Bears Win Hard-Fought Bout

Saturday, October 2

Macon, Ga.

6 p.m.

Mercer University

3-1 , 2-0

Samford

2-3 , 1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Samford

MER

10/2/2021 9:48:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Fred Davis’ record-breaking day leads Mercer past Samford

By: Zach Durkee

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer football team welcomed the Samford Bulldogs for the Southern Conference home opener at Five Star Stadium and outlasted their visitors in a heavyweight fight with a 45-42 scoreline.

Fred Davis highlighted the Bears efforts, breaking the single-game record in the modern era for rushing yards in a contest (276) and set the program-high with five rushing scores.The redshirt freshman finished his night averaging almost 10 yards, at 9.9 per carry.

The record setting run! @FredDavisJr_5 snaps the previous single game rushing record of 202 yards on this run. He now has 228 yards on the ground.#RaiseTheBar | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/Nywt0cGEvM
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 3, 2021

After the two sides traded three-and-outs in their first drives, Samford (2-3, 1-2 SoCon) forced a fumble on the Bears' ensuing drive and took it 60 yards over seven drives for a touchdown when Montrell Washington hauled in a 14-yard toss from Liam Welch.

Mercer (3-1, 2-0 SoCon) countered the Bulldogs' scoring drive with their own when they Devin Folser split the uprights with a 42-yard field goal that capped off a drive of 53 yards over nine plays. The Bears' scoring drive was highlighted by Fred Payton slinging passes of 17 and 22 yards to Devron Harper and Fred Davis, respectively.

Following a successful fake punt on a fourth down deep inside their own territory, Samford was promptly picked off two plays later by Luke Ward, who quelled the Bulldogs' attempt to grab a two-score lead. Three plays later, Fred Davis ran 31 yards for the touchdown and Mercer's first lead of the contest.

TIP DRILL! @Luke_Ward01 picks it off and flies up the sideline!#RaiseTheBar | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/hpcyAlhRES
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 2, 2021

Samford promptly answered the Bears' first touchdown with one of their own and reclaimed the lead when Chandler Smith was led to the end zone on a pass from Welch, which culminated a 64-yard, eight play drive that took just 2:05. In the final drive before the intermission, Mercer could not add anymore to its total after a Folser kick bounced off of the left upright incomplete.

Welch connected to Washington for another Samford touchdown to open the second half that clocked in at just over three minutes and covered 68 yards for a 21-10 advantage.

The Bears offense answered on the next drive when Davis shed off three Bulldog defenders on a 21-yard dash for the end zone, which was set up by a trick play that saw Carter Peevy throw to Payton on a 52-yard reception to bring the Bulldog advantage down to 21-17.

Tricky tricky!@FredPaytonJr x @CPeev15 x @FredPaytonJr #RaiseTheBar | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/z7gA5MyStq
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 3, 2021

Following two Mercer miscues on the ensuing kickoff, Samford took advantage of the shortened field, using just 1:17 to drive half of the field to regain the 11-point advantage when Welch tossed his fourth touchdown of the contest.

Mercer answered back with a four play, 75-yard drive when Davis outpaced the Samford secondary on a 50-yard dash for a touchdown for his third score of the contest that took only 1:36 off the clock to get back within four.

In all, the Mercer offense churned 350 yards on the ground to outlast the Samford defense.

After forcing a three-and-out and Samford missing a field goal just short, the Mercer offense struck to take a 31-28 lead following a Payton throw to Ty Davis that capped a 71-yard drive over eight plays.

In the third quarter, the two sides combined for 35 points – Mercer with three of the five endzone scores.

When Samford punched back with another touchdown and point-after to regain the four-point advantage, Davis plunged through the Bulldog defense for his fourth touchdown run of the game for the 38-35.

The Mercer defense held the visitors to the only scoreless drive of the second stanza before the Bears used a 52-yard drive to take a 10-point advantage when Davis found the end zone for a school record-fifth time.

On the final drive for the visitors, a Welch two-yard sneak would cut the Mercer lead to 45-42 with just 85 seconds remaining.

Following a recovery of Samford's attempt of an onside kick, the Bears all but iced the game when Davis ran for 37 yards inside the Bulldogs' 10-yard line.

Drew Cronic Quotables

Full Press Conference

On Fred Davis' Performance
"Fred Davis showed up in a big way, we blocked good enough to give him some space and he broke a lot of tackles and we were able to throw just enough to keep it honest."

"Every time you see him play, he gets better. We had him playing a different position in the spring but he's a natural running back and we were able to move him over there. He's healthy, strong, he's our most complete back. He's a very intelligent football player and has three more years of eligibility left so we're going to keep handing him the ball."

Message to the team through ups and downs of tonight
"Just keep playing, just keep playing, just keeping playing, that was our message and our kids did that. We're so far from what we were a year ago. These kids have bought in, they believe in each other, so to watch them win that game tonight was very satisfying. They just kept playing and made enough plays to win."

"If we can keep battling for four quarters, we give ourselves a chance."

Offensive Star
Fred Davis shattered a pair of school records in the win over of the Bulldogs. His 276 yards and five touchdowns were both school records. He broke the previous single game rushing yards record by 74 yards, which was set back in 2013.

Defensive Star(s)
Zach Hopkins tallied 11 tackles on the game, six of them being solo tackles to tie his career high and lead the Bears in tackles on the game.

Stats That Matter
It's not every day that you break a school record, let alone two. Fred Davis could not be stopped breaking school records and setting career highs in rushing yards (276) and touchdowns (5).

Notables

The Bears improved to 2-0 at Five Star Stadium this season.
Mercer is averaging 57 points per game throughout their first two home games of the season.
The series history is now 13-14-1 in favor of Samford.
Mercer is 11-8-1 against the Bulldogs in Macon.
The Bears had a total of 377 yards on the ground.
Devron Harper led the Bears with six catches for 76 yards.
Fred Payton threw for 161 yards and a TD, ran for 38 yards, and caught a 52 yard pass.
24 different Mercer players made a tackle.

Up Next
Mercer will hit the road next week as they travels to Western Carolina to continue Southern Conference play. The Bears and Catamounts will kickoff at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 9 in Cullowhee, N.C.

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.