Saturday, November 5
Macon, Ga.
3 PM
Mercer University
5-4 , 3-3
21
vs
13
East Tennessee State
3-6 , 1-6
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
East Tennessee State
0
0
13
0
13
Mercer
0
7
0
14
21
Team Stats
ETSU
MER
Total Yards
372
367
Pass Yards
267
172
Rushing Yards
105
195
Penalty Yards
60
92
1st Downs
17
17
3rd Downs
8
8
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
31:17
28:43
2nd Quarter
ETSU 0, MER 7
MER - Robert Brown 10 yd pass from John Russ (Cole Fisher kick) 11 plays, 47 yards, TOP 5:53
3rd Quarter
ETSU 3, MER 7
ETSU - JJ Jerman 33 yd field goal 7 plays, 40 yards, TOP 3:39
ETSU 10, MER 7
ETSU - Drake Powell 69 yd pass from Austin Herink (JJ Jerman kick) 1 plays, 69 yards, TOP 0:10
ETSU 13, MER 7
ETSU - JJ Jerman 32 yd field goal 10 plays, 57 yards, TOP 4:52
4th Quarter
ETSU 13, MER 14
MER - Marquise Irvin 33 yd pass from John Russ (Cole Fisher kick) 9 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:29
ETSU 13, MER 21
MER - Chandler Curtis 4 yd pass from John Russ (Cole Fisher kick) 14 plays, 85 yards, TOP 6:21
Players Mentioned
TE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
Mercer Overcomes Fourth Quarter Deficit in 21-13 win over ETSU
11/5/2016 7:18:00 PM | Football
MACON, Ga. – Marquise Irvin and Chandler Curtis each caught a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and Eric Jackson registered 11 tackles and a game-saving interception on the two-yard line with nine seconds left in the game as Mercer claimed a 21-13 win over East Tennessee State at Five Star Stadium in Macon Saturday afternoon.
Jackson's interception came as Jeremy James had the interception but dropped the ball. With a quick reaction, James kicked the ball up in the air before it could hit the ground and Jackson caught it then fell out of bounds to end the play and complete the interception.
John Russ threw for three touchdown passes and ran for a game-high 91 yards – surpassing 2,000 career rushing yards – as the Bears (5-4, 3-3 SoCon) overcame a deficit heading into the fourth quarter and withstood a threatening final drive for the Buccaneers (3-6, 1-6).
TURNING POINT
The game seemed to turn towards Mercer's favor when Marquise Irvin snagged the 33-yard touchdown pass from John Russ with 13:16 remaining in the game. While it did not clinch the victory, the score did return the lead to the Bears and ignite a Homecoming fan base (and team sideline) with a reinvigorated spirit.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
Eric Jackson intercepted Austin Herink on the visitor two-yard line with nine seconds remaining. That allowed Mercer to run out the clock and clinch the victory.
OFFENSIVE STAR
By air or by land, John Russ led the Bears Saturday afternoon. Not only did he tie a season-high with three touchdown passes (17-for-29 for 172 yards), the redshirt senior also led all players with 91 rushing yards with a 5.7 yards per carry average in the contest.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT
When you lead the team in tackles AND record a game-saving interception on the two-yard line, this is a pretty easy decision to make. Redshirt freshman Eric Jackson tallied a career-best 11 total tackles (four solo, seven assisted), assisted on a tackle for a loss, was credited with a pass break-up and, oh yeah, that game saving interception? It was his first career pick.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer took a 7-0 lead into halftime after John Russ found Robert Brown from 10 yards out early in the second quarter in a quiet first half before both offenses found its rhythm in the second half.
ETSU, after missing a field goal from 19 yards out in the first half, successfully converted 33- and 32-yard field goals sandwiched around Austin Herink's 69-yard touchdown pass to Drake Powell. That gave ETSU a 13-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.
But that was also before John Russ orchestrated his usual heroics at Five Star Stadium. The first was a 33-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Irvin to retake the lead with 13:16 remaining.
Then Russ found Chandler Curtis on a four-yard strike for a touchdown with five minutes left, giving the Bears a 21-13 lead.
???????ETSU had another chance and put together a 12-play, 58-yard drive as time waned late. Herink took the snap on the Mercer 32-yard line and saw Kobe Kelly streaking down the right sideline. The pass was underthrown and tipped (and dropped) by Jeremy James. James, with a quick reaction, kept the ball from hitting the ground by kicking it back up in the air as Jackson came across, caught the ball and fell out of bounds to end the play and complete the turnover.
QUOTING BOBBY LAMB
"I just told our football team how proud I was of them persevering today. It didn't look good for three quarters on the offensive side of the ball. ETSU did a super job of defending us. I want to salute our defense – what a great effort by our defense. To play the way they did and only give up 13 points – one of [the touchdowns] being a big play – they got after it all day long. They kept ETSU at bay and then, finally, our offense got going and we found something.
On Mercer's final touchdown drive to make it a 21-13 game:
"That was big. We tried to get our tempo going in the first half, but to get tempo going you've got to make yards on first down. We just weren't making yards on first down and we weren't protecting the quarterback; John was missing [the receivers] high and it was just a combination of errors the entire half. I'm really proud of our team for that drive – it was basically a game-winning drive. It got us ahead by eight [points] and I really wanted to go for it on fourth down on that last drive, but I knew if we put it in our defense's hands, they would come up big and they did."
On Mercer winning three SoCon games for the first time:
"[It is] a big step. You try to take steps…one game the first year, two games the second year and now three games so far this year – hopefully we've still got some left. That was another big step for us to get that out of the way. We're right in the thick of this thing as far as wins and losses and if you look at the conference standings, we're right in the thick of moving up the ladder, which is what we wanted to do this year."
On John Russ' performance:
"We didn't scream and holler at halftime. We just basically said that we needed to settle down and do the things that we do in practice. John was high [throwing]; he wasn't getting protected very well and therefore it's hard to throw when you're not getting protected well. We busted several protections, which is unlike us. We usually protect the quarterback fairly well. Then, John got hot, we got our tempo going and he makes some great decisions with the ball including giving Marquise Irvin chances on deep balls.
"John had that one overthrow in the middle to Kyle Trammell, but other than that he was point on in the second half."
RECORDS UPDATE
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.
NOTABLES
TEAM
OFFENSE
DEFENSE
Jackson's interception came as Jeremy James had the interception but dropped the ball. With a quick reaction, James kicked the ball up in the air before it could hit the ground and Jackson caught it then fell out of bounds to end the play and complete the interception.
John Russ threw for three touchdown passes and ran for a game-high 91 yards – surpassing 2,000 career rushing yards – as the Bears (5-4, 3-3 SoCon) overcame a deficit heading into the fourth quarter and withstood a threatening final drive for the Buccaneers (3-6, 1-6).
TURNING POINT
The game seemed to turn towards Mercer's favor when Marquise Irvin snagged the 33-yard touchdown pass from John Russ with 13:16 remaining in the game. While it did not clinch the victory, the score did return the lead to the Bears and ignite a Homecoming fan base (and team sideline) with a reinvigorated spirit.
IT WAS OVER WHEN
Eric Jackson intercepted Austin Herink on the visitor two-yard line with nine seconds remaining. That allowed Mercer to run out the clock and clinch the victory.
OFFENSIVE STAR
By air or by land, John Russ led the Bears Saturday afternoon. Not only did he tie a season-high with three touchdown passes (17-for-29 for 172 yards), the redshirt senior also led all players with 91 rushing yards with a 5.7 yards per carry average in the contest.
DEFENSIVE STANDOUT
When you lead the team in tackles AND record a game-saving interception on the two-yard line, this is a pretty easy decision to make. Redshirt freshman Eric Jackson tallied a career-best 11 total tackles (four solo, seven assisted), assisted on a tackle for a loss, was credited with a pass break-up and, oh yeah, that game saving interception? It was his first career pick.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Mercer took a 7-0 lead into halftime after John Russ found Robert Brown from 10 yards out early in the second quarter in a quiet first half before both offenses found its rhythm in the second half.
ETSU, after missing a field goal from 19 yards out in the first half, successfully converted 33- and 32-yard field goals sandwiched around Austin Herink's 69-yard touchdown pass to Drake Powell. That gave ETSU a 13-7 lead entering the fourth quarter.
But that was also before John Russ orchestrated his usual heroics at Five Star Stadium. The first was a 33-yard touchdown pass to Marquise Irvin to retake the lead with 13:16 remaining.
Then Russ found Chandler Curtis on a four-yard strike for a touchdown with five minutes left, giving the Bears a 21-13 lead.
???????ETSU had another chance and put together a 12-play, 58-yard drive as time waned late. Herink took the snap on the Mercer 32-yard line and saw Kobe Kelly streaking down the right sideline. The pass was underthrown and tipped (and dropped) by Jeremy James. James, with a quick reaction, kept the ball from hitting the ground by kicking it back up in the air as Jackson came across, caught the ball and fell out of bounds to end the play and complete the turnover.
QUOTING BOBBY LAMB
"I just told our football team how proud I was of them persevering today. It didn't look good for three quarters on the offensive side of the ball. ETSU did a super job of defending us. I want to salute our defense – what a great effort by our defense. To play the way they did and only give up 13 points – one of [the touchdowns] being a big play – they got after it all day long. They kept ETSU at bay and then, finally, our offense got going and we found something.
On Mercer's final touchdown drive to make it a 21-13 game:
"That was big. We tried to get our tempo going in the first half, but to get tempo going you've got to make yards on first down. We just weren't making yards on first down and we weren't protecting the quarterback; John was missing [the receivers] high and it was just a combination of errors the entire half. I'm really proud of our team for that drive – it was basically a game-winning drive. It got us ahead by eight [points] and I really wanted to go for it on fourth down on that last drive, but I knew if we put it in our defense's hands, they would come up big and they did."
On Mercer winning three SoCon games for the first time:
"[It is] a big step. You try to take steps…one game the first year, two games the second year and now three games so far this year – hopefully we've still got some left. That was another big step for us to get that out of the way. We're right in the thick of this thing as far as wins and losses and if you look at the conference standings, we're right in the thick of moving up the ladder, which is what we wanted to do this year."
On John Russ' performance:
"We didn't scream and holler at halftime. We just basically said that we needed to settle down and do the things that we do in practice. John was high [throwing]; he wasn't getting protected very well and therefore it's hard to throw when you're not getting protected well. We busted several protections, which is unlike us. We usually protect the quarterback fairly well. Then, John got hot, we got our tempo going and he makes some great decisions with the ball including giving Marquise Irvin chances on deep balls.
"John had that one overthrow in the middle to Kyle Trammell, but other than that he was point on in the second half."
RECORDS UPDATE
- Mercer: 5-4 (3-3 SoCon)
- East Tennessee State: 3-6 (1-6 SoCon)
- Mercer: at Samford (6-3, 4-2 SoCon) on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT
- ETSU: hosts Cumberland College on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m. ET
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.
NOTABLES
TEAM
- Mercer earned its third Southern Conference victory of the season, the most the Bears have won since joining the conference.
- Mercer improved its record on Homecoming to 2-2.
- Mercer is 2-0 all-time against the Bucs, outscoring them 73-13 in the two contests.
- It was the Bears' fifth SoCon win decided by one score since joining the league.
- The Orange and Black are now 2-3 when trailing after three quarters; Saturday's fourth-quarter comeback was the second of the year, joining the 34-27 victory over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 17.
- Twelve of Mercer's last 17 games have been decided by one possession.
OFFENSE
- Marquise Irvin hauled in a touchdown for the sixth straight game on his 33-yard go-ahead reception in the fourth quarter. He has seven total receiving scores during the stretch and has additionally led the team in receiving yards during three of those contests.
- John Russ ran for a season-high 91 yards on 16 carries to reach 2,000 career rushing yards.
- Russ reached another milestone, this time with his arm, as he threw three touchdown passes for the second consecutive game to total 75 for his illustrious career. The three passing scores tie a season-high.
- Robert Brown found the end zone for the first time this season on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Russ in the second quarter. He has 11 career receiving touchdowns, tied with Avery Ward for the most among the Bears.
- Mercer has scored in 49 straight games dating back to a 52-0 loss to Rollins on Oct. 24, 1941
- Russ has thrown a touchdown pass in 38 of 43 contests over the course of his career
DEFENSE
- Eric Jackson had his best performance as a Bear on Saturday, corralling his first career interception and totaling a career-high 11 tackles.
- Prior to ETSU's field goal in the third quarter, Mercer had held the Bucs scoreless in six consecutive quarters dating back to the Bears' 52-0 shutout a season ago.
- Saturday marked the first time Mercer held an opponent scoreless in a half since the Bears kept Furman scoreless in the first half on Nov. 14, 2015 in Greenville, South Carolina.
- The Bears have forced a turnover in 26 of the last 30 games, including 13 in a row at one point.
- Will Coneway was a force in the ETSU backfield with 3.5 tackles for a loss and a pair of sacks. The redshirt freshman leads the team with nine tackles for a loss this season and ranks second with 4.5 sacks.
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