Alabama last played Mercer in 2021, when head coach Drew Cronic had just taken over for the Bears. Cronic improved the Bears each year from 2020 to 2023, finishing his tenure with a 9 win season and then headed to Navy to be their offensive coordinator.
The Bears then hired Mike Jacobs from Lenoir-Ryhne, where Jacobs had just one a conference championship and made it to the Division 2 semifinals. In his first season at Mercer, Jacobs has the Bears at 9-1 and in 1st place in the Southern conference, and #7 overall in the FCS. While their offense has been impressive, it’s been the Bears’ defense that has really ran the show. They’ve held six opponents under 10 points and are giving up 16 points per game, even factoring in a 55 point drubbing they randomly took against the Samford Bulldogs.
They have three players with more than 5 sacks in three defensive linemen – Brayden Manley, Andrew Zock, and Arias Nash. The trio have combined for 19 sacks, 31 tackles for loss, 25 QB hurries, two forced fumbles, and four batted passes. It’s a dangerous group that have been dominant at the FCS level, and will absolutely challenge Alabama’s offensive tackles. Past those three, the Bears have 17 more sacks dispersed through the rest of the team, giving them an impressive 36 on the season (almost 4 sacks per game).
Elijah Pritchett and Kadyn Proctor have both had struggles in the past with small school speed rushers, so this game will be a chance for them to prove they have grown as the season has gone on.
With all of that pass rush comes plenty of chances for interceptions. The Bears have 21 interceptions already this season, with safety Myles Redding and corner TJ Moore leading the way with 6 each.
And lest you think they’re just a high-havoc passing defense, they’re also giving up all of 1.9 yards per carry in the rushing game this season. Just absolutely phenomenal results.
On offense, the Bears are scoring 35 point per game on a high-volume rushing attack. RB Dwayne McGee has 983 yards on 173 carries while QB DJ Smith has another 59 carries for 250 yards. They’re a 4WR spread offense that runs a lot of inside zone and read option keepers, plus like to throw a fair amount of WR screens off of playaction.
DJ Smith has been efficient at low volumes, completing 73% of his passes for 1282 yards on the season and about 9.5 yards per attempt. He only has 9 TDs to 6 interceptions though – and most of those have come when things break down on 3rd and long for them.
Receivers Kelin Pasrsons, Brayden Smith, and Kendall Harris all have right at 30 receptions on the year. None of them are a particular focus of the passing game, as most of it is predicated around quick screens, outs, or slants to get the ball out and moving quickly.
Alabama’s defense is most likely going to totally shut down the Mercer offense. There isn’t a part of this matchup that favors the Bears, and it could very well be another shut out for the Tide – or at least close to it. I’ll be surprised if the Bears make it to double digits.
On the other hand, I could see their defense giving Alabama’s OL a few issues, and wouldn’t be surprised if they get a couple of timely sacks and an interception to keep Alabama’s score fairly low going into the second half. Ultimately, the Tide will bust enough big plays to pull away comfortably, but it won’t be the prettiest offensive performance.
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