Football Hits the Road to Take on SoCon Leader The Citadel
10/28/2015 1:29:00 PM | Football
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University football team will be back on the road this weekend, as it travels to Charleston, S.C., for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, October 31, against The Citadel at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
Mercer, which enters with a 3-4 overall record and a 0-3 mark in the Southern Conference, is only 11 points away from an undefeated record in league play. The Bears will take on a Bulldogs team that is tied with No. 4 Chattanooga atop the conference standings with a 4-0 record.
GAMEDAY LINEUP
Date:Â Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 | 2 p.m.
Teams:Â Mercer (3-4, 0-3 SoCon) vs. The Citadel (5-2, 4-0 SoCon)
Location:Â Charleston, S.C. | Johnson Hagood Stadium
Television:Â ESPN3
Radio: 97.3 FM The Bull Icons | iHeartRadio
Radio Talent:Â Rick Cameron (Play-by-Play), Roger Jackson (Analyst), Megan Trammell (Sideline)
Livestats:Â CitadelSports.com
Twitter Updates:Â @MercerFootball
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's match-up will be the 13th all-time meeting between the two programs, as The Citadel owns a 7-4-1 lead in the series. The two teams are deadlocked at 3-3-1 when playing in Charleston with Mercer owning a 3-1-1 mark there in the last five meetings. Bears' head coach Bobby Lamb sports a 6-4 record against the Bulldogs, including a 6-3 mark during his tenure at Furman.Â
RECAPPING THE BEARS' LAST GAME
Mercer's rally from an early 21-point deficit fell short, as the Bears dropped a 28-21 decision to Virginia Military Institute on Saturday, October 24 at Five Star Stadium.Â
TURNING POINT
VMI built up an early lead thanks to a dominant first quarter, scoring the first 21 points of the game. The Keydets put together two scoring drives of more than 85 yards during that time, while also taking advantage of a short field via Mercer's lone turnover for a 42-yard touchdown drive midway through the opening quarter.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter, Mercer found the scoreboard for the first time all game on its third drive of the afternoon. John Russ hit Marquise Irvin for a 40-yard bomb that set up Russ' one-yard plunge to cut the deficit to 21-7.Â
However, the Keydets answered with a 65-yard drive that ended in Quan Myers' 11-yard touchdown reception. The Bears answered back with a quick scoring drive, as Alex Lakes' 37-yard touchdown run capped over a three-play, 75-yard series to trim the lead to 28-14 at the half.
Mercer pulled within one score thanks to the seven-minute scoring drive on its opening possession of the second half, as Russ hit Chandler Curtis for a two-yard score to make it a 28-21 game. The Bears' defense kept VMI off the scoreboard the rest of the way out, forcing three second half turnovers but the comeback ran out of gas.
OFFENSIVE STANDOUTS
Curtis had a strong performance in his return from injury, hauling in a team-leading seven receptions for a career-high 109 yards in his first action since the opening week of play. The sophomore wide receiver did the bulk of his damage in the second half, as six of his catches came after halftime.Â
DEFENSIVE STARS
Lee Bennett posted a career-high 14 tackles in the contest to lead a Bears' defense that held VMI scoreless in the second half. The sophomore linebacker also had a fumble recovery in the second quarter, helping Mercer force a season-best four turnovers on the day.Â
A BRIEF LOOK AT LAST YEAR'S GAME
Mercer's comeback attempt fell short in the 2014 match-up, as the Bears scored the final 16 points of the game to fall within a two-point conversion of sending the game to overtime in a 28-26 loss in Macon. John Russ racked up 274 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, while Avery Ward added four receptions for 104 yards and a score for the Bears.
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE CITADEL
The Citadel comes into this weekend's contest with a 5-2 overall record and a perfect 4-0 mark in SoCon play after last week's 38-17 triumph over Furman in Greenville.Â
Quarterback Dominique Allen leads the Bulldogs' option attack, posting a team-leading 562 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground to go along with another 536 passing yards and a pair of scores through the air. The Citadel, who leads the SoCon in scoring offense and rushing offense, has four other players with over 250 yards rushing this season.
The defense has been equally as impressive this fall, ranking third in the SoCon in scoring defense and total defense. James Riley paces the team with 56 tackles, while defensive tackle Mitchell Jeter ranks second in the league with six sacks. The Citadel's secondary is responsible for a league-best 13 interceptions this season, thanks in league part to SoCon leader Dee Delaney's five picks on the year.
MERCER STORYLINES
- Mercer will look to even up its 2015 road record, as it heads to Charleston to take on The Citadel for the first time since 1931 when it beat the Bulldogs, 26-0.
- Two of the league's top offenses will square off on Saturday, as the Bears, ranked third in the SoCon with 33.4 points per game, take on The Citadel's conference-leading 35.9 points per game.
- Mercer's SoCon-leading run defense will collide with the conference's top rushing attack, as The Citadel ranks second in the FCS with 351.1 yards per game. The Bears' defense has held four of its seven opponents under 70 yards of rushing, giving up 139.3 yards on the ground per game.
- Sophomore wide receiver Chandler Curtis was back on the field last weekend for the first time since missing five games with a high ankle sprain. The 2014 All-American wasted no time reminding fans of his big play ability, totaling three plays of 20 yards or more en route to seven receptions for a career-high 109 yards and a touchdown in just over two quarters of action against VMI.
- Mercer's pass defense is averaging one interception per game this season, however, those picks have come in bunches. Six of the Bears' seven interceptions have come in two games with a season-high three picks each in games against Stetson and VMI. Stephen Houzah leads the way for Mercer, ranking third in the league with three interceptions on the year including a school-record two against Stetson.
- The Bears are once again one of the best teams in the Southern Conference in winning the turnover margin, as they enter this weekend leading the league with a turnover margin of positive six. Mercer forced a season-high four turnovers against VMI, including three second half interceptions.
Head Coach Bobby Lamb's Game Week Quotes
Final thoughts on the Bears' game against VMI:
"It was a tale of two halves on Saturday. First of all you have to give VMI credit, Scott (Wachenheim) has done a great job with that program this year. Of course it all starts with their quarterback Al Cobb and he had us reeling in the first half. They put up 28 points in the first half, but our defense stepped up in the second half and shut them out the rest of the way."
"Offensively we never really got going, we never got in sync. We only ran 53 plays and we were averaging 79 plays. We just didn't play good enough to win the football and you have to give VMI the credit because they really played well. Therefore, we had four shots from the 25-yard line to send the game to overtime but we just couldn't get it done."
Thoughts on The Citadel:
"They are playing at a high level and doing the things that you need to do to win football games. They are turning people over and I think they have 13 interceptions this season. They are taking care of the football and are doing a very solid job on offense of knocking people off the ball and getting downhill. If they do that they are always trouble to defend, so they have a nice football team that is aggressive and does the things that you need to win and that is why they are sitting where they are."
On the challenge of facing a running team after playing a pass-heavy VMI team
"It is certainly different, we go from back pedaling to trying to go downhill on defense. We started on Sunday and got right to it and tried to simulate what they are doing. That is the most difficult thing to do is to have our scout team simulate that since they are so well oiled in how they execute the offense. So we got right to it on Sunday and we'll have to see how it pans out. If you don't play all the responsibilities they can hit a big one any minute. They are doing a really good job with that and their quarterback Dominique Allen is playing on a really high level right now."
