Mercer dominates Samford for 45-21 home victory

The Mercer Bears scored an electric 64-yard touchdown about three minutes into the game and didn’t look back, dominating the Samford Bulldogs from start to finish to snag a 45-21 win at Five Star Stadium Saturday evening.

“Just really really proud of our kids again,” head coach Mike Jacobs said after the game. “We wanted to play downhill, we wanted to play fast, we wanted to play physical … as slow as we started last year, we had to win the first four minutes, then the middle eight and the last four. I thought we did that today.”

The “slow start” Jacobs referenced came last season against Samford, when the Bears traveled to Alabama and were down 28-0 in the blink of an eye. That loss ended Mercer’s undefeated season and was their only Southern Conference loss.

“You don’t want to put anything more into a game than you have to, but I think you go in there and you take a straw poll of guys who were here last year, they had this one circled as one they wanted to win,” Jacobs said. “I know I did.”

Mercer had the Bulldogs’ number this time, containing them on defense and getting a variety of explosive plays on offense. The Bears improved to 4-1 overall and 4-0 in the Southern Conference headed into a break from SoCon play with a trip to Princeton and a bye on tap over the next two weeks.

The story of the day for the Bears was true freshman walk-on wide receiver Ty Doughty, who — instead of playing at receiver or special teams — stepped right in as a running back with four of Mercer’s other backs not available. 

Doughty finished with 182 total yards of offense and a touchdown, much to the delight of the Mercer sideline, with 105 yards coming on the ground.

“It was crazy. Honestly, I can’t even really remember everything. It was kind of like a dream,” Doughty said. “In the locker room (the team) was picking me up and stuff, that just means a lot. It’s something I’ll remember for sure.”

Doughty, who had typically worked in the return game for the Bears, knew the running back room was not at full strength — but he did not have an inkling of the evening he would have on the field.

“I had no idea how it was gonna look,” he said about the snap count. “Like coach says, always be ready. That’s what I was trying to do … The coaches just put me in the best position possible. I’m just super thankful that they put me in this position.”

Mercer’s entire offense feasted along with Doughty. Freshman quarterback Braden Atkinson finished with 365 passing yards on 22 of 35 passing, tying a school record with his five touchdown passes. Receiver Brayden Smith had a great day, scoring two touchdowns.

Everyone was getting in on the action. The offense was clicking so well that linebacker Antonio Butts scored a rushing touchdown. They finished with 557 yards of offense as a unit.

Things started off slow with three-and-outs for both squads, but Mercer found its footing in no time when tight end Samuel Albee found a huge hole in the Samford secondary, catching a pass from Atkinson with ease for the 64-yard strike to make it 7-0 about three minutes in.

Doughty consistently gained yards after contact and helped Mercer snag crucial first downs, eventually setting the table for the 1-yard rushing score from Butts to make it 14-0.

Whenever Doughty was not bouncing off Bulldog defenders, Atkinson continued slashing Samford through the air. He threw for two more touchdowns in the second quarter, one to Javarius George and the other to Brayden Smith, and finished the opening half with 227 yards through the air.

Mercer’s defense played just as well, limiting Samford to just two yards in the first quarter. The Aside from a conversion or two from flags on Mercer, the Bulldogs did not get a first down until there were about four minutes left in the half. 

The Bears bottled up the run game, holding Samford to 66 yards on 33 attempts for the game. It was the second week in a row they contained the opponent on the ground after posting a similar line against East Tennessee State last week.

“Since the day I walked in the door here, it’s been run the ball and stop the run. I believe championships are won at the line of scrimmage, period. If you can force people to be one-dimensional, we’ve got guys that can go after the passer,” Jacobs said. “That’s consistency … all the defense is playing well right now.”

The Samford offensive line could not protect quarterback Quincy Crittendon any better than their running backs, as the Bears managed four sacks and eight TFLs through two quarters.

The Bulldogs had more going on in the third quarter. Brady Stober got his first touchdown pass in explosive fashion, completing a 63-yard throw to Preston Bird to get Samford on the board. The Bulldogs scored again near the end of the quarter with a 13-yard run by Cam Bland.

Mercer matched the Bulldogs’ offense, though, as Smith got his second touchdown of the game on a 38-yard catch early in the third while Doughty reached the end zone in thrilling fashion with a 66-yard grab to make it 42-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

The final quarter was much different than the fourth with both offenses stalling for the most part, though Samford did connect on another huge pass with a 77-yard touchdown grab by Sam Pickett III.

It looked like Mercer might let the Bulldogs creep back into it, but the Bears defense clamped down. A Mercer field goal with about six minutes left wrapped up the 45-21 win.

The Bears are slated to travel to New Jersey at noon Oct. 11 to face Princeton on the road.