Bears Steamroll Visiting Presbyterian In Season Opener

Thursday, August 29

Macon, Ga.

7 p.m.

Mercer University

1-0 , 0-0

Presbyterian

0-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Presbyterian

Mercer

Bears Steamroll Visiting Presbyterian In Season Opener

8/29/2024 10:05:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Junior DJ Smith accounted for nearly 350 yards of total offense on the way to registering the most impressive debut by a quarterback in Mercer history and leading the Mercer football team to a 63-10 rout of visiting Presbyterian in the season opener for both teams on Thursday evening at Five Star Stadium.

The Bears (1-0) moved to 9-3 in season openers since football returned to campus in 2013, while also improving to 9-3 in home openers across that same span as well. It was the third-straight series loss for the Blue Hose (0-1) who returned 17 starters from last season's squad, including all 11 starters on the defensive side of the ball.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 63, Presbyterian 10
RECORDS: Mercer (1-0, 0-0 SoCon); Presbyterian (0-1, 0-0 PFL)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Five Star Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Mercer marched down the field almost interrupted on their opening possession of the evening as Dwayne McGee capped off a 5-play, 64-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard dive up the middle. Quarterback DJ Smith threw a 21-yard strike to Kendall Harris on the opening play of the drive, and then ran for 29 yards two plays later. MU 7, PC 0

Presbyterian used their third possession of the evening to get on the scoreboard as Mack Mikko successfully converted a 24-yard field goal attempt to cap a 6-play, 54-yard drive. The Blue Hose had all the looks of knotting the score back up when a 36-yard pass moved them all the way down to the 6-yard line, but netted -3 yards on their next three plays. MU 7, PC 3

The Bears swung the pendulum back in their favor on the ensuing possession when DJ Smith engineered a methodical 8-play, 62-yard touchdown drive to make it a two-score affair. DJ Smith found Kendall Harris on a key 3^rd-and-7 situation to keep the drive going, and then culminated the possession with a 13-yard pass-and-catch to Kelin Parsons. MU 14, PC 3

TOUCHDOWN BEARS‼️@DeeWeeBig3 scores from 3-yards out for our first @TruistNews TD of the season!

Q1 | 11:42
Mercer 7, Presbyterian 0 pic.twitter.com/PJcOstkm5N
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) August 30, 2024

2ND QUARTER

Despite giving the ball away themselves for the first time on the previous play, the Bears used an interception from senior TJ Moore to set up their next points of the evening. DJ Smith found Kelin Parsons on a 36-yard gainer on the opening play of the drive, and then lit up the scoreboard three plays later on a 1-yard dive over center. MU 21, PC 3

The hosts strung together their longest scoring drive of the opening half to throw some more points on the board before the break. DJ Smith completed all five of his pass attempts for 51 yards on the 10-play, 71-yard possession, but Tyrell Coard added the icing when he jolted up the middle for a 4-yard touchdown. MU 28, PC 3

.@ParsonsKelin going ⬆️ and making a great grab for a 36-yard reception! 👀 pic.twitter.com/4VuMv1WMtI
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) August 30, 2024

3RD QUARTER

Mercer needed just 70 seconds of the second half to pad its lead as Brayden Smith hauled in a short pass from DJ Smith and raced 68 yards for MU's fifth touchdown of the night. The 77-yard scoring drive was opened by a pair of rushing attempts, including a 5-yard gainer on first down by Dwayne McGee. MU 35, PC 3

The Bears continued to pour it on later in the period when they used more than 7-1/2 minutes to string together a 13-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that was capped with a 9-yard run by Tyrell Coard. DJ Smith had his streak of 11 consecutive pass completions snapped on the possession, but he still completed a pair of passes for 37 yards. MU 42, PC 3

Presbyterian finally punched it into the end zone on the ensuing possession, using a pair of long passes to highlight a 5-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. Ty Englehart converted a key 3^rd-and-8 situation with a 49-yard toss to Antonio Wright, then found Cincere Gill on a 24-yard scoring strike. MU 42, PC 10

TOUCHDOWN BEARS ‼️

On the third play from scrimmage in the second half, @IAmPr1metime0 completes it to @BraydensmithMU who does the rest for a 68-yd @TruistNews TD! 😤

Q3 | 13:45
Mercer 35, Presbyterian 3 pic.twitter.com/L9kpqiscIX
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) August 30, 2024

4TH QUARTER

Hess Horne took over under center to start the fourth quarter for the Bears, and did not disappoint, engineering an 8-play, 37-yard touchdown drive. Horne was 4-for-5 for 30 yards on the possession, including a 7-yard touchdown pass to Parker Wroble. MU 49, PC 10

Special teams took care of the rest of the scoring on the night for the Bears. Mercer's defense stalled a 10-play drive by the Blue Hose near midfield, and the resulting fourth-down snap sailed over the head of PC punter Ezra King and into the end zone where Chris Joines dove to cover the loose ball. MU 56, PC 10

Punt coverage continued to be an issue for the Blue Hose on the ensuing possession. Stuffed after just three plays, Presbyterian punter Ezra King laid into a 52-yard kick, but Brayden Smith hauled in the air ball and returned it 75 yards the other way. MU 63, PC 10

.@BraydensmithMU providing some explosive plays tonight as he adds this punt return TD to go with a 68-yd receiving touchdown from earlier! 🤝 pic.twitter.com/7q8yr7pUF6
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) August 30, 2024

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior DJ Smith completed passes to a dozen different receivers, and finished his night with 320 yards and three touchdowns on 20-of-24 passing, while also adding 25 rushing yards and an additional score. His 228.3 passer efficiency rating was the third-highest in program history, and tops among signal callers making their debut in the Orange & Black.
+ Sophomore Brayden Smith tallied 228 all-purpose yards against the Blue Hose, the 13^th-highest total in program history, including 83 receiving yards (three catches). Smith scored a pair of 60+-yard touchdowns – a 68-yard reception in the third quarter and a 75-yard punt return in the final period.
+ Senior Marques Thomas led the way in the tackles column for the Bears, totaling seven on the night including 1-1/2 tackles for loss. Fellow seniors TJ Moore and Isaac Dowling both turned in interceptions for MU as well.

NOTABLES

+ Mercer improved to 9-3 in both season openers and home openers with Thursday's victory. The Bears tacked up their fourth-straight win in both columns as well.
+ The 63 points marked the most points for the Bears since a 63-0 blanking of visiting Morehead State in the 2022 season opener. Mercer finished with 500 yards of total offense on the night – the most for the program since accounting for 695 total yards in an overtime loss at Samford in the 2022 season finale.
+ The Bears have now won 11 of their last 13 home games, and improved to 44-20 (.688) all-time at Five Star Stadium.

UP NEXT

The Bears will head to Daytona, Fla. on September 7 to battle Bethune-Cookman at Daytona Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. The contest will mark MU's trip to the Sunshine State since a 2014 victory over Stetson in nearby Deland, Fla.

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