Bears Turn Table At Halftime, Thwart The Citadel On Homecoming

Saturday, October 31

Macon, Ga.

3 p.m.

Mercer University

7-2 , 4-1

The Citadel

2-7 , 0-5

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
The Citadel	7	3	0	9	19
Mercer	0	0	21	7	28

10/31/2026 8:40:00 PM | Football

Box Score Postgame Press Conference

By: Todd Anderson, anderson_t02@mercer.edu

MACON – Mercer erupted for 216 yards and a trio of touchdowns in the third quarter to storm ahead for good and the 12^th-ranked Bears got the better ending in a tale of two halves on the way to a 28-19 victory over The Citadel on Saturday evening at Five Star Stadium.

The triumph marked the fifth-straight win for Mercer (7-2, 4-1 SoCon) who mustered just 45 yards of offense in the opening half, but still managed to tough out a Homecoming victory for the fifth time in the last six years regardless. It was the fourth-straight loss for The Citadel (2-7, 0-5) who has now dropped seven-straight games in the series with the Orange & Black.

Saturday's contest marked the first league game in the 105-year history of the Southern Conference with an African-American head coach on both sidelines.

THE BASICS

SCORE: Mercer 28, The Citadel 19
RECORDS: Mercer 7-2 (4-1 SoCon); The Citadel 2-7 (0-5 SoCon)
LOCATION: Macon, Ga. (Five Star Stadium)

HOW IT HAPPENED

1ST QUARTER

The Citadel capped a 7-play, 75-yard scoring drive on their initial possession of the afternoon with a 40-yard jaunt by Sebastien Boyle, but had some help from the Bears along the way. Mercer appeared to force a 3^rd-and-long situation early, but an ill-timed unsportsmanlike conduct by the hosts moved the Bulldogs near midfield and reinvigorated the drive. CIT 7, MU 0

2ND QUARTER

The visitors drove 54 yards on 11-plays and culminated the possession with a 37-yard field goal from Evan Kiely on the opening play in the second quarter to forge a 10-0 advantage. The Citadel used 29 rushing yards and 25 penalty yards to aid the possession which ultimately stalled on the edge of the red zone. CIT 10, MER 0

3RD QUARTER

JP Pickles took to the air in engineering a 7-play, 89-yard touchdown drive on the opening possession of the second half, including a 9-yard touchdown pass to Devon Caldwell that got the hosts off of the mark. Pickles completed all five of his pass attempts for 83 yards, but none was bigger than a 54-yard strike to Zachary Lowe that moved Mercer all the way down to the 9-yard line. CIT 10, MER 7

The Mercer defense yielded just 10 yards on five plays amid the ensuing possession, but The Citadel punter Jack Wiel connected on a 56-yard punt that pinned the Bears back at their own 20-yard line. It did not take long to swing the momentum back to the good guys, however, as JP Pickles connected with Brayden Smith on an 80-yard touchdown pass on the following play from scrimmage. MER 14, CIT 10

The Bears kept the train rolling on their next possession, utilizing a solid punt return from Brayden Smith that set them up at The Citadel 47-yard line to jumpstart a 6-play touchdown drive that was culminated on a 2-yard scoring run off left tackle by JP Pickles. Pickles and Zahmari Palode-Gary combined for 20 rushing yards on the possession that was highlighted by Jaylen King's 18-yard pass to Zachary Lowe midway through. MER 21, CIT 10

BRAYDEN SMITH TOUCHDOWN‼️ What a ball from @JPPickles19 and @BraydensmithMU goes 80 yards for six! 🔥 3Q | 7:59 Mercer 14, The Citadel 10 #ATTACK https://t.co/NZcy9oJ5Eq
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 31, 2026

4TH QUARTER

The Citadel bridged the third and fourth quarters with an 11-play, 62-yard scoring drive that helped quell its scoring drought, but were still forced to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Evan Kiely. Nick Billoups completed passes of 25, 18 and 29 yards to move the visitors inside the 10-yard line, but Mercer stiffened up after that, including a pair of tackles for loss. MER 21, CIT 13

The Citadel used the momentum to force a 3-and-out on the ensuing Mercer possession, but the Bears jumped on a muffed punt on fourth down to get new life deep in enemy territory. JP Pickles connected with Travion Solomon on the ensuing play from scrimmage, and the Macon native juked his way through the secondary to register a 24-yard touchdown reception. MER 28, CIT 13

The Citadel would not go away quietly, putting together an 11-play, 75 yard scoring drive on the ensuing possession that was capped on an 18-yard quarterback keeper by Nick Billoups. Billoups went 5-for-6 for 44 yards on the drive, and kept the possession alive midway through with an 8-yard rush up the middle on 3^rd-and-1 at the MU 33-yard line. Ke'Vion Wellington got his hand on the point-after attempt to limit the damage. MER 28, CIT 19

TOUCHDOWN BEARS‼️ @Sh1fty_T1 gets some great blocks and takes it for a 24-yard touchdown! 🙌 4Q | 7:24 Mercer 28, The Citadel 13 #ATTACK https://t.co/rpwOMPV6uT
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 31, 2026

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

+ Junior JP Pickles threw for 234 yards and three touchdowns on 17-for-20 passing with no interceptions, while also adding 46 rushing yards and an additional score. Pickles was 10-for-12 for 189 yards in the second half alone, including a third period that watched him throw for 181 yards and two touchdowns on 8-for-9 passing.
+ Senior Brayden Smith caught five passes for 106 yards, including an 80-yard scoring reception in the third quarter. It was the third 100+-yard receiving day of the season for the Macon native. Junior Zachary Lowe finished the day with career-bests for both catches (2) and receiving yards (72).
+ Senior Ke'Vion Wellington and sophomore Jyarius Carter both posted a team-best 10 tackles to pace the defensive effort for the Bears. Carter added a pair of tackles for loss, including a third-quarter sack, while Wellington turned in one stop behind the line of scrimmage.

@JPPickles19 airs it out and Zach Lowe is there for the 54-yard catch! 👏 #ATTACK https://t.co/IIgTgzW21Z
— Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) October 31, 2026

NOTABLES

+ Saturday's contest marked the first league game in the 105-year history of the Southern Conference with an African-American head coach on both sidelines. Maurice Drayton was named The Citadel's first African-American football head coach on Dec. 14, 2022, while Joel Taylor was named Mercer's first African-American football head coach on Dec. 11, 2025.
+ Mercer has now captured 25 of its last 28 games (16 of last 17) against Southern Conference opponents, including a 13-2 mark at home across that string. The Bears are 36-9 (.800) inside conference play since 2020.
+ The Bears improved to 12-11-1 all-time in their 120-year-old series with The Citadel, and have now captured seven-straight games in the series with the Bulldogs.
+ Mercer captured its Homecoming contest for the fifth time in the last six years with Saturday's victory, and are now 7-7 on Homecoming in the modern era of the program. The Bears also boast a four-game win streak in Homecoming games dating back to a 28-21 win over Samford in 2023.

UP NEXT

Mercer will open up a 2-game Southern Conference road trip on November 7 when it treks to southeast Tennessee for a pivotal Southern Conference clash with Chattanooga (6-3, 5-1 SoCon). The Ingles SoCon Game of the Week is scheduled for a 1 p.m. kickoff inside UTC's Finley Stadium. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting the Chattanooga athletics ticketing portal.

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SUPPORT THE BEARS

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