2018 Mercer Bears football team
The 2018 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Five Star Stadium. They were fifth year members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 5–6, 4–4 in SoCon play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.
| 2018 Mercer Bears football | |
|---|---|
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| Conference | Southern Conference |
| 2018 record | 5–6 (4–4 SoCon) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive coordinator | Joe Pizzo |
| Defensive coordinator | Mike Kolakowski |
| Home stadium | Five Star Stadium (Capacity: 10,200) |
| 2018 Southern Conference football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 13 Wofford +^ | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 22 East Tennessee State +^ | 6 | – | 2 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Furman + | 6 | – | 2 | 6 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samford | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chattanooga | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Citadel | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mercer | 4 | – | 4 | 5 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Carolina | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| VMI | 0 | – | 8 | 1 | – | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Previous season
The Bears finished the 2017 season 5–6, 4–4 in SoCon play to finish in fifth place.
Preseason
Preseason media poll
The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Bears predicted to finish in fourth place.[1] The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Bears predicted to finish in sixth place.[2]
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samford | 204 (20) |
| 2 | Furman | 174 (2) |
| 3 | Wofford | 163 (1) |
| 4 | Mercer | 133 |
| 5 | Western Carolina | 114 |
| 6 | Chattanooga | 88 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 83 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 53 |
| 9 | VMI | 23 |
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Samford | 63 (7) |
| 2 | Wofford | 53 (1) |
| 3 | Furman | 52 (1) |
| 4 | Western Carolina | 39 |
| 5 | Chattanooga | 34 |
| 6 | Mercer | 32 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 28 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 15 |
| 9 | VMI | 8 |
Preseason All-SoCon Teams
The Bears placed eight players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.
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Offense 1st team Austin Sanders – OL Sam Walker – TE Marquise Irvin – WR 2nd team Tee Mitchell – RB |
Defense 1st team LeMarkus Bailey – LB 2nd team Isaiah Buehler – DL Eric Jackson – DB |
Specialists 2nd team Matt Shiel – P |
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | at Memphis* | ESPN3 | L 14–66 | 33,697 | |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | Jacksonville* | ESPN3 | W 45–3 | 10,200 | |
| September 15 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Samford | ESPN+ | W 30–24 | 8,717 | |
| September 22 | 4:00 p.m. | The Citadel |
| ESPN+ | L 31–38 | 11,772 |
| September 29 | 1:30 p.m. | at VMI | ESPN3 | W 48–38 | 3,251 | |
| October 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Yale* | ESPN+ | L 28–35 | 2,861 | |
| October 20 | 4:00 p.m. | Western Carolina |
| ESPN+ | W 59–46 | 8,230 |
| October 27 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 9 Wofford | ESPN3 | L 21–42 | 6,374 | |
| November 3 | 3:00 p.m. | East Tennessee State |
| ESPN+ | L 18–21 | 10,002 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | at Chattanooga | ESPN+ | W 13–9 | 8,014 | |
| November 17 | 3:00 p.m. | Furman |
| ESPN+ | L 30–35 | 8,811 |
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- Source: Schedule
Game summaries
at Memphis
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Tigers | 28 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 66 |
Jacksonville
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Bears | 7 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 45 |
at Samford
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 7 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
| No. 9 Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |
The Citadel
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 38 |
| Bears | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
at VMI
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 13 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 48 |
| Keydets | 7 | 13 | 0 | 18 | 38 |
at Yale
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Bulldogs | 14 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
Western Carolina
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catamounts | 7 | 20 | 6 | 13 | 46 |
| Bears | 0 | 28 | 17 | 14 | 59 |
at Wofford
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| No. 9 Terriers | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
East Tennessee State
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buccaneers | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 |
at Chattanooga
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Mocs | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
Furman
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paladins | 7 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 35 |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 30 |