Saturday, October 11
Princeton, N.J.
Noon
Mercer University
38
at
14
Princeton
No. 19 Mercer Smothers Princeton For Fifth-Straight Win
10/11/2025 11:30:00 AM | Football
PRINCETON, N.J. – Visiting and 19th-ranked Mercer racked up more than 500 yards of offense for the second-straight week and limited Princeton to just 72 yards in the opening half on the way to a 38-14 victory over the Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Princeton Stadium.
It was the fifth-straight victory for the Bears (5-1) who finished Saturday's trip to New Jersey with eight tackles for loss, including five sacks, as well as a pair of turnovers. The setback snapped a two-game win streak for Princeton (2-2) who fell to 0-2 all-time in the series with the Orange & Black.
It was the fifth-straight victory for the Bears (5-1) who finished Saturday's trip to New Jersey with eight tackles for loss, including five sacks, as well as a pair of turnovers. The setback snapped a two-game win streak for Princeton (2-2) who fell to 0-2 all-time in the series with the Orange & Black.
| THE BASICS |
| SCORE: Mercer 38, Princeton 14 RECORDS: Mercer 5-1 (4-0 SoCon); Princeton 2-2 (1-0 Ivy) LOCATION: Princeton, N.J. (Princeton Stadium) |
| HOW IT HAPPENED |
| 1ST QUARTER |
| The Bears drove 72 yards on 13 plays with their opening possession of the contest, and took the quick lead on Braden Atkinson's 2-yard pass to Malik Simmons. Mercer converted a pair of 3rd-down situations on the drive, including a 16-yard reception by Kendall Harris on 3rd-and-9 that moved the visitors inside the 10-yard line. MU 7, PU 0 Mercer made it a two-score game with a 9-play, 47-yard drive late in the opening period, and used a pivotal 4th down conversion to fuel the points. Kendall Harris hauled in a 20-yard pass from Braden Atkinson on the 4th-and-11 situation at the 25-yard line, and CJ Miller followed with a 5-yard plunge up the middle to cap the possession. MU 14, PU 0
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| 2ND QUARTER |
| The Bears drove 84 yards on just three plays to extend their lead midway through the second quarter. Braden Atkinson threw a 56-yard strike to Adonis McDaniel to move the Bears inside the 25-yard line, and then followed with a quick pass to Samuel Albee on the ensuing play that concluded in the end zone. MU 21, PU 0 Evan Haynie's interception and ensuing 55-yard return set the Tigers up in Mercer territory, and the hosts followed with a 6-play, 43-yard drive that put points on the board right before the intermission. Princeton set itself up with a 1st-and-Goal situation at the 6-yard line, but inevitably had to gamble with a scoring pass on 4th-and-Goal from the 2-yard line. MU 21, PU 7
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| 3RD QUARTER |
| A turnover near midfield set the Bears up to produce the first points of the second half. Braden Atkinson capped an ensuing 7-play, 46-yard scoring drive with a 10-yard strike to Brayden Smith in the end zone. MU 28, PU 7 The Bears went to work again on their next offensive possession, driving 71 yards in just seven plays before Adjatay Dabbs put the punctuation mark on the drive with a 10-yard walk into the end zone. Braden Atkinson completed all four of his passing attempts for 72 yards on the possession, including a 40-yard hookup with Dabbs that moved MU all the way down to the 22-yard line. MU 35, PU 7
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| 4TH QUARTER |
| Mercer bridged the third and fourth quarters with a 7-play, 52-yard scoring drive that was ultimately capped with a 30-yard field goal from Reice Griffith. The Bears moved themselves into a 1st-and-10 situation at the 13-yard line, but had three potential touchdown passes knocked down at the last second. MU 38, PU 7 Princeton finally broke its scoring drought with an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive that was capped on Kai Colon's 11-yard touchdown strike to Jackson Green. Colon completed five of his seven pass attempts for 60 yards on the possession. MU 38, PU 14
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| INSIDE THE BOX SCORE |
| + Freshman Braden Atkinson completed passes to 11 different receivers and closed out Saturday's outing with 347 yards and three touchdowns on 27-of-42 passing with a lone interception. It was the school record-breaking fourth 300+-yard passing day of the season for the MU newcomer. + Sophomore Adjatay Dabbs and junior Adonis McDaniel both logged three catches for a team-best 78 yards against the Tigers. Juniors Samuel Albee and Brayden Smith both notched touchdown catches. + Five different players recorded sacks for the Bears on Saturday, while junior Isaac Prince turned in a team-best two tackles for loss. Sophomore Julian Fox accounted for a school record-tying two fumble recoveries. + Junior Reice Griffith registered eight points on a perfect 6-for-6 kicking day to move atop Mercer's all-time scoring list. His point-after kick late in the third quarter gave him sole possession of that career record formerly held by kicker Cole Fisher who accounted for 212 career points from 2015-18. + Skipper Mike Jacobs notched his 90th career victory as a collegiate head coach on Saturday. He is now 90-21 (.811) in 9-plus seasons at the helm of collegiate programs. He is 16-4 (.800) in 1-1/2 seasons as head coach of the Bears. |
| NOTABLES |
| + Mercer's offense totaled 503 total yards in Saturday's win at Princeton, and have now posted back-to-back games of 500 or more yards of total offense for the first time since compiling three-straight 500+-yard days against Wofford (554), Western Carolina (520) and East Tennessee State (577) amid the 2022 campaign. + The Bears have now posted five-straight victories dating back to a 23-22 home win over Wofford last month. The skein matches the second-longest win streak in program history, and ranks behind last season's squad which opened the campaign with six-straight triumphs. + Mercer yielded just 66 rushing yards in Saturday's outing with the Tigers and has held 15 of its 20 opponents under the 100-yard rushing march since Mike Jacobs took over as head coach prior to last season. The Bears have posted five or more tackles for loss in 18 of those contests. |
| UP NEXT |
| Mercer will get a much-needed mid-season break on October 18 with the second of two scheduled bye weeks. The Bears will return to action on October 25 when they suit up to battle Southern Conference rival VMI at Five Star Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets. |
| STAY CONNECTED |
| Follow Mercer Football on Twitter and Instagram and "Like" Mercer Football on Facebook. |
| SUPPORT THE BEARS |
| Support the Mercer athletics department by making a gift to the Mercer Athletic Foundation. To find out more information about the Mercer Athletic Foundation, email maf@mercer.edu. |
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