No. 7 Bears Tangle With No. 10 Rhode Island In FCS Playoffs

MACON – The No. 7 national seed Mercer Bears will begin their road in the NCAA postseason on Saturday when they suit up to host the No. 10 national seed Rhode Island Rams at Five Star Stadium. Saturday's game will be broadcasted live on ESPN+ with Michael Reghi and Forrest Conoly handling the duties in the booth. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:02 p.m. EDT.

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 NCAA.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, December 7 Time: 2 p.m. ET Location: Macon, Ga. I Five Star Stadium TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: NCAA.com Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Mercer	Rhode Island	Southern Conference

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Saturday's Southern Conference tilt with Furman, and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

SCOUTING RHODE ISLAND
The 10th-seeded Rams wrapped up a share of the 2024 Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) championship with a win over Bryant on November 23 ... Making its first playoff appearance since 1985, Rhode Island opened up the postseason with a 21-17 home win over Central Connecticut State on Saturday ... A program-record 13 Rams earned a spot on the postseason All-CAA squad, including a trio of first team selections ... URI features 20 seniors on its 2-deep depth chart, including 13 who have a starting role on either offense (5) or defense (8) ... Rhode Island will bring FCS's 24th-ranked rushing defense into Macon, but ranks among the nation's top 20 in four other defensive statistical categories as well ... Rhody's offensive line surrendered just 1.08 sacks per game during the regular season (11th NCAA), while also paving the way for 1,100-yard rusher Malik Grant.

MERCER/RHODE ISLAND HISTORY
Saturday's matchup will mark the first meeting between the Bears and Rhode Island on the gridiron ... Mercer has played just one current member of the Coastal Athletic Association, splitting matchups with Campbell in 2013 (W) and 2019 (L) ... The Bears swept a volleyball matchup with the Rams earlier this season at the UNF Invitational in the last contest between athletic teams at the two institutions ... The softball (2-0), baseball (1-2) and men's basketball (0-1) teams also have a series history with Rhody.

HOME STREAKING
Mercer matched a school record (2013-14) with its ninth-straight home win against Furman on November 23 ... The 2013 squad posted a perfect 8-0 record at home, and the Bears also captured their 2014 home opener ... Mercer's 6-0 record at home this season is the first time the program has posted an unblemished regular season home record since the 2013 campaign ... MU is averaging 37.9 points per game over the 9-game home win skein, including 44.2 points an outing at Five Star Stadium this season.

BEARS VS. TOP 25 THIS SEASON
Mercer has won five of its last six games against nationally-ranked FCS teams, including a nation's-best four wins this season against opponents ranked in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 at kickoff ... The only blemish across that six-game stretch came at then-No. 1 and eventual national champion South Dakota State in the second round of last year's FCS Playoffs ... MU's four Top 25 victories this season are a program high, while the five contests against nationally-ranked opponents (including then-No. 9 Alabama) is the most since the Bears faced six nationally-ranked foes during the 2017 campaign, including four FCS opponents ... That 2017 top 25 schedule also included games at then-No. 15 Auburn and then-No. 1 Alabama.

No. 7 Bears Tangle With No. 10 Rhode Island In FCS Playoffs

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