OUTRIGHT, AGAIN! No. 8 Mercer Trounces Chattanooga In Home Finale

Saturday, November 15

Macon, Ga.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

9-1 , 8-0

Chattanooga

5-6 , 4-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Chattanooga

Mercer

OUTRIGHT, AGAIN! No. 8 Mercer Trounces Chattanooga In Home Finale

11/15/2025 8:40:00 PM | Football

Box Score

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Eighth-ranked Mercer totaled 545 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on eight of their first 10 possessions of the night to become the first team in 16 years to claim back-to-back outright Southern Conference titles with a convincing 63-17 rout of Chattanooga on Saturday evening at Five Star Stadium.

The result marked the ninth-straight victory for the Bears (9-1, 8-0 SoCon) who have now captured 12-straight games against league foes. The Mocs (5-6, 4-3) have now dropped six of the last nine meetings with the Orange & Black.

Mercer, who clinched at least a share of the SoCon title and the league's automatic bid with a win at Western Carolina last week, is the first team since 2022 (Samford) to register a perfect 8-0 league record. The Bears are the first squad to log outright league crowns since Appalachian State posted unblemished league records in 2008 and 2009.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 63, Chattanooga 17
RECORDS: Mercer 9-1 (8-0 SoCon); Chattanooga 5-6 (4-3 SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Five Star Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

Chattanooga swung the momentum first when an interception and a personal foul set the Mocs up at the Mercer 12-yard line early in the first period. The Bears bunkered down, however, and forced the visitors to settle for a 24-yard field goal. UTC 3, MU 0

Mercer answered back on the ensuing possession, capping a 9-play, 82-yard scoring drive on Braden Atkinson's 33-yard touchdown pass to Malik Simmons down the middle of the field. Atkinson went 5-for-6 for 57 yards on the possession, while CJ Miller ran for 14 yards on a pair of carries. MU 7, UTC 3

A fumble deep in Chattanooga territory gave the ball back to the Bears just more than a minute later, and Mercer capitalized. CJ Miller's 10-yard reception on a key 3^rd-and-7 situation moved the hosts inside the red zone, and Adonis McDaniel hauled in an acrobatic touchdown catch on a 6-yard toss two plays later. MU 14, UTC 3

The Bears began their next possession near midfield and used two-straight passes, as well as a costly roughing the passer call, to light up the scoreboard again. A 17-yard reception by Adjatay Dabbs, coupled with the costly personal foul, moved Mercer inside the red zone and Ty Doughty took care of the rest with a 19-yard run down the far sideline. MU 21, UTC 3

TOUCHDOWN BEARS!@braden_atkinson with a 33-yard scoring strike to @mtsmooth03 right down the middle of the field!

1Q I 7:42
🐻 7
🦤3#WeOverMe pic.twitter.com/siCAcfMCDI
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) November 15, 2025

2ND QUARTER

The field position battle swung in Mercer's favor early in the second quarter when the Bears used a short punt to set up shop at the Chattanooga 33-yard line. Braden Atkinson's 18-yard pass to Travion Solomon moved the Bears all the way down to the 12-yard line, and Adjatay Dabbs caught a 12-yard scoring strike on the very next play to keep the dam open. MU 28, UTC 3

An acrobatic interception by Donovan Watkins gave the ball back to Mercer near midfield just less than a minute later, and the Bears capped an 8-play, 48-yard touchdown drive with Braden Atkinson's 6-yard scoring pass to Malik Simmons in the back of the end zone. MU 35, UTC 3

TOUCHDOWN BEARS!@braden_atkinson with a 33-yard scoring strike to @mtsmooth03 right down the middle of the field!

1Q I 7:42
🐻 7
🦤3#WeOverMe pic.twitter.com/siCAcfMCDI
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) November 15, 2025

3RD QUARTER

Mercer picked up where it left off with its initial possession of the second half. Braden Atkinson completed both of his pass attempts for 33 yards, and CJ Miller carried the ball twice for 37 yards, including a 36-yard touchdown run. MU 42, UTC 3

Kaleb Hutchinson's interception and resulting 22-yard return set Mercer up at its own 45-yard line two minutes later. Braden Atkinson shouldered a short drive immediately following, going 3-for-3 for 65-yards, including a 32-yard dime to Brayden Smith in the end zone. MU 49, UTC 3

The Orange & Black kept cooking on its next possession when CJ Miller capped a 9-play, 83 yard scoring march with an 8-yard stroll into the end zone. Mercer was aided by a pair of personal fouls on the scoring drive, but Braden Atkinson's 17-yard pass to Adonis McDaniel set up Miller's score. MU 56, UTC 3

#22 TO THE 🏡!@_cj2m rumbles 36 yards to give Mercer its first score of the second half.

3Q I 12:25
🐻 42
🦤 3#WeOverMe pic.twitter.com/2k8jW4I8ZB
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) November 15, 2025

4TH QUARTER

Chattanooga used its first possession of the fourth quarter to break its scoring drought. Battle Alberson threw a 57-yard pass to Markell Quick to move the Mocs all the way down to the 3-yard line, and then found Quick again with a 7-yard touchdown pass seconds later. MU 56, UTC 10

The Mocs recovered the ensuing onside kick to continue their surge, and then used a run-heavy 10-play, 37-yard drive to tack more points up on the scoreboard. Journey Wyche ran for 12 yards on first down, but Ryan Ingram logged five rushes after that, including a 1-yard touchdown dive. MU 56, UTC 17

DJ Smith engineered a 6-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to cap the scoring on the night. Smith called his own number on the last two plays of the drive, including a 31-yard touchdown run up the gut. MU 63, UTC 17

PRIME. TIME.@IAmPr1metime0 zig zags 31 yards to put the Bears back up by 46.

4Q I 2:37
🐻 63
🦤 17#WeOverMe pic.twitter.com/WgAAbkI5t8
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) November 15, 2025

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ + Freshman Braden Atkinson threw for 326-yards and a school record-tying five touchdowns on 28-for-37 passing with one interception. He broke three school records amid his performance, and now holds program single-season records for passing yards (3,243), passing touchdowns (33) and pass completions (230). He also matched the school's single-game passing touchdown record for the third time in 2025.
+ Junior CJ Miller logged 132 yards of total offense, including 91 rushing yards (14 carries) and two touchdowns on the ground. He also caught five passes for 41 yards.
+ Four different players caught at least one touchdown pass on the night, including newcomer Malik Simmons who finished with two catches for 33 yards and a pair of scores. Sophomore Adjatay Dabbs finished the night with game-bests for both catches (6) and receiving yards (68).
+ Sophomore Andrew Zock registered 3-1/2 tackles for loss, including 1-1/2 sacks, to move atop the program's single season lists in both categories. Junior Kaleb Hutchinson and sophomore Donovan Watkins both tallied an interception, while Zock recovered an unforced fumble as well.

NOTABLES

+ + Mercer pushed its school-record win streak out to nine games, and have now captured 12-straight outings against Southern Conference opponents. The Bears pushed their home win streak against league opponents out to 11 games as well.
+ The Bears are the first team since Samford in 2022 to finish the regular season with an unblemished record inside league play. The Citadel (2016) is the only other team to finish 8-0 in SoCon play since Appalachian State accomplished that feat in both 2008 and 2009.
+ MU is now 6-7 all-time in Homecoming contests at Five Star Stadium, and have now captured four of its last five Homecoming tilts. The Bears have now defeated Chattanooga twice (2021) on Homecoming in Macon.

UP NEXT

Mercer will wrap up the regular season portion of its 2025 schedule on November 22 when they travel to southeast Alabama to take on Southeastern Conference foe Auburn in Jordan-Hare Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

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