Football - Mercer Bears

On October 18th, the Catamounts travel to Macon, Georgia to play their third Southern Conference game, their second conference road game, and the first football contest ever against one of the newest members of the conference, the Mercer Bears.

While the Bears are new to the conference, their head coach, Bobby Lamb, certainly is not new to the SoCon.  The Bear's 2013 season was the first for Lamb and the Bears in the modern era, and Mercer performed well, ending the season with very good 10-3 record, while going 6-2 in the Pioneer Conference and 8-0 at home.  So the Bear's fans expect wins in Macon, Georgia.

This season has been another year of firsts for the Bears.  It's Mercer's first season in the Southern Conference, their fist season with scholarship players, and their first time ever meeting the Catamounts on the football field. The Bears have exceeded the expectations this year of most SoCon fans and will bring in a very good 5-2 overall record to the game.

The Bears are 1-2 in the SoCon, picking up a home win over VMI, while dropping a very close loss to Furman in Macon by a final score of 25-20.  Mercer also had a very good showing on the road at Samford, as the Bulldogs held on to salvage a very slim three point win, 21-18. The Catamounts must realize only 8 points are the difference in meeting a 5-2 Mercer team, and a 7-0 team.  This team may be young, even younger that the Catamounts, but they are 11 - 1 in Macon and this team and coaches will expect to beat the Cats in Macon and are confident they can get the job done.

The Bears are led by sophomore quarterback John Ross, who has completed 82 of 138 pass attempts for 1264 yards (180.6 avg) this season, and has rushed for 236 yards, or 34 yards per game. Freshman running back Alex Lakes is the leading rusher for the Bears, rushing for 698 yards in 7 games for an average of 99.7 yards per game, followed by running back Payton Usher, with 257,  yards per game averaging 43 yards per game.   Junior wide receiver JT Palmer is Ross's favorite passing target this season with 30 receptions, for 379 yards, for an average of  54 yards per game.  Ross will also throw to the tight ends & running backs out of Lamb's pistol spread option offense.  Mercer leads the Southern Conference in total offense this season, thanks to a balanced attack that ranks among the league’s leaders in both passing and rushing.

When: October 18th, 2014 at 4:00 pm (EST)

Where: Mercer University Stadium, Macon, Georgia

Radio:  Catamount Sports Network

TV/Video:  ESPN3 

Series history: This is the first ever meeting between Western Carolina and Mercer on the football field.

Their coach: Bobby Lamb - Lamb enters his second season as head coach of the Bears. Lamb joined the Mercer coaching staff after nine seasons as head coach at Furman University and a 29-year overall relationship with the Paladins’ football program as a player, assistant coach and head coach.

Last year’s record: After a long absence, football returned to Macon in 2013, and the Bears completed their inaugural season in the modern era with a 10 - 2 overall record as a members of the Pioneer Football League. The Bears set a NCAA Division I record for wins as a start-up program claiming 10 victories in the University’s first season in 72 years.

Offensive Formation: Pistol

Defensive Formation: 3-4

Lettermen Returning/Lost: 71 / 15

Offensive starters - Returning/Lost: 11 / 0

Defensive starters - Returning/Lost: 11 / 0

Specialist Returning/Lost: 5 / 0

2014 Statistics: Scoring:
Rushing Offense: 1540 yards  (220 yards per game)
TDs rushing:  17
Passing Offense:  1417 yards  (202 yards per game)
TDs passing:  14
Total Offense: 2957 yards
Fumbles-Lost:  11 - 5
Penalties-Yards: 52 - 474 yards
3rd Down Conversions:  29 of 86 (34%)
4th Down Conversions: 8 of 14 (57%)
Field Goals - Attempts:  2 of 5 (33%)
Red-Zone Scores:  23 of 28 (82%)
Red-Zone Touchdowns:  21 of 28 975%)

Prediction:  WCU 35 - Mercer 21


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