Bears Seek First SoCon Title at Samford

MACON, Ga. – The No. 25/23 Mercer football team will head to Birmingham, Ala., to take on Samford in its regular season finale on Saturday at Siebert Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. ET.

If you can't make the game, catch the broadcast on ESPN+. As always, the game will also be broadcast by Rick Cameron and his crew on The Creek (100.9 FM) and the SportsMic App.

GAMEDAY LINEUP
» Date | Time: Saturday, April 17 | 1 p.m. ET (12 p.m. CT)
» Teams: Mercer (5-5, 5-2 SoCon) at Samford (3-3, 3-3 SoCon)
» Location: Birmingham, Ala. | Seibert Stadium (6,700)
» Television: ESPN+
» Television Talent: Curt Bloom (PxP), Cad Pilcher(Analyst), Blake Gardner (Sideline)
» Radio: Mercer Sports Network | 100.9 The Creek FM | SportsMic
» Radio Talent: Rick Cameron (PxP), Roger Jackson (Analyst), Charles Davis (Sideline)
» Live Stats: SamfordSports.com
» Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball
» Game Notes: Mercer | Samford | SoCon

The matchup has major postseason implications as a Mercer win and a VMI loss will see the Bears claim their first Southern Conference championship in program history.

SCOUTING SAMFORD
The Bulldogs enter the matchup with the Bears with a 3-3 record both overall and in conference play. Samford holds a slim 12-13-1 advantage in the all-time series, while Mercer has won both of the previous two meetings with each game being decided by one possession. During the 2018 showdown in Birmingham, the Bears defeated the No. 9 ranked team in the FCS, 30-24. The next season, Mercer's Caleb Dowden kicked a 38-yard field goal to win the game 36-33 in the third overtime.

Samford is led by graduate quarterback Liam Welch who has thrown for 1,799 yards and 11 touchdowns. Welch has been one of the top quarterbacks in the Football Championship Series as he ranks second in total offense (420.0 yards per game), fifth in passing efficiency (160.1), seventh in passing yards, eighth in completions per game (24.4), 13th in completion percentage (65.2 pct.) and 14th in passing touchdowns. He has added 301 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 60 carries.

Welch's favorite targets have been Ty King, A.J. Toney and Montrell Washington. King leads the Bulldogs with 536 receiving yards and three scores on 26 catches, while Toney has hauled in a team-high 36 receptions. He totaled 387 yards this season with one touchdown. Washington has accumulated 259 yards and three touchdowns on 21 catches.

Lining up behind Welch is Jay Stanton, who has totaled 383 yards on 79 rushes (4.8 avg.) and scored three touchdowns in six games.

Samford's defense has been a very opportunistic group, ranking third nationally in fumbles recovered (9), fourth in turnovers gained (17), sixth in turnover margin (+1.33) and 12th in interceptions (8). The Bulldogs lead the SoCon in each of these categories. Sophomore safety Chris Edmonds leads the team and ranks second in the FCS with four interceptions this season. Graduate linebacker Nathan East leads the squad with 57 tackles, while junior defensive end Nelson Jordan leads the Bulldogs with 6.0 tackles for a loss and 3.0 sacks.

Quick Hits

Entering the final weekend of play, the Bears are still in contention to win the Southern Conference Championship. With win over Samford and a VMI loss, the Bears will be conference champions. The Southern Conference championship will go to VMI if the Keydets defeat The Citadel. VMI and The Citadel kickoff at 1:30 p.m.

For the first time in program history, the Mercer Bears find themselves in the top 25. On Monday, the Orange & Black received their first ranking as they came in at No. 23 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25. A national panel selects the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, which this spring includes only schools that have committed to playing a regular schedule. On Tuesday, the Bears found themselves in their second top 25 poll. This time they found themselves ranked in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) FCS Coaches' Spring Top 25 Poll. In both polls, the Southern Conference now has three teams ranked, VMI, ETSU and Mercer.

With the win over then-No. 20 ETSU this past Saturday, the Bears have won four-straight contests. This is Mercer's third winning streak of four or more games since restoring the program in 2013. The Bears will look to tie the longest streak over that stretch when they won five straight from Oct. 12, 2013 (vs. Valparaiso) to Nov. 9, 2013 (vs. Jacksonville). Can Mercer keep the winning streak going on Saturday against Samford?

Mercer cornerback Yahsyn McKee, who played receiver as a freshman last season, had five tackles and two pass breakups in last week's win over ETSU and returned a fumble 63 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to extend the Bears' lead to 21-6. The sophomore from Stockbridge, Georgia, also had a huge day on special teams, returning three kicks for 110 yards, including an 80-yard return in the second quarter that set up Mercer's second touchdown of the day. McKee added one punt return for nine yards, giving him 119 all-purpose yards on the day. McKee is the first SoCon player to win two awards in the same week since Chattanooga quarterback Jacob Huesman was named the offensive and freshman player of the week on Nov. 19, 2012.

The Bears continue to set program records, and last Saturday, Mercer defeated its third ranked opponent. All three ranked wins have come in consecutive weeks. The ranked wins included wins over then-No. 9 Chattanooga, 35-28, then-No. 17 Furman, 26-14, and then-No. 20 ETSU, 21-13. The three wins over ranked opponents are the most for Mercer in a single season.

With the win over ETSU, the Bears have won five Southern Conference contests. Leading into the game, the Bears tied the program record with four Southern Conference wins. The 21-13 win over ETSU set the program record with five wins in one season in the Southern Conference. During the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons, Mercer had four wins in each conference season.

This season, the Bears have scored two defensive touchdowns, the fourth most in the nation. In the win over ETSU, Yahsyn McKee picked up a fumble and went 63-yards to the house for a score. This was his second defensive touchdown of his career.

Earlier this season McKee scored on a touchdown on a 27-yard fumble recovery against The Citadel for the second score in the game. McKee has scored both defensive touchdowns this season.

The Bears saw two school records fall this against then-No. 17 Furman. Carter Peevy set the Mercer school record with 406 yards passing in the contest, becoming the first Bear to throw over 400 yards in a game. He broke the school record that was held by running backs coach John Russ. Not only did Peevy break a record, but so did redshirt freshman Ty James. James set the school record with 179 receiving yards on eight receptions. He averaged 22.4 yards per receptions and scored one touchdown. He broke the previous mark that was held by Tucker Cannon's 144-yard day which he had at Presbyterian during the 2019 season.

This season the Bars are scoring 24.5 points per game. This spring, the Bears have scored 35 or more points in three games. The most points scored this season was 45 points, which the Bears did in their second win against Western Carolina.

Mercer continues to have defensive pressure on the opposing quarterbacks this season. Against No. 20 ETSU, Mercer tallied two sacks in the game. It was the fifth time this season Mercer has tallied two or more sacks in a contest. Mercer has only failed to collect a sack in one game this season, Feb. 20 at Wofford. This season, Mercer has recorded 27 sacks and have forced opponents into losing 177 yards. The 27 sacks are the second most in a single season in Mercer program history. The 2013 team recorded the most sacks in program history with 35. Tosin Aguebor has the most sacks in program history with 10 in a single season. Isaac Dowling has 6.5 this season, the third most all-time, and is only 3.5 sacks away from tying the school record.

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Players Mentioned

Tucker Cannon

Caleb Dowden

Isaac Dowling

Ty James

Yahsyn McKee

Carter Peevy

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