Bears fall in double overtime to Samford, despite 695 yards of total offense

Despite putting up a program record 695 yards of offense, No. 11 Mercer (7-4, 5-3) fell in double overtime 50-44 to regular season SoCon champion No. 9 Samford (10-1, 8-0), Saturday afternoon from Birmingham, Alabama.

The 695 yards of total offense broke the previous school record set by the Mercer offense in the season opening win over Morehead State when the Bears put up 625 yards on offense.

Wide receiver Ty James also set a school record with 351 receiving yards, easily breaking the previous record which, he held since last season when James had 224 receiving yards against ETSU. That also is a Southern Conference single-game record. Along with his 351 receiving yards, James hauled in 13 receptions and two receiving touchdowns.

Fred Payton set a school record for passing yards in a game with 514 yards while completing 30-of-51 passes with three total touchdowns on the afternoon.

Mercer’s rushing attack got back on track as Al Wooten had 17 carries for 65 yards and two rushing touchdowns. Brandon Marshall ran for 53 yards on six carries for an average of 8.8 yards per carry.

On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Ken Standley had a career-high and team leading 18 tackles including nine solo. Marques Thomas also had a career-high 13 tackles including seven solo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Each offense was able to move the ball and sustain scoring drives in the first quarter. On Mercer’s first offensive possession of the game, the Bears started off with three plays to Devron Harper to quickly get out to midfield. Fred Payton threw a 23-yard touchdown pass down the left sideline to Ty James to give the Bears an early 7-0 lead.

Samford responded with a quick scoring drive of its own to even things at seven. Mercer came right back with a nine play, 86-yard drive that was capped by an Al Wooten 1-yard rushing TD to put Mercer back in front.

Samford responded as Bulldogs quarterback Michael Hiers threw his second touchdown pass to D.J. Rias in the back of the end zone to make it 14-14 with three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Mercer responded with a 22-yard Devin Folser field goal which was set up by a 45-yard pass from Fred Payton to Ty James. Two Samford field goals gave the Bulldogs a 20-17 lead at halftime.

Devin Folser knocked through a 30-yard field goal on Mercer’s opening possession of the second half to even the game at 20. Samford would score the next two touchdowns of the game and grab the first two-possession lead of the game for either team. With 14 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter the Bears responded quickly as Fred Payton found Ty James down the right sideline for a 55-yard touchdown to cut the deficit in half at 34-27

The Bears’ defense nearly forced a turnover on downs on Samford’s next possession as the Bulldogs barely converted a fourth-and-1 from its own 34-yard line. The defense forced a Samford field goal to make it 37-27 Samford.

On Mercer’s next possession, Fred Payton ran for 16 yards on a crucial fourth-and-8 to keep the drive alive. Payton finished the drive with a 5-yard rushing touchdown on third-and-goal to get the Bears within three at 37-34 with just over five minutes remaining.

The Mercer defense came up with a huge three-and-out to give Payton and the Mercer offense a chance to tie or take the lead with under four minutes to play.

Payton completed two third-and-longs - one to Harper and one to James - to keep the drive alive. A 32-yard pass to James gave the Bears a first-and-goal from Samford’s 2-yard line. The Bulldogs were able to hold Mercer to a game-tying field goal to force overtime.

In the first overtime, Samford went on offense first and scored on the second play of its possession. Al Wooten scored on a 19-yard run on Mercer’s second play to force double overtime.

Samford blocked Mercer’s field goal attempt, and Samford’s backup quarterback ran in for a 25-yard touchdown to give Samford the 50-44 win in double overtime.

NOTABLES

• Mercer scored on its first three possessions of the game (2 TDs, 1 FG), and its last three possessions of regulation (2 TDs, 1 FG).
• James’ two receiving touchdowns gave him 13 on the season - a school record for receiving touchdowns in a season.
• Payton’s 30 completions were a career-high to go with his school record 514 passing yards.