Mercer bounces back with win over Western Carolina

Mercer struggled offensively for more than a half Saturday at Five Star Stadium, but once the Bears got going, Western Carolina had no defensive answer.

After trailing by four at halftime and then by 11 early in the third quarter, Mercer came alive to roll up a 38-24 win to improve to 3-3 overall. The Bears earned their second Southern Conference win of the season, improving to 2-2, while Western Carolina dropped to 1-5 overall and 0-4 in the conference.

Quarterback John Russ led the Bears’ attack in the second half and threw touchdown passes to Sam Walker, Marquise Irvin and Chandler Curtis as the Bears scored 35 points after halftime.

Three who mattered

Russ: The Bears’ senior quarterback had a strong day, completing 18-of-32 passes for 224 yards and three touchdowns and completed 13-of-16 passes in the second half. He also rushed 15 times for 60 yards.

Chandler Curtis: The junior wide receiver who has battled injuries the past season-and-a-half had a breakout game with four catches for 96 yards and a 5-yard touchdown in the fourth.

Alex Lakes: The junior running back had his best game of the season, rushing 20 times for 112 yards and scoring from 4 yards in the third and 2 yards in the fourth.

Marquise Irvin: The sophomore wide receiver led the Bears with six catches and 57 yards, including a 21-yard score in the third.

Turning point

Mercer trailed 14-3 after a touchdown by Western Carolina with 9:55 left in the third. But the Bears responded with a nice drive, and a touchdown on 19-yard pass from Russ to Sam Walker made it 14-10. The Catamounts then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and the Bears took over at the 4, scoring on Lakes’ 4-yard run. On Western Carolina’s next series, LeMarkus Bailey had a terrific break on a pass for an interception, setting up the 21-yard scoring pass from Russ to Irvin for the Bears’ first lead.

Observations

Big third quarter: After totally 198 yards in the first half, Mercer’s offense came alive in the third quarter with 21 points and 223 yards. Most of that yardage came through the air as Russ completed 10-of-12 attempts in the quarter for 160 yards in the quarter. He competed just 5-of-16 in the first half.

Turnover battle: Mercer had just one turnover, a fumble, while Western Carolina had three fumbles and two interceptions.

Balanced attack: Mercer’s offense was good on the ground and through the air, finishing with 275 yards rushing and 224 yards passing to finish with 499 yards on 85 plays.

Comfortable win: For the first time in their three years in the Southern Conference, the Bears won a conference game by more than one possession. The Bears won one conference game in 2014 and two in 2015.

Worth mentioning

Early suspension: Western Carolina quarterback Tyrie Adams sat out the first few offensive series for the Catamounts because of a suspension for a violation of team rules. Once he came in, Adams was terrific, completing 25-of-39 for 384 yards and two touchdowns.

Keeping busy: Kyle Trammell saw action on both sides of the ball for the Bears. He had four carries for 8 yards on offense and finished with three tackles on defense.

Season highs: Mercer had season highs in points, yards, rushing attempts and rushing yards.

They said it

Lamb on the win: "I'm very proud of the win, a big step for us. I told the team before the game, 'Somebody in this game is going to take the next step in the Southern Conference race. It's going to be Western Carolina or us,' and certainly we took that step (Saturday). But we've got a lot more steps to go."

Lamb on the two-score win: “That’s what someone told me on the way in. As I told you, we love to keep the fans in the stands for quarter number three and quarter number four. We’re still waiting on that Coke contract to kick in. It was a big win for us. We took this step and have got to keep getting better. We’re going to step out of conference next week, but anything can happen in this conference so you’ve got to be ready to play.”

Bailey on the forced turnovers: "It felt good. It felt like (the offensive players) always have our back, and getting those, and they converted on those turnovers, it really made us feel like a team, a cohesive unit. That was exciting."

Curtis on his role in the offense: "That felt great, but just to start off, just winning feels better. What I like to think about how everybody is clicking on the offense is don't stop, let's just keep going and going until we find our way into the end zone."

Russ on the problems in the first half: "Me. I don't know if you saw the stats in the first half, but they were terrible. I played awful, and it all falls on the quarterback, especially in this type of offense, so it falls on me."

Russ on the second half: "I just have a good self-belief in myself. I knew I was going to bounce back. I just had to hit the throws. Coach called good plays for us, and we were just in good situations."

What’s next?

The Bears return to the road, traveling to Austin Peay in non-conference action Saturday.

This story was originally published October 15, 2016 at 7:54 PM with the headline "Mercer bounces back with win over Western Carolina."