Mercer football team's determination is impressive

It's easy to be impressed with the fight and tenacity of the Mercer football team.

The Bears have had a lot of tough luck and close calls the past two seasons, enough that it would be understandable if those players said, "OK, I've had enough" and just checked out on their season.

But the Bears haven't done that, and that's a testament to the character of the team's players and coaches.

Mercer went 1-6 in its first Southern Conference season last year, losing four times by single digits in games that went down to the wire. A fifth loss, to Western Carolina, was a single-score game in the fourth quarter.

That trend continued this season with four conference losses by a total of 13 points. And the Bears found different ways to get to that 0-4 record, which made it even more frustrating and troubling.

Against Wofford, the Bears rallied to force overtime only to lose on a missed extra point. Against Western Carolina, the Bears led big early only to lose the lead and then miss a field goal that would have forced overtime. Against VMI, the Bears struggled in the first half and fought back in the second half but couldn't catch the Keydets. And against The Citadel, the Bears stayed close the whole game and scored late only to miss a two-point conversion try that would have tied the game.

That's a lot to deal with, and the players could have thrown up their hands and said, "That's it. We're done with this season."

But just the opposite happened last week as the Bears continued to fight and claw and work through all the close losses and all their frustration, and their reward was an upset of No. 3 Chattanooga for the program's biggest win. Even in that game, there were times when Mercer's players could have said, "Oh, well, we know this story. It's going to be another close loss." But the defense forced four turnovers and had a goal-line stand to keep the lead, and that was huge.

It was huge for that game, it was huge for this team this season, and it was huge for this program moving forward. These Mercer players and coaches needed to win a conference game, especially a close game to create some positive momentum, and it was more special coming against the third-ranked team in the country.

Last week, Chattanooga head coach Russ Huesman said the Bears just needed to win one of these games and they would be dangerous when they did. He should know because his program has gone through similar growing pains and has come out on the other side, and he is aware of the confidence and momentum that can come from finally getting over the hump.

That's what the Bears are counting on moving forward the rest of this season with the final two games against Furman and Samford and then into the offseason to prepare for 2016. And what they're able to accomplish these final two games and into the future will be built off their ability to overcome frustrations and continue to fight.

Contact Daniel Shirley at 744-4227 or dshirley@macon.com

This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 3:44 PM with the headline "Mercer football team's determination is impressive ."