Mercer focused on finishing entering season

The word “finish” is big around the Mercer football program this season.

Finish the drill. Finish the practice. Finish the game.

And with good reason. The Bears were 1-6 in their first Southern Conference season last year, and four of those six losses were decided by single digits.

“We’ve talked about finishing throughout the preseason, and that’s important for this team,” Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb said earlier this month. “We have to find a way to finish games.”

The Bears have a month before they find out if that focus paid off in conference play when they host Wofford in their conference opener. Wofford was the only team to handle the Bears easily last year with a 34-6 win in the season finale.

Before that, the Bears lost by five to Furman, three to Samford, 14 to Western Carolina (although it was a one-possession game in the fourth quarter), seven to Chattanooga and two to The Citadel. Mercer opens this season Saturday at Austin Peay before hosting Stetson on Sept. 12 and traveling to Tennessee Tech on Sept. 19. Austin Peay was 1-11 last year, including a 49-21 loss to Mercer. The Governors were 0-12 in 2013.

“The guys are certainly motivated by (the close losses last year),” Mercer offensive coordinator/offensive line coach Casey Vogt said. “You can see that in the way they’ve practiced and the way they’ve worked.”

This story was originally published August 30, 2015 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Mercer focused on finishing entering season ."