Saturday, October 3
Lexington, Va.
1:30 p.m.
Mercer University
at
VMI
Bears Look To Keep Momentum Rolling At VMI Saturday
10/2/2026 6:00:00 AM | Football
Kickoff Is Slated For 1:30 p.m. ET On ESPN+
MACON – Nationally-ranked Mercer (3-2, 0-1 SoCon) will close out its longest road trip of the season on Saturday when it makes the 500-mile drive to western Virginia to take on Southern Conference foe VMI at Foster Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:32 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ with Wade Branner (play-by-play) and Chip Tarkenton (commentary) calling all of the action from the booth.
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| Â ABOUT THE GAME | |||
| Date: Saturday, October 3 Time: 1:30 p.m. ET Location: Lexington, Va. I Foster Stadium TV: ESPN+ Listen Live: 100.9 The Creek I Sportsmic Network Live Statistics: MercerBears.com/Live Twitter Updates: @MercerFootball |
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| Â GAME NOTES (PDF) | |||
| Mercer Game Notes | SoCon Weekly Release | ||
| Â TICKETS | |||
| Tickets are still available for Saturday's game and can be purchased by visiting the VMI ticketing portal. | |||
| Â MERCER/VMI SERIES | |||
| Saturday's matchup is the 13th meeting all-time between the Bears and VMI. Mercer leads the all-time series, 9-3, and will ride a 4-game series win streak into Lexington, Virginia. Mercer is 5-1 all-time in Foster Stadium, with its only blemish coming on the heels of a 41-14 setback during the spring portion of the 2020-21 campaign. VMI has not scored points across the last nine quarters of the series with Mercer, and the Bears have limited the Keydets to just 322 yards across the last 10 periods of play - a span that also shows just 2.3 yards/play for VMI. | |||
| Â SCOUTING THE KEYDETS | |||
| VMI enters Saturday's matchup still searching for its first victory of the season and has averaged just less than 10 points and 221 yards per game, relying more heavily on their rushing attack than their passing game. Running back Leo Boehling has been the primary ball carrier, while VMI has rotated quarterbacks and generated limited production through the air, averaging just fewer than 100 passing yards per contest. Opponents are scoring 39.4 points per game against the Keydets who have allowed at least 31 points in four of their five contests. Defensively, linebacker Nic Land leads the team with 37 tackles, nearly 12 more than any other Keydet defender. | |||
| Â BEARS IN OCTOBER | |||
| The Orange & Black is 28-23 (.549) over the last decade in the calendar's 10th month, but the program has logged 16 of those victories since 2020. Mercer has won 16 of its last 19 October matchups, including a 9-2 clip at Five Star Stadium across that span. The Bears have also captured eight of their last 10 road outings in the month of October as well. | |||
| Â GOLDEN ERA FOR MERCER IN SOCON PLAY | |||
| Despite seeing its 12-game Southern Conference win streak come to an abrupt end against Furman in Week 2, Mercer is 32-9 (.780) against Southern Conference teams over the last 5-plus seasons (2021-26). The Bears had not fallen to a SoCon rival since Oct. 19, 2024 (55-35 at Samford). That setback snapped a season-opening 6-game win streak for the program. MU has captured 21 of its last 24 games against SoCon opponents dating back to a 38-3 win over VMI on  Sept. 30, 2023. The Bears are 11-2 at home across that stretch and 10-1 away from Macon. | |||
| Â NEXT WEEK FOR THE BEARS | |||
| Mercer will return home for the first time in nearly a month on October 10 when it welcomes Southern Conference nemesis Western Carolina (2-3, 0-1 SoCon) to Middle Georgia. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET at Five Star Stadium and tickets can be purchased by visiting MercerBears.com/Tickets. | |||
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