Rivalry Renewed: Mercer Heads To Birmingham For Clash With Samford

MACON – Nationally-ranked Mercer (5-2, 2-1 SoCon) will hit the road for the fourth time in the last five games on Saturday when it makes the short trip west to Birmingham, Alabama, to lock horns with Samford (1-5, 1-2 SoCon) at Pete Hanna Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:02 p.m. ET (6 p.m. local) and the game will be televised live on Nexstar/ESPN+ as part of the Ingles/SoCon Game of the Week package with Pete Yanity (play-by-play) and Jay Sonnhalter (commentary) calling all of the action from the booth.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, October 17 Time: 7 p.m. ET Location: Birmingham, Alabama I Pete Hanna Stadium TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: MercerBears.com/Live Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball

GAME NOTES (PDF)
Mercer Game Notes	Samford Game Notes	SoCon Weekly Release

TICKETS
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game and can be purchased by visiting the Samford athletic ticketing portal.

MERCER/SAMFORD SERIES
Saturday's matchup is the 33rd meeting all-time between the Bears and Samford in a series that dates all the way back to 1907. Samford leads the all-time series, 16-15-1, but the home team has captured each of the last eight matchups. The Bulldogs own a 7-5 series advantage since the series resumed after Mercer restarted football and joined the Southern Conference in 2014, but six of those 12 meetings have been decided by a lone possession. The Mercer-Samford matchup has averaged 76.8 combined points per game since 2021, with neither team averaging fewer than 37.4 points per game across that stretch. The teams have combined for 50 or more points in six of the last seven contests, including 94 points in a 50-44 home win for the Bulldogs in 2022. Samford registered a series-high 55 points when the squads last met in Birmingham in 2024.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Samford enters the week at 1-5 (1-2 SoCon) and remains a pass-first offense behind quarterback Gabarri Johnson, who has thrown for 1,125 yards and six touchdowns while averaging 187.5 passing yards per game. The Bulldogs struggle to run the football, averaging just 72.0 rushing yards and 2.6 yards per carry, while allowing 187.3 rushing yards per contest. Wide receiver Marquise Henderson is the primary big-play threat with 349 yards and three touchdowns on 17.5 yards per catch. Defensively, linebacker Spencer Conn leads the team with 51 tackles, while the Bulldogs have recorded 14 sacks and three interceptions through six games.

ROAD WARRIORS
Mercer has won seven of its last nine road outings, including a current 7-game road winning skein against FCS foes. The Bears posted a 5-1 clip on the road last season, including a Week 12 setback at FBS foe Auburn, and are 2-1 this season with the only blemish coming in Week 3 against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. MU has captured 14 of its last 20 regular season road games (14-2 vs. FCS) heading into the Week 7 contest at Samford. Mercer is now 36-41 (.468) in true road games since football returned to campus in 2013, including a 36-27 (.556) clip against FCS competition. The Bears are 25-20 on the road against Southern Conference foes since joining the league prior to the 2014 campaign, including an 8-1 road mark against SoCon foes over the last 2-plus seasons (since 2023).

BEARS STILL FORMIDABLE AGAINST SOCON TEAMS
MU has captured 23 of its last 26 games against SoCon opponents dating back to a 38-3 win over VMI on Sept. 30, 2023. The Bears are 12-2 at home across that stretch and 11-1 away from Macon. MU's three losses over that 26-game span were to Chattanooga (2023), Samford (2024) and Furman (2026). Mercer registered an unbeaten 8-0 mark against league teams in 2025 en route to its second-straight conference championship. Despite seeing its 12-game Southern Conference win streak come to an abrupt end against Furman in Week 2, Mercer is 34-9 (.791) against Southern Conference teams over the last 5-plus seasons (2021-26). Prior to the setback to the Paladins, the Bears had not fallen to a SoCon rival since Oct. 19, 2024 (55-35 at Samford).

NEXT WEEK FOR THE BEARS
Mercer will hit the brakes for a much-needed bye week next Saturday (October 24), but will be back in action again on October 31 when it welcomes The Citadel to Five Star Stadium to culminate Homecoming Week on campus. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. and tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets.

Rivalry Renewed: Mercer Heads To Birmingham For Clash With Samford

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