Records Fall as Mercer Tops Point, 69-0

Thursday, September 2

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

1-0

Point

0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

POINT

Mercer

Photo by: Will Hanley

9/3/2021 12:52:00 AM | Football

Box Score

The 778 total yards of offense is a new program record.

By: Kraig Doremus

MACON, Ga. – The Mercer Bears opened the 2021 season with a bang, setting a new program record with 778 yards of offense in a 69-0 win over the Point Skyhawks on Thursday night.

Numerous other records fell in the victory with the Bears scoring their most points in a game (69), accumulating the most yards in one contest (778) and most rushing yards in a game (539). The Bears' 10 touchdowns and 9.1 rushing yards per play, as well as Devin Folser's nine extra points, are all new records for a single game. The Orange & Black averaged 9.3 yards per play, the second-best average in program history.

Defensively, the Bears held Point to just 99 yards, the second-lowest total for an opponent in team history. The only additional time the Bears held an opponent to less than 100 yards came when they defeated Berry College in 2013. On Thursday night, Mercer limited the Skyhawks to only 41 rushing yards (T-5 lowest) and 58 yards through the air (T-7 lowest)

The Bears scored early and often against the Skyhawks and were led by Carter Peevy and Tommy Pollack offensively. Peevy went 9-for-12 with 139 yards and a TD while Pollack rushed for a career-high 111 yards and a team-best two scores. Defensively, Rick Lester III led the team with a career-high five tackles. Isaac Dowling and Brogan Korta each made four stops, and all together, 29 different Bears made a tackle.

Mercer (1-0) found the endzone on its second drive of the evening, which began on its 43-yard line. The Bears needed just three plays to score with Brandon Marshall starting and capping the drive with rushes of 19 and 4 yards, respectively. The big play came from Landon Miller, however, as he setup Marshall's four-yard scamper across the goal line with a 37-yard rush of his own.

DJ McDaniel intercepted a pass on the ensuing Point drive to give Mercer a short field, and the Bears needed just 62 seconds to extend their lead to 14-0. Fred Payton, who made his Mercer debut after transferring from FBS school Coastal Carolina, found Ethan Dirrim for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 6:25 to play.

Despite a fumble on their final drive of the opening quarter, Mercer did not allow Point to advance past midfield and proceeded to march 82 yards in four plays to start the period. Carter Peevy accounted for 65 of the 82 yards with a 14-yard rush and 17-yard pass to Andrew May before he found the speedy All-American Ty James who got past the Skyhawks' secondary by the Mercer sideline. The Peevy-James connection made it 21-0 in favor of the Bears with 13:28 remaining until the half.

Jordan Williams helped the Bears once again have a short field, blocking a Skyhawk punt to give the Bears the ball at the Point 34-yard line. Mercer ran just two plays with Harper scoring his first touchdown as a Bear on a 25-yard rush. Harper, an All-American, arrived in Macon after transferring from Gardner-Webb.

Stellar defense by the Bears forced Point into back-to-back three-and-out situations and negative five yards on its next two possessions. With 10:16 remaining before the intermission, the Bears took over on offense once again, and Payton served as the conductor of an eight-play drive that ended in a touchdown after Fred Davis cross the goal line with a six-yard run.

The Bears' final touchdown of the first half hour of play came with Peevy under center, and the Bears moved nearly the entire length of the field, going 81 yards in only 2:27. Peevy passed for 62 yards before Davis scored his second touchdown of the night on a two-yard run. After 30 minutes, Mercer held a commanding 42-0 lead.

After failing to find the endzone on the opening drive of the third quarter, Dylan Fromm led the Bears into the endzone midway through the frame. The beloved Warner Robins native hit Tayshaun Shipp for a 16-yard touchdown, his first career TD pass, which gave the Bears a 49-0 advantage.

Once again, Mercer forced Point to punt, and the Bears sliced their way through the Skyhawks' defense, moving 80 yards in under two minutes for their eighth touchdown of the night. In front of nearly 9,000 yards, Nakendrick Clark carried the ball three times for 47 yards on the drive, including a 35-yard rush that proceeded his four-yard touchdown run.

The star of the fourth quarter by linebacker turned B-back Tommy Pollack. Pollack accounted for both of the Bears' touchdowns into the final frame and was the only player to eclipse 100 yards rushing. On the Orange & Black's first drive of the quarter, he rushed for 34 yards on four carries. The drive ended in with his one-yard TD run with 12:00 to play. His touchdown made it a 62-0 contest and helped the Bears set a new record for most points in one game, eclipsing the previous record of 61, which came in a shutout of Warner on Sept. 14, 2013, the Bears' second game of the modern era.

After Point punted, Pollack went back to work, making his way between the tackles and getting around the outside to the corner and into the Skyhawks' secondary. The Bears' fumbled on second down, but the freshman from Powder Springs, Ga., burst through the line for a 42-yard run that ended when he sprinted into the endzone, delighting the home crowd.

Pollack's touchdown run was Mercer's last of the evening as they cruised to a 69-0 win, setting numerous records along the way.

Offensive Star
Pollack ran for 111 yards and Mercer's final two scores of the night. His final TD came on a 42-yard run.

Defensive Star
Lester III set a career-high with five tackles and led the team in total stops.

Stats That Matter
Mercer limited Point to a mere four first downs. The Bears racked up 30 first downs and 778 yards of offense.

Drew Cronic Quotables
Opening Statement
"I feel like we played well. We'll watch the film and be real about it. We want to play at a high level. I want to look at the film and make sure we were being fundamentally sound and doing the right things. Anytime you get a shutout that's good. It was great to play a bunch of guys. A lot of guys got experience tonight, and that will give us some benefits in the future."

On the Defense
"Our starters began things, but the backups maintained it. To get a shutout is great."

On New Players Debuting
"It was great for [quarterback] Fred [Payton] to get some time. Jason Poe is a great offensive lineman who is going to help us and Devron [Harper] is a transfer who will help. Some new faces made plays. That's good to see. It's great to have them make an impact. When you take a transfer, you have to make sure you take the right ones. We've done that. They're great guys. I think we have the right group of guys in here. They like being around each other."

On Alabama Next Week
"We're getting ready to play the best college football team in the country. It's a great opportunity to show you belong and that you can fight your guts out and compete. Whatever happens, we will get better. I have never gone into a game thinking we're going to lose. We are going to prepare to try to win a game and play like champions and do things right. It doesn't matter who we play, I want us to be the best we can be."

Notables

Mercer set records for most points (69), total yards (778), rushing yards (538), touchdowns (10), rushing yards per carry (9.1) and extra points (10) in a game.
Mercer eclipsed 500 yards on the ground for the first time.
Mercer scored more than 60 points for just the second time program history. The Bears scored 61 points in a 2013 victory against Warner.
The 69-point win was Mercer's largest in program history.
The shutout was the Orange & Black's first since a 2015 win over SoCon opponent ETSU.
The Bears' 538 rushing yards eclipsed the previous total of 402 against Warner (2013), The 778 total yards surpassed the previous mark of 623, which came in a 2015 romp of Stetson.
Mercer averaged 9.3 yards per play, the second-highest total in one game.
Mercer utilized a dual QB system throughout the first half with both Peevy and Payton getting time under center. Four quarterbacks received playing time with Fromm and Anthony Squitieri also taking snaps.
Fromm threw his first career touchdown pass in the win.
Pollack rushed for a career-high 111 yards and two scores.
Dating back to last season, the Bears have now had 100-yard rushers in two consecutive contests
Marshall scored the first touchdown of the season on a four-yard run.
Mercer limited Point to 99 total yards, the second-lowest total in program history.
The Bears allowed only 41 yards on the ground, the fifth-lowest total for one game and 58 passing yards, which is tied for the seventh-lowest total
Folser kicked all nine extra points, setting the new record. The previous record of eight was held by Cole Fisher (2018) and Jagger Leib (2014).
Lester III led the defense with five stops.
Hill recorded the first interception of the year.
Mercer had 40 first downs, making Thursday's win the first time since a 2015 win over Wofford hat it had more than 30.
The Bears allowed only four first downs. Before Thursday, the last time the Bears allowed less than 10 came against Warner in 2014 when it managed to move the chains eight times.

Up Next
Mercer will head to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on No. 1 (FBS) Alabama on Sept. 11 at 4 p.m. eastern time. The game will be televised on the SEC Network. Rick Cameron, Bryce Koon and Charles Davis will handle radio duties for the Mercer Sports Network – 100.9 The Creek and SportsMic.

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.