Mercer playoff run ends with 31-7 loss to No. 2 North Dakota State as offense struggles

Even in the FCS quarterfinals, a stage Mercer’s football program had never reached before this season, Saturday afternoon’s playoff showdown with North Dakota State started off the same way many of the Bears’ games this year did — the Bison jumped out to an early 14-0 lead before Mercer’s offense started to come to life.

The only problem? Even after the Bears’ defense settled in and held North Dakota State scoreless for almost the entire second half, Mercer’s offense did not manufacture one of the comebacks it was so prone to in conference play this year.

The Bison pass rush lived in the backfield for much of the afternoon, putting pressure on quarterback Whitt Newbauer and holding No. 7 Mercer to a lone first-quarter touchdown as the Bears lost the quarterfinal showdown 31-7 against No. 2 NDSU.

“I’m really proud of our kids, this has been one heck of a ride. There’s been a lot of firsts… as a group, as a whole, we had the first conference championship in school history,” head coach Mike Jacobs said in the postgame press conference. “What you’re seeing is a group of guys that have stuck together and put a hell of a year together, and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

North Dakota State quarterback Cam Miller connected on several explosive passes in the first half, giving the Bison all the scoring they would need early with two touchdowns to receiver Bryce Lance in the first quarter and an impressive 34-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

The Bison tacked on a field goal near the end of the first half to make it 24-7 and didn’t score again until there were less than two minutes left in the game. There was no need, as Mercer’s offense stayed stuck in the mud for the entire second half.

“I thought our defense gave us an effort, with the exception of the two explosive plays in the first half, really the first five minutes. I thought they gave us an effort that kept us in the football game,” Jacobs said. “Unfortunately on offense… a few too many self-inflicted things today… we gotta be more consistent.”

Nonetheless, the loss ended what was arguably Mercer’s most impressive season in program history. The Bears finished the year 11-3 after the loss Saturday, including an undefeated season at home and a Southern Conference championship for the first time.

And the 31-7 defeat, so difficult as it was, offered a marked improvement over last year’s playoff result in the second round, when Mercer lost 41-0 against South Dakota State. The defense kept North Dakota State off the scoreboard for most of the second half, giving the offense the chance to get back into the game despite the three-score margin.

The Bears finished with only 194 yards of offense and eight first downs. The Bison racked up 392 yards of offense. Myles Redding had two interceptions for Mercer, while Ken Standley finished with 388 tackles on the season to finalize his place as the program’s all-time leading tackler.

Explosive plays early, defensive stands late

The Bison wasted no time getting started. After shutting Mercer down on its first drive, North Dakota State ran a few short yardage plays before Griffin connected with a wide-open Lance for a 40-yard strike. The Bison took care of the Bears on defense again and got another explosive pass on the first play of their next drive, as Mekhi Collins grabbed a throw for 70 yards to set up Lance’s second score of the opening quarter.

After struggling on its first two drives, Mercer finally got its offense in gear on the next try. After some nice gains on the ground by Miller, Newbauer mimicked the North Dakota State offense and hit Parsons for a smooth 38-yard touchdown to make it 14-0 with seven minutes still left in the first quarter.

It looked like the Bison would yet again make it a two-score game when they drove deep into Mercer territory, but Redding snagged a nice interception on a third-down pass to give the Bears a pivotal takeaway.

Mercer failed to take advantage of the turnover, though, and gave North Dakota State a shortfield on their next possession. After some short gains and third-down conversions, Griffin took a quarterback draw to the left side of the field and found a wide patch of green grass, rushing 34 yards for another Bison score.

Both teams hit a bit of a dry spell from there. Mercer worked down the field a bit on the ensuing sequence but stalled out when the Bison defense sacked Newbauer on a fourth-down pass attempt. Both teams punted on their next two drives as the clock kept winding down in the second quarter.

With about two-and-a-half minutes before the break, the Bears tried to piece together a scoring drive to cut into North Dakota State’s lead. A nice run by CJ Miller for 23 yards got the sequence going, but the Bison pass rush disrupted a flea-flicker stunt by Mercer and forced a punt with more than one minute still on the clock.

A handful of nice chunk pass plays and an untimely pass interference penalty on the Bears gave North Dakota State the juice it needed to add on. A field goal gave the Bison a 24-7 lead at halftime. 

Cam Miller finished the opening half with more than 200 yards through the air, while Mercer had just 124 total yards of offense and four first downs.

Defense was a theme in the third quarter, with both teams trading punts for the first several minutes. Redding notched his second interception of the game with about four minutes left in the third quarter to give Mercer some momentum, but some false starts set the Bears back before a poor pass from Newbauer gave North Dakota State a pick of their own at the 6-yardline.

It was more of the same from there — the clock kept ticking and both teams continued punting. 

Down three scores, the Bears needed to make something happen with less than 10 minutes left in the contest. But after a nice drive with some solid Dwayne McGee runs reached midfield, Mercer failed to convert a fourth-and-short play and turned the ball back over.

The air went out of the sails from there, as the Bison ran out the clock and eventually scored another touchdown with about two minutes left. The Bison went on to claim the 31-7 win with ease.