Mercer Drops Season Finale at UNC

Saturday, November 23

Chapel Hill, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

Mercer University

4-8

North Carolina

5-6

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Mercer

North Carolina

11/23/2019 7:56:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Devezin breaks 1,000-yard mark in loss

By: Jace Sanders

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Tyray Devezin became the second player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in a season, but North Carolina ran away with a 56-7 victory over Mercer in the Bears' season finale at Kenan Memorial Stadium Saturday evening.

Mercer (4-8) saw its 2019 campaign come to an end as they were overmatched by the Tar Heels (5-6) out of the gates. Carolina scored twice in the first 3:21 of the game to take the early, 14-0 lead and tacked on four more touchdowns in the first half to carry a 42-0 lead into the break.

The Bears got on the board in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Harrison Frost led a 10-play, 90-yard drive that was capped by a two-yard touchdown pass to Kareem Rogers. Frost finished 5-for-9 with 92 yards through the air.

Offensive Standout
Devezin finished the year with 1,002 yards on the ground to join former Bear Alex Lakes as the only players to eclipse the mark – Lakes holds the school record with 1,107 in 2014. However, the junior did break Lakes' single-season rushing attempts record with 214 carries on the year.

Defensive Standout
Senior safety Eric Jackson's illustrious career drew to a close in the loss, but the four-year standout finished with a flare as he recorded eight tackles and a tackle for loss. Jackson finished with 290 career tackles, the second most in school history and the 13^th most among active FCS players.

Quotable – Head Coach Bobby Lamb
"At the end of the day, we didn't get the results we wanted tonight or this season. But, like I told the team, it's about the relationships you build. It's about gaining that Mercer degree, going out and changing the world. We have a great bunch of kids that fought their tails off. These guys really had fun playing out there in the second half without looking at the scoreboard."

Notables

Tyray Devezin finished with 53 yards in the game to become the second single-season, 1,000-yard rusher in the program's recorded history – finishing with 1,002 in 2019. Alex Lakes is the only other player to eclipse the mark, running for 1,107 in 2014.
The game marked the second meeting between Mercer and North Carolina, with the Heels winning both. The two first met on the gridiron in 1925 (UNC won, 3-0).
Seniors Eric Jackson and Will Coneway closed their collegiate playing careers Saturday with eight and six tackles, respectively. Both in the top three of all tacklers in school history, Jackson (2^nd) and Coneway (3^rd) finished with 290 and 276 tackles apiece in their four years.
As a team, Mercer finished the 2019 season with 395 passing attempts – a new program-high.

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