-24

How to Follow the Bears:
For complete coverage of Mercer Football, please follow the Bears on social media at @MercerFootball (Twitter), /MercerFootball (Facebook) and @MercerFootball (Instagram) or visit the official home of Mercer Athletics at MercerBears.com.

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Players Mentioned

Marquise Irvin

John Russ

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