Mercer Announces Revised 2020 Fall Schedule

MACON, Ga. – Mercer University announced its 2020 fall football schedule on Thursday, which features a trio of opponents.

Mercer will play at Jacksonville State (Oct. 10) and Army West Point (Oct. 24) before returning home on Oct. 31 to conclude the campaign and host Abilene Christian.

"We're excited to have the opportunity to play football in the fall," said Director of Athletics Jim Cole. "We are fortunate to have a highly respected medical school on campus that can process COVID-19 tests and that makes available its leading infectious disease experts to advise us on appropriate protocols to care for our student-athletes and staff. Coach Cronic and his staff have done an outstanding job preparing these young men to take the field, and we are thankful that they will have the chance to compete and showcase their talents."

"We are excited to play football," head football coach Drew Cronic stated. "I'm so thankful to have administrators here at Mercer who fought to give us this opportunity. Our young men have been through a lot in the past eight months, and I'm proud of their attitude and work ethic. Every game we get to play is an opportunity to compete, improve and learn to win!"

Mercer is set to take on Jacksonville State of the Ohio Valley Conference on Oct. 10 at Burgess-Snow Field in Jacksonville, Ala. This will be the first meeting between the two teams.

The Gamecocks are led by seventh-year head coach John Grass. Over his first six years in charge, he has compiled a record of 58-18. During the 2019 season, Jacksonville State finished 6-6 overall and 3-5 in the OVC.

The Bears will head north to face Army on Oct. 24 at Michie Stadium. Army is one of seven schools in the nation to play as an independent in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The Black Knights are coming off a 5-8 season in 2019. This will be the first contest between these two schools since the inaugural matchup in 1933. Army won the first meeting, 19-6, which was played at West Point.

Army is led by seventh-year head coach Jeff Monken. In his first six years at West Point, he has compiled a record of 40-36. His best season came in 2018 when the Black Knights went 11-2 overall and ended the season with a 70-14 victory over Houston in the Lockheed Armed Forces Bowl. The Associated Press ranked Army 19th in its final poll in 2018.

Mercer will conclude its fall schedule with its Homecoming contest on Oct. 31 that will feature Abilene Christian. The Wildcats are members of the Southland Conference and finished 2019 with a 5-7 overall record and a 4-5 mark in the Southland. This will be the first meeting between the two schools. Abilene Christian is led by Adam Dorrel who is in his fourth season at the helm.

The games were added to Mercer's schedule after the Southern Conference voted to allow non-conference contests in the fall at institutional discretion. The SoCon delayed its fall seasons with the intent of playing in the spring.

Game times will be announced at a later date.

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