No. 14 Bears Host No. 24 Western Carolina On Saturday

Saturday, October 26

Macon, Ga.

3:30 p.m.

Mercer University

Western Carolina

Tickets

No. 14 Bears Host No. 24 Western Carolina On Saturday

10/25/2024 9:22:00 PM | Football

Kickoff Is Slated For 3:30 p.m. ET On ESPN+

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – The 14th-ranked Mercer Bears will open up a two-game home stand on Saturday when they return to Macon to take on the 24th-ranked Western Carolina Catamounts. Saturday's game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+ with Frank Malloy and Phil Cox handling the duties in the booth. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:32 p.m. EDT at Five Star Stadium.

Rick Cameron and the rest of the Mercer Sports Network will call all of the action as well, and fans can listen to that broadcast on The Creek 100.9 FM, or by visiting Sportsmic. A live statistics link is also being provided by the Mercer athletics department.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, October 26 Time: 3:30 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Five Star Stadium TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: MercerStats.com Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Mercer	Southern Conference

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game, and can be purchased by visiting *MercerBears.com/Tickets***.

MERCER/WESTERN CAROLINA SERIES
The Bears have captured eight-straight games in their 10-game-old series with Western Carolina that dates all the way back to the 2014 season – Mercer's first as a member of the Southern Conference. Since dropping the first two games of the series in 2014 and 2015, Mercer has averaged more than 44 points per game (44.3) in the series, and has scored 45 or more points in five of the last six matchups.

SCOUTING WESTERN CAROLINA
Western Carolina returned 11 starters (5 offense, 6 defense) and 31 other letterwinners off of last year's squad that turned in a 7-4 clip and a fourth-place finish in the final Southern Conference standings. Ten Catamounts were named to the Preseason All-Southern Conference squad in January, including preseason all-American quarterback Cole Gonzales who picked up national offensive player of the week accolades on Monday after throwing for 620 yards (7th-most in FCS history) in last week's 55-20 home win over Furman.

HOME SWEET HOME
Mercer is now 46-20 (.697) all-time in Five Star Stadium following its Week 7 win over Princeton, including a 20-4 (.833) clip since the 2019 campaign. The Bears have turned in at least four wins inside their home stadium in each of the last four years, and have now captured 13 of their last 15 home games (current 6-game win streak at home) following the 34-7 triumph over the Tigers on October 12.

BEARS VS. TOP 25 TEAMS
Mercer has conquered three of its last four nationally-ranked opponents, and is 11-23 over the last decade against such foes, including an 11-19 mark against ranked FCS opponents. Seven of the Bears' 11 wins against Top 25 FCS foes have come away from Macon (7-12 away vs. FCS), while the Orange & Black has also posted a quartet of wins against Top 10-ranked FCS opponents (4-6 vs. Top 10). Just more than one-third (7 of 19) of MU's losses to Top 25 FCS competition have come by seven or fewer points.