Message remains the same for Mercer

The message remains the same for Mercer head coach Bobby Lamb.

After yet another close loss, Lamb wants his football team to return to work, prepare for another game and go out and compete.

That's what the Bears will try to do this week as they get ready for Saturday's trip to The Citadel. Mercer dropped to 3-4 overall and 0-3 in Southern Conference play with a 28-21 loss to VMI last week.

That was the Bears' third conference loss by single digits this season (and the seventh such loss in nine conference losses since joining the conference last season). Mercer's three conference losses have come by a combined 11 points.

"It's the same. I told them, 'You only have 11 opportunities to play. You're only guaranteed 11, and we're down to four.' We can go out there and hem-haw around and not do the things we need to do, or you can go out there and compete to win. That's why we're here," Lamb said. "We're trying to win games, and that's what we're going to continue to do. At the end of the day, we're still building this program, and each Saturday is a test.

"We've got to come up with some big wins, and why not this week?"

The Bears face another big test this week against the Bulldogs, who are tied for first place in the conference with Chattanooga at 4-0. Citadel has won three straight games entering Saturday and beat the Bears 28-26 last year.

The task gets tougher with yet another Mercer player lost for the year to injury as junior defensive end Tunde Ayinla suffered a torn pectoral muscle last week. Lamb said linebacker Kyle Trammell is a game-time decision, while safety Zach Jackson was knocked out of the loss to VMI on the game's third play on a big hit on a Keydets receiver but should be ready to play.

"It was an in route coming this way, and he's going the other way, and they smacked right into each other," Lamb said of the play that took Jackson out of the game. "That was a big blow, too, because he's our leader back there in the secondary, and we had to start shuffling people around.

"In the old days, you probably would have put him right back in the game in the second quarter, but you've gotta go through the protocol. He's going through the protocol right now, so he should be fine."

That's good news for a team that has been hit hard by injuries throughout the season, which is extra troubling with Mercer still below the FCS scholarship limit in its third season.

"We will probably look at it and say we have had some devastating injuries," Lamb said. "And where we are right now, 10-11 scholarships short, your depth is just not there. When you have limited scholarships and you have key injuries, it hurts your depth."

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 3:41 PM with the headline "Message remains the same for Mercer ."