Mercer finishes season with first double-digit loss of year

Mercer is no stranger to close losses. In the past two years, the Bears have nine losses by seven or fewer points, and in the five losses prior to Saturday this season, Mercer's defeats came by a combined 20 points.

But the Bears are not familiar with 26-point losses. In its final game of the season, Mercer led by two with more than two minutes remaining in the third quarter but struggled in the final 17 minutes as Samford scored 35 straight points in a 47-21 victory. With the loss, Mercer finished under .500 (5-6) for the first time since the program was re-established in 2013.

The defeat was the worst since a 34-6 loss against Wofford in the final game of 2014. The Bears entered Saturday riding a two-game winning streak after beating Southern Conference opponents Chattanooga and Furman, but the opportunity to finish 2015 with three straight conference victories came to a screeching halt as the Bulldogs registered two 94-yard touchdowns in a 28-point fourth quarter.

"This one stings more, just because it's the last game of the season, and it leaves kind of a bad taste in our mouth," head coach Bobby Lamb said. "Obviously, not the result we were looking for (Saturday), but certainly proud of my football team and the effort they gave."

Mercer rode its momentum early in the game, taking a 7-0 lead after forcing Samford into a three-and-out and then finalizing an 80-yard scoring drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Sam Walker. The freshman had a career game with eight receptions, 100 yards and two touchdowns.

But then the offense went cold, as the Bears managed 255 yards on offense for the remaining 52 minutes.

"We couldn't get our running game going like we wanted to," Lamb said, despite the Bears' 193 yards on the ground and 335 total yards. "We had a great first drive to open the game; after that we just kind of tip-toed through on offense and defense."

The defense forced the Bulldogs into field goals in the first two-and-a-half quarters, as Anthony Pistelli struck three through the uprights from 46 yards and one from 40 yards.

And then the Bulldogs ran away from the Bears -- literally. After a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Denzel Williams gave Samford the lead at 19-14 with just more than two minutes remaining in the third, the Bulldogs never relinquished the lead. During the next 11 minutes, Samford tacked on four more touchdowns.

The Bulldogs finished with 654 yards of total offense, which is the most Mercer has allowed this year, and a 77-yard punt return for a touchdown by Kelvin McKnight. Quarterback Devlin Hodges, who entered averaging 148 passing yards per game, completed 30-of-44 passes for 392 yards, one touchdown and one interception, and he also added 88 rushing yards.

Three Samford receivers caught seven or more passes -- Emmanuel Obajimi and McKnight with seven each and Karel Hamilton with eight -- and Obajimi and Hamilton both finished with more than 100 receiving yards.

Mercer linebacker Lee Bennett led the defense with 13 total tackles and an interception that set up a touchdown.

"I don't know what happened, but I feel like we gave our all," he said. "It just didn't go our way."

Lamb said the defense played "solid" through the first three quarters but was tormented by the explosive plays in the fourth quarter by the Bulldogs. Samford averaged 8.8 yards per play compared to only 4.3 for Mercer.

Because of some offensive struggles until another touchdown to Walker with less than two minutes remaining, punter Matt Shiel was called on nine times, pinning the Bulldogs inside the 20 on seven occasions -- one shy of the conference's record for a single game set by Herald Alexander at Appalachian State in 1989.

Mercer controlled the field position battle, as Samford's average starting position was the 19 while the Bears' was the 32. Lamb called it "disappointing" to give up 47 points despite the strong special teams effort.

The game was the final one for 19 players who were among the first to suit up at Mercer when the program started after its 72-year absence. Starters Alex Avant and Wilson Heres are two who will have to be replaced next year, but Lamb wanted to make sure his team recognized all of the seniors who will no longer be donning orange and black.

Lamb said he told his players after the game, "Before you leave this locker room, make sure you hug all 19 seniors, because they helped lay the foundation. They were here when there was no stadium, we were practicing, they had to go dress in their dorm. They laid a pretty good foundation, so they will always be remembered as the first class to get through here."

This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Mercer finishes season with first double-digit loss of year ."