Bears Tangle With Bethune-Cookman In Road Opener

MACON – Mercer will open the road portion of its 2024 regular season schedule on Saturday when the Bears trek to Daytona, Fla., to battle Bethune Cookman. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. EDT inside the 10,000-seat Daytona Stadium.

the SWAC Digital Network with Kenny Schierlinger and Massod Bendayan handling the duties in the booth. 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, September 7 Time: 3 p.m. ET Location: Daytona Beach, Fla. I Daytona Stadium TV: SWAC Digital Network Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: Sidearm Stats Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Mercer	Bethune-Cookman	Southern Conference

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game, and can be purchased by visiting *the Bethune-Cookman ticketing website*.

MERCER/BETHUNE-COOKMAN SERIES
Saturday's matchup will mark the first meeting between Bethune-Cookman and the Bears on the gridiron, as well as Mercer's first game against a team that calls the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) home.

SCOUTING BETHUNE-COOKMAN
Bethune-Cookman returns several key starters off of last season's 3-8 squad, including quarterback Luke Sprague who passed for 544 yards and four touchdowns a year ago before having his year cut short due to injury. BCU finished fifth in the East Division of the SWAC last year, going 2-6 in conference games. The Wildcats mustered just 57 yards of total offense in the opening half of their season opener at South Florida on Saturday, and came away from Tampa, Fla., with a 48-3 setback.

MERCER IN ROAD OPENERS
Saturday's contest in Daytona Beach, Fla., will mark just the second time in the last eight seasons that Mercer will not lift the lid on its road schedule against an NCAA FBS squad. The Bears are just 3-8 in road openers in the modern era of the program, but the script is flipped when accounting for initial road games against NCAA FCS competition. Mercer is 7-4 in road openers against FCS foes, including wins in four of their last six FCS road openers.

BEARS VS. THE SUNSHINE STATE
Mercer is 15-2 all-time against Florida-based institutions, including a perfect 9-0 record since football returned to Macon in 2013. Saturday's contest will mark its first-ever game in the state of Florida, and its first against a Florida-based squad since a win at Stetson on Sept. 13, 2014. The Bears registered a 6-2 mark against Stetson from 1912-30, and won all three matchups with the Hatters from 2013-15. The Florida-based slate has also included matchups with Jacksonville (3-0), Lake Mary-based Warner (2-0) and Ave Maria (1-0) which is located in southwest Florida. Here are Mercer's matchups with Florida-based teams since 2013:

Bears Tangle With Bethune-Cookman In Road Opener

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