Mercer Falls at No. 15 Furman

Saturday, September 21

Greenville, S.C.

1 p.m.

Mercer University

2-2 , 1-1

#15 Furman

2-2 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Mercer

Furman

9/21/2019 5:25:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Paladins’ hot start too much for Bears to overcome

By: Jace Sanders

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Furman jumped out to a 28-10 lead in the first half and never slowed up as it downed Mercer, 45-10, in Southern Conference action at Paladin Stadium Saturday afternoon.

The Paladin (2-2, 1-0 SoCon) offense racked up 600 yards of offense on a day that the Bears (2-2, 1-1 SoCon) could never seem to get anything going. Furman rushed for 410 yards on the ground – the most on a Mercer defense since The Citadel in 2014.

Turning Point
The Paladins set the pace for the game on the first drive of the contest – moving the ball 79 yards on four plays. A one-yard score from Corey Watkins capped the drive a couple of plays after a 26-yard rush and a 47-yard completion opened the game on the fly for Furman.

Offensive Star
Sophomore David Durden once again paced the Bears' offense, catching his fourth touchdown of the season and hauling in six passes for 54 yards on the afternoon. Durden now has at least one touchdown reception in four of the last five contests, dating back to the Furman game at the end of the 2018 season.

Defensive Star
Will Coneway led the Bears on the defensive side, recording 12 tackles – two solo and 10 assists. Coneway now has 250 career tackles in his four-year career, moving him into the top 10 among all active FCS players in career total tackles.

Stat Geek
Robert Riddle was 18-for-34 throwing the ball on the afternoon and added yet another passing touchdown – his 12^th of the year. Riddle entered the game trailing two players for the most passing touchdowns in all of Division I football.

Riddle spread the ball around fairly evenly, completing multiple passes to six different receivers – Durden, Landon Miler, Chase Westfall, Tucker Cannon, Chris Ellington and Tyray Devezin. Devezin led the rushing attack with 62 yards on 10 carries.

Notable

Mercer fell to 6-10-2 all-time against Furman - the Paladins lead 4-2-2 in Greenville.
Furman rushed for 410 yards in the game- the most allowed by the Bears defense since The Citadel ran for 492 in Mercer's first season in the SoCon (2014).
Jack Raines forced his first career fumble in the second quarter - it was the Mercer defense's first fumble recovery of the season.
FULL NOTES

Up Next
Mercer heads back to Five Star Stadium for a matchup with Campbell on Parents-Family Weekend on campus. Kick between the Bears and Camels is set for 7 p.m. (ET) on ESPN3.

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.