Mercer looks for big boost from upset of Chattanooga

There have been several important moments for the Mercer football program since it kicked off its inaugural season in 2013.

But none can top what the Bears accomplished Saturday night with their win over third-ranked Chattanooga. And head coach Bobby Lamb took some time to enjoy that moment.

"The biggest thing for me, I'm not worried about myself or the coaches," Lamb said. "I want to see the joy on those players' faces. They work so hard, and they put every ounce of effort into it. And to see the joy on their faces after a big win like that was huge.

"I told them before we went out, and I really didn't want to say anything about this during the week, but we have had some milestones in our program. No. 1 was going 10-2 the first year. No. 2, we go into the Southern Conference the very first year, and we're playing with 38 scholarships, and we get one conference win on the road vs. VMI.

"And this is a big one for us, right up there."

The players certainly enjoyed the moment, as well, while also remembering all the tough times: losing four conference games this year by a combined 13 points and losing four times by single digits in last year's 1-6 conference finish.

"The past two years have been so hard; I'm not going to lie," quarterback John Russ said. "You can go all the way back to last year, and we'd come in here and say, 'We're right there and came up a little short again.' God had a plan to bring this game right here, against Chattanooga, the No. 3 team in the nation, to Macon, Georgia, and we're going to take it from them, that No. 3 ranking and undefeated SoCon record and just get a win.

"It's bliss. I can't explain it another way."

Now the Bears have to refocus and turn the page. And the Mercer players believe there is plenty of momentum that will come out of Saturda's upset.

It was Mercer's first win in the Southern Conference this season as the Bears improve to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play. Mercer heads to Furman this week and then wraps up its season Nov. 21 against Samford.

Furman is Lamb's alma mater and his former employer, while Samford is coached by Macon native Chris Hatcher.

"It's absolutely a big confidence lift for us," Russ said. "We just felt like we were cursed. I tell people when they would keep coming up to me saying, 'Man, y'all aren't that good.' I'm like, 'Come on man. We're good. We just need to win the fourth (quarter),' and we finally won the fourth, finally made enough plays and finally got a win against a great football team.

"And it's going to propel us to finishing off this year and coming back next year and coming strong."

This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 7:16 PM with the headline "Mercer looks for big boost from upset of Chattanooga ."