Bears Head To Chattanooga For Pivotal Top 25 Clash

MACON – Nationally-ranked Mercer (7-2, 4-1 SoCon) will open up a two-game Southern Conference road trip on Saturday when the Bears trek to southeastern Tennessee to take on 25th-ranked Chattanooga (6-3, 5-1). Kickoff is scheduled for 1:02 p.m. at Finley Stadium and the Ingles SoCon Game of the Week will be televised live with Pete Yanity (play-by-play), Jay Sonnhalter (commentary) and Dave Friedman (sideline) calling all of the action from the booth.

ABOUT THE GAME
Date: Saturday, November 7 Time: 1 p.m. ET Location: Chattanooga, Tenn. I Finley 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	Chattanooga Game Notes	SoCon Weekly Release

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

MERCER/CHATTANOOGA SERIES
Saturday's matchup is the 37th meeting all-time between the Bears and Chattanooga in a series that dates all the way back to 1909. The Mocs leads the all-time series, 22-13-1, but Mercer has won six of the last 10 matchups with UTC and will ride a two-game win streak into Saturday's matchup at Finley Stadium. The Bears are 6-17-1 all-time in the Scenic City. Mercer has faced a nationally-ranked Chattanooga squad eight previous times and is 4-4 in those contests, including a 10-3 victory over the then No. 14 Mocs on its last trip to southeastern Tennessee in 2024. Saturday's contest marks the third time (2022, 2024) in the last five seasons that both sides will boast a national ranking at kickoff.

SCOUTING THE MOCS
Chattanooga enters the week at 6-3 overall and 5-1 in Southern Conference play. The Mocs have won five of their last six games and own victories over Wofford, The Citadel, Samford, Western Carolina, and VMI. Chattanooga is a run-first football team and averages 203.3 rushing yards per game while scoring 18 rushing touchdowns compared to just three passing touchdowns. UTC runs for 4.6 yards per carry and has rushed for 200+ yards in five games this season. The Chattanooga defense has been one of the top units in the SoCon, allowing just 12.9 points and 268.6 total yards per game. Opponents average only 113.9 rushing yards per contest and have scored just five rushing touchdowns all season. The Mocs have generated 23 sacks, 52 tackles for loss, and nine interceptions. They have forced 12 turnovers and own a plus-three turnover margin.

MERCER VS. TOP 25 TEAMS
Mercer is 15-25 against nationally-ranked opponents in the modern era of its program, including a 15-20 mark against ranked FCS foes. The Bears have won seven of their last 10 games against nationally-ranked FCS teams, and more than half of their 15 wins against Top 25 FCS foes have come away from Macon (8-12 away).

THE BEARS ARE TOUGH AWAY FROM MACON
Mercer has won eight of its last 10 road outings, including a current eight-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 3-1 this season with the only blemish coming in Week 3 against Georgia Tech in Atlanta. MU has captured 15 of its last 21 regular season road games (15-2 vs. FCS) heading into Saturday's tilt with Chattanooga.

NEXT WEEK FOR THE BEARS
Mercer will snap the lid on the road portion of its 2026 regular season schedule on November 14 when the Bears make the long trek to central Tennessee, to lock horns with 9^th-ranked and Southern Conference frontrunner Tennessee Tech. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tennessee. Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting the Tennessee Tech athletics ticketing portal.

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