After long road to playoffs, Mercer hosts South Dakota

Mercer football has come a long way since its first game, and head coach Mike Jacobs would be the first person to tell you.

All the way back on Aug. 30, the Bears lost at home against Presbyterian College, a non-scholarship program out of the Pioneer League. The defeat left players, fans and even Jacobs a little shell-shocked.

“The bye week after the Presbyterian loss, we challenged everybody in the building,” Jacobs said. “There were some big questions that needed to be answered.”

Mercer has certainly answered those questions in resounding fashion.

The Bears reeled off nine straight wins after the unexpected loss in their home opener, finishing the year 9-2 with an undefeated Southern Conference record to claim the SoCon title outright for the second straight year.

The streak was fueled by freshman quarterback Braden Atkinson, who took the starting role ahead of Mercer’s third game and caught fire in the pocket. 

Atkinson finished the regular season with 3,348 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. Before last week’s game against Auburn, he led the entire country — including FBS schools — in passing yards.

“Obviously we made a quarterback change that week. Braden’s been a big part of our success,” Jacobs said. “The kid went 9 for 9 on his first nine passes and it was like, ‘Alright, maybe we made the right decision.’

“The kid studies and prepares each week like a senior … It’s not just the confidence he has in himself, it’s the team. Whether it’s third and 2 or third and 14, it’s the belief that we’re gonna be able to get this thing moving.”

Though he did win the SoCon’s Freshman of the Year award, Atkinson has not carried the team by himself. His stellar offensive line has only allowed five sacks all season, the second-lowest in the FCS. Running back CJ Miller has amassed 848 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns. Mercer finished with the most total offense in the entire country among FCS teams.

The defense has been almost as dominant despite graduating several key players, including the top two tacklers in Mercer football history. The Bears lead all FCS teams with 42 sacks in 11 games and rank in the top 25 in total defense, the latter number skewed by a shootout with Western Carolina and the aforementioned game against Auburn.

“Any time you rip off nine in a row, everybody’s getting better,” Jacobs said of who improved most. “I don’t know if I’d use the word turnaround. I expect to win every game we play in, frankly. That’s just the way I’m wired.”

All the success has set Mercer up to host a home game in the FCS playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Bears, who earned the No. 6 seed in the 32-team tournament, will host No. 11 South Dakota at noon Saturday in Five Star Stadium.

It was Mercer’s second year in a row earning a bye in the playoffs. The South Dakota Coyotes are 9-4 after defeating Drake 38-17 in the first round of the tournament last weekend. 

“They’re a team that’s playing really good football here late in the season. They were a team that had really high expectations, they were a Final Four team a year ago,” Jacobs said. “They’re playing in what many would call the toughest conference in the FCS and they play good defense. We’re in for a challenge this weekend.”

The team’s balanced offense has helped the Coyotes win their last four straight games, and two of the team’s losses came against Power 4 Iowa State and FCS juggernaut North Dakota State.

South Dakota quarterback Aidan Bowman has tossed 22 touchdowns against six interceptions for more than 2,400 yards. Running back L.J. Phillips Jr. has had a great season, tallying 1,686 yards on the ground and 16 touchdowns.

Phillips has had 100 yards rushing in eight different games this season, including an incredible 301-yard performance in an overtime win over Northern Colorado and a 244-yard effort against Murray State. The talented rusher should have a good matchup against Mercer, which is one of only six FCS teams allowing less than 100 rushing yards per game on average.

Despite the dual threat offense for South Dakota, Jacobs said the team would try to play the same way it has all year.

“We’ve won in different ways. We’ve shut people out, we’ve had to outscore folks,” Jacobs said. “There’s nothing specific, we just need to play really good football. We have to play the best football we’ve played all year.”

The same mantra goes for Mercer’s players who haven’t experienced a playoff game yet — the quarterback Atkinson chief among them.

“I think it’s really important to keep the main thing the main thing and prepare. Don’t do more than what you’ve done to be successful… don’t force things. Be who you are. Don’t be afraid to make plays,” Jacobs said. “I look at the playoffs as house money, right? You’re here. You gotta do whatever it takes to move on.”

Mercer’s playoff game kicks off at noon in Macon on Saturday. The game is also available for livestream via ESPN+ with the radio feed available via 100.9 The Creek and the Sportsmic app.