Game #6 - Mercer Bears

In the Catamounts' sixth game of the 2021 fall season, the Cats return to Cullowhee for Homecoming and will host the Mercer Bears for the third conference game of the season.  Western faces the Bears for just the eight-time since Mercer joined the Southern Conference.  Homecoming Week will be celebrated October 7-10 in Cullowhee.

 








Game #6 - Mercer Bears

When: Saturday, October 9, 2021

Time:  3:30 pm
Where: EJ Whitmire Stadium, Cullowhee, NC
Radio: Catamount Sports Network

-announcers:  Gary Ayers, PxP; Greg McLamb, color
TV/video:  ESPN3

-announcers:  Kyle Rush & Phil Cox
Live Stats:  WCU Live Stats

Game Notes:   Western Carolina   -    Mercer

Fan Message Board:  MU Bear Down

The Series: In only the 8th meeting between the two teams, the Cats own a 2-5 record against the Bears, having dropped the last five games played in the series. The Cats are 1-2 against the Bears in games played in Cullowhee. 

Games that will be played by the Bears this season, before the WCU contest:  The Bears opened the season at home with a 69-0 win against NAIA's Point University, followed by a 14-48 loss to Alabama.  Then following a bye week, they visit Furman on the road where they picked up a 24-3 win over the Paladins,  then hosted Samford in Macon, where they won 45-42 over the Bulldogs.

Last Season's Game vs. Mercer (Mar. 20, 2021) - Catamount Football Falls at Mercer, 45-28 - Macon, Ga. – Donnavan Spencer rushed for 78 yards and three touchdowns for Western Carolina, but Mercer used a downhill running attack that chewed up 308 yards as the Bears held possession for over 40 minutes on Saturday afternoon in a 45-28 victory over the Catamounts in Southern Conference action at Five Star Stadium.

Last Season's Record (Mercer): 5-6 overall, 2-4 home, 1-5 away, 5-3 SoCon  (SoCon wins: WCU, VMI, Samford)

This Season's Record (Mercer):  3-1 overall,  2-0 home, 1-1 away, 2-0 SoCon (SoCon wins: Furman, Samford) 

Head Coach: Drew Cronic was named the 20th head football coach in Mercer University history on December 10, 2019. He spent the previous two seasons as the head coach at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N.C. A native of Sharpsburg, Ga., Cronic is considered one of the more innovative offensive minds across all levels of college football. Driven by the motto “Raise the Bar”, he has posted a 47-6 record in four years as a head coach. He has also helped lead his teams to four straight conference titles – Reinhardt (2016), Furman (2017) and Lenoir-Rhyne (2018, 2019). 

Cronic's Collegiate Record: 55-13 

Mercer Record:  8-7 

Kerwin Bell's record vs. Mercer:  0 - 0

Drew Cronic's record vs. WCU:  1 - 0

Mercer Offensive Formation:  Multiple (Spread Wing)
Defensive Formation:  Multiple

Last season's "SoCon Freshman of the Year" quarterback Carter Peevy returns, however, junior QB transfer Fred Payton seems to have moved to the starting role over Peevy since the Alabama game. 

Wide receivers Ty James and Ethan Dirrim, both sophomores in 2021 and were named by the coaches of the SoCon to the All-Freshman Team return. James led the team in both receptions (30) and receiving yards (518) while Dirrim led the Bears in receiving touchdowns with four.  

On defense, Mercer returns several key players highlighted by junior safety Lance Wise. Wise picked up 86 tackles in 2020, including 43 solo tackles. He also led the SoCon in pass breakups with nine and made one interception. He was named First-Team SoCon by both the media and the league's coaches.  In the trenches, then-sophomore defensive lineman Solomon Zubairu was a leader on the Bears' defense. Zubairu led the SoCon in tackles for loss with 10.5 — the second-most in a single season in Mercer program history. He was also third in the conference in sacks with 5.5 and recovered two fumbles.       Redshirt Freshman running back Fred Davis rushing for 276 yards and five touchdowns in the Bears game with Samford. His 276 rushing yards shattered the previous school record of 202 yards. The Redshirt Freshman averaged nearly 10 yards per carry (9.9) on the game while rushing for touchdowns of 31, 21, 54, one and two yards and was selected as the the SoCon Offensive Player of the Week.

2021 Mercer Statistics (Fall 4 games):

Rushing Offense: 1160 yards
Yards per game: 290
Yards per rush: 6 yards
Rushing 1st downs: 56
TDs rushing: 14
Passing Offense: 788 yards or 197 yards per game
Avg. per pass: 9 yards
Passing 1st downs: 37
Passing: Att-Comp-Int: 88-52-5

TDs Passing: 7
Total Offense: 1948 yards or 487 yards per game
Fumbles-Lost: 7 - 3
3d Down Conversions: 26 of 50 (52%)
4th Down Conversions: 3 of 4 (75%)
Field goal attempts: 2 of 4
On-side kicks: 0-0
Red Zone Scores: 12 of 15  
Red Zone Touchdowns: 12 of 15  

PAT:  20 of 21