Throughout this preseason, Purple & Gold will preview all of Western Carolina's 2019 football opponents.
In the Catamounts' opening game of the 2019 season, SoCon football foe Mercer visits Cullowhee. This is also the first Southern Conference contest, of the season.
Western faces the Bears for just the sixth time since Mercer joined the Southern Conference.
Game #1 - The Mercer Bears
When: Saturday, August 31 at 6:00 pm
Where: E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network
TV/video: Nexstar / ESPN+
The Series: In only the 6th meeting between the two teams, the Cats own a 2-3 record against the Bears, having dropped the last three games played. The Bears come to Cullowhee riding a 3 game win streak against the Cats but are 1-1 in games played in Whitmire Stadium
Games that will be played by the Bears this season before the WCU contest: 0 - This is the opening game for both teams.
Last Season's Game vs. Mercer (October 20, 2018) - Tyrie Adams Posts Career Day In Road Loss at Mercer Macon, Ga. – Tyrie Adams amassed a school-record 545 yards of total offense including 360 yards through the air and a career-high 185 yards rushing on Saturday afternoon in a tough road loss as Western Carolina fell to the Mercer Bears, 59-46, at Five Star Stadium. Adams accounted for four touchdowns – two rushing and a pair of passing TDs – as the Catamounts piled up 710 yards of total offense, finishing one yard shy of the school record set by the Hall of Fame 1969 football team (711 yards vs. Emory & Henry). Along the way, the St. Petersburg, Fla., native moved into second-place in WCU’s career record books with 6,347 career passing yards while closing to within one TD pass of former mentor Troy Mitchell (50, 2012-15) for the program’s career passing touchdown record now with 49 career scores through the air.
Last Season's Record (Mercer): 5-6 overall, 2-3 home, 3-3 away, 4-4 SoCon
Offensive Formation: Spread
- 2018 offense: 30.6 ppg. (34th in FCS)
Defensive Formation: 4-2-5 (Multiple)
- 2018 defense: 32.5 ppg. (85th in FCS)
Starters Returning/Lost: 15 / 12
Offensive starters - Returning/Lost: 8 / 3
Defensive starters - Returning/Lost: 8 / 3
Specialist - Returning/Lost: 1 / 4
Lost from the two-deep roster: 13
The Bears were picked to finish fifth and fourth by the coaches and media, respectively, in the SoCon preseason polls. Mercer also had seven players selected for all-conference honors. included three first-team members and five second-team members. The Bears' three first-team members were redshirt senior offensive lineman Austin Sanders, junior running back Tyray Devezin and sophomore return specialist David Durden. Durden was additionally named a second-team member as a wide receiver, joining tight end Chris Ellington, defensive lineman Dorian Kithcart, linebacker Will Coneway and defensive back Malique Fleming.
In the 2018 season, the Bears ranked 3d in the SoCon in scoring offense, with 30.6 ppg and 7th in scoring defense, giving up 32.5 ppg. Mercer's rushing offense ranked 6th with 148.8 ypg and rushing defense came in at 7th giving up 220,3 ypg. In the passing game, the Bears came in 5th in the league with 231 ypg and were 8th in passing defense giving up 260.4 ppg.
Last season's weakness for the Bears, like for the Cats, was on the defensive side of the ball. With five starters to replace from the season finale with Furman, the Bears also have big holes to fill on the defensive side of the ball. Along with a potentially weaker defense, the Bears may struggle on special teams with the loss of Cole Fisher (KO & PK), Matt Shiel (punter), Marquise Irwin (PR) and Steve Nixon (LS). This season for the Bears may well turn on the question, can their rebuilding defense slow the high powered offensives of WCU, Furman, Wofford, and Sanford?
Redshirt sophomore Robert Riddle will again lead the Bears at the quarterback. The 2018 all-freshman team member, led Mercer to an upset win at #9 Samford in a break-out performance in his first full game at quarterback for the Bears. Riddle set a single-game program record with 347 passing yards vs. The Citadel, but saw a promising season ended abruptly with a collarbone injury in that same game. Riddle played in only 4 games in 2018 due to his injury.
During the offseason, the Bears added six new coaches, including an offensive and defensive coordinator. This is the largest turnover of assistant coaches since Mercer restarted football. This shakeup in the coaching staff should not be taken lightly, as with coaching changes, comes new personalities, new schemes and coaching styles for a team to adjust to.
2018 Mercer Statistics:
Rushing Offense: 1847 yards
Yards per game: 146.7
Yards per rush: 4.5 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 74
TDs rushing: 19
Passing Offense: 2541 yards or 231 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 7.8 yards
Passing 1st downs: 118
Passing Comp-Att-Int: 326-178-8
TDs Passing: 22
Total Offense: 4155 yards or 377.7 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 16-7
3d Down Conversions: 35.9%
4th Down Conversions: 80%
Field goal attempts: 12 - 16
On-side kicks: 0-0
Red Zone Scores: 35 of 38
Red Zone Touchdowns: 25 of 38
Game prediction: Per the Massey Ratings, the Cats have only a 37% probability of winning (33-38) over the Bears.I'm going to disagree, the Cats open the season with a home win (49-35) over the Bears to even the overall series record to 3-3. Cats record after game one: 1-0
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