Mercer Battles Hard Against No. 1 Alabama

Saturday, September 11

Tuscaloosa, Ala.

4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. CT)

Mercer University

1-1

Alabama

2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Mercer

Alabama

Photo by: Will Hanley

9/11/2021 9:23:00 PM | Football

Box Score

Fred Payton threw two touchdown passes.

By: Kraig Doremus

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Fred Payton threw a pair of touchdown passes in the second half, but the Mercer Bears fell to the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, 48-14, in Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears' 14 points were the most that Alabama has surrendered through its first two games this season. Miami only managed 13 points against the Crimson Tide in the season opener for both squads.

Mercer did not find the endzone in the first half, but the offense engineered a pair of scoring drives after the intermission, both of which happened with Payton behind center. With his squad down by multiple touchdowns, Payton displayed a gritty, no-quit attitude in front of a packed Bryant-Denny Stadium. While Alabama fans may have not been familiar with Payton before the game began, they left the 100,000-seat stadium familiar with him and the Mercer football team afterward.

On Mercer's first drive of the third quarter, Payton began things by completing an 11-yard pass to Ty James before he found Parker Wroble for five yards. Payton then handed off to Brandon Marshall on second down, and Marshall gained three yards. Facing a third-and-short situation, Payton once again hit Wroble and earned a new set of downs. On first down, Payton found Devron Harper, who had managed to get behind the Tide secondary. The Suwanee, Ga., native connected with one of his favorite targets for a 60-yard touchdown to get Mercer on the board.

That @FredPaytonJr ➡ @DevronHarper connection 👀

Mercer finds the endzone! #RaiseTheBar | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/4EOmiKgGBz
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) September 11, 2021

The Mercer faithful celebrated, but the Bears were not done scoring. With time winding down in the third quarter, Payton began to direct another scoring drive. On the final play of the quarter, he connected with Ethan Dirrim for 17 yards, moving the Bears into Alabama territory as the final quarter began. Fred Davis quickly moved the Bears to the Alabama 32-yard line with a pair of rushes, and on fourth down, the quarterback called his own number, scrambling for three yards to the 'Bama 29 for a first down. On first down, he hit tight end Andrew May for seven yards before found James in the endzone for a 22-yard touchdown. His second touchdown of the half made it a 45-14 game with Alabama in front.

Don't leave him open! @FredPaytonJr hits @wr_james for a 22 yard score!

Bears trail 45-14#RaiseTheBar | #RoarTogether pic.twitter.com/bQZjWuQDJI
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) September 11, 2021

Mercer's defense made several key stops on the ensuing Alabama drive. Although the Crimson Tide advanced deep into the Bears' territory, the trio of Carson Griffin, Tre Lanham and Obinna Nwankwo all quickly wrapped up Tide players, holding Alabama to just one yard on the final three plays of the drive. Alabama connected on a 40-yard field goal, but the Orange & Black defense displayed tenacity throughout the second half, limiting the Tide to only 17 points while the Mercer offense scored 14 points of its own.

Mercer dropped to 1-1 by virtue of the 48-14 loss. Alabama improved to 2-0.

Payton led the Mercer offense with 159 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He completed 9-of-15 passes. Davis rushed for 47 yards on 12 attempts while Harper (69 yards, 1 TD) and Dirrim (45 yards) led the receiving corps. Defensively, Ken Standley was constantly making stops with eight total tackles. Luke Ward also made eight tackles. Yahsyn McKee also flew around the field with seven stops. Solomon Zubairu had a huge sack in the first quarter, and Nwanko was credited with Mercer's second and final sack.

Offensively, Bryce Young led Alabama, going 19-of-27 for 227 yards and three touchdowns. Brian Robinson Jr., gained 70 yards on 10 carries and scored once. JoJo Earle paced the Crimson Tide's receivers with 85 yards. Linebacker Christian Harris made a team-high eight tackles.

Drew Cronic Quotables

Full Press Conference

Opening Statement
"It's an honor to be here. You go into a game like this, and you just want to find small victories and find ways to improve. I think we're going to find that. Obviously, when you're playing against a team like that, everything is magnified, every mistake you make is magnified. But I appreciate where kids can fight the battle and find ways to make a few plays, and I felt like we left some things out there, I really do. When you play a team like that, you have one positive thing happen and then you take a step backwards.

The first half we couldn't put anything together. Our defense held them a couple times in the redzone, made them kick field goals and that showed a little character right there. The main thing for us is we wanted to walk out of here today feeling like we gained ground and made improvements and didn't lose any momentum.

I believe in this football team, and our ability to go play in the Southern Conference and have some success. I wanted to walk out of here feeling like we took a step in that direction. We're proud of the kids. I'm sure we're going to find some stuff that had nothing to do with Alabama that was screwed up. Okay. But then there's going to be some times when a big dude just whips you and it's all you can do to stay just to stay in front of them, you know, so all those things are reality. We will live in reality, and at the same time it's never okay to lose. We are going to expect to win every time we show up. I want to turn on the film. I'm going to watch it on the bus on the way back. I can't wait to watch it. I'm going to watch it, I'm going to grade it, and we're going to come in Monday and get better. We're going to work one day at a time and see how good we can get."

On what some positives and challenges were from today:
"Put yourself out there and continue to compete against those kids and learn that when I do things the right way, I give myself an opportunity to be successful. That's what we talked about. I don't blow smoke at them. I tell them the truth. Alabama is better than us. They're the best team in the country. Can you go hang in there? Can you go show them that you belong in the same field as them and find ways to get it done and make some plays? I felt like some kids did that. I'm sure I'm going to turn on the film, and I'll be pissed off about some things because there were some things that we screwed up that had nothing to do with them."

On moving forward preparing for Furman
"Let's go have a good workout on Monday, and then Tuesday we'll have a good practice; and just take it one day at a time and get better. That's all."

Offensive Star
Payton had an impressive outing. He completed 60 percent of his passes (9-of-15) and accounted for both of Mercer's touchdowns, finding Harper and James for second half scores.

Defensive Star(s)
Standley made a season-high eight stops and was consistently stopping Crimson Tide players in their tracks. Ward and McKee also had an impressive night with six stops each.

Stats That Matter
The air attack accounted for 168 of Mercer's 216 yards. Both Payton and Carter Peevy completed passes in the loss.

Notables

Mercer's 14 points are the most Alabama has surrendered this season.
Mercer scored on Alabama for the first time in four meetings.
Mercer dropped to 0-4 against Alabama and 0-2 in the modern era. It was the first meeting between the squads in the Cronic era.
The Bears are 19-95-2 against FBS opponents.
Dirrim, Harper, James and Wroble all had multiple catches in the loss.
24 different Mercer players made a tackle.

Up Next
Mercer will be idle next weekend before it travels to Furman to begin Southern Conference play. The Bears and Paladins will kickoff at 2 p.m. on Sept. 25 in Greenville, S.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.