Mercer travels to Western Carolina with trophy on the line

The Mercer Bears will hit the road for the second consecutive week Saturday and play what will likely be their biggest game of the season, taking on Western Carolina in a battle for control of the Southern Conference standings.

The Bears and Catamounts are the only SoCon teams remaining with perfect records in conference play so far. Mercer is 7-1 and 6-0 in the conference, while Western Carolina is 6-3 overall and 5-0 in conference play.

All seven of Mercer’s wins have come consecutively, a streak most recently added onto with a 52-28 victory over Furman, another conference opponent. 

“It was important for us to go up there, we had not won against Furman (on the road) since 2021 … Once we kind of got past those first few series, I thought our kids did really well,” head coach Mike Jacobs said Monday at Mercer’s press conference. “Any time you got over 620 yards of offense, 200-plus yards rushing, 400-plus yards passing with no sacks, there’s a lot that went right.”

The Bears have looked downright elite on both sides of the ball, with offense in particular impressing with 38 points or more in their last five straight games. Mercer has the best passing offense in the entire FCS by passing yards per game with an average of 334.5 yards per game.

A lot of that success has begun in the trenches, as the Bears are limiting sacks allowed on offense while imposing their will on opponents to get sacks on defense. Things started off close with Furman, but Mercer was able to pull away from the Paladins thanks to 21 unanswered points in the second half to balloon a 3-point lead to a 24-point advantage.

“I’m really happy with the way we pass protected. There weren’t a lot of big, flash or splash run plays in the game, it was just real consistent,” Jacobs said. “I thought it was really important for us offensively … (Furman) got it to three points, and we were able to answer.”

Now the Bears have their biggest test of the season and their first ranked game. Mercer is No. 10 in the AFCA Coaches poll and No. 12 in the FCS Stats Perform Top 25, while Western Carolina is No. 24 in both polls.

It will also be Homecoming for the Catamounts, and the stadium in Cullowhee, North Carolina should be doused in purple-clad fans to make for an imposing road environment.

“They have some of the highest attendance in our conference, whatever the stadium seats, I imagine the whole thing will be filled. I know the band’s got 500-plus members, they’ll be rockin’ and rollin’ right behind the bench. I like playing in those kind of atmospheres,” Jacobs said. “We’re not gonna be rattled by it, I can promise you that … We’re gonna be excited to play in that kind of college atmosphere with a bunch on the line.”

Jacobs will have enough to worry about without the prospect of a purple-out, as Western Carolina’s team is about as hot as Mercer. The Catamounts are second in the country in passing offense right behind the Bears, and that’s including games from earlier this season in which they were without star quarterback Taron Dickens.

Dickens, the preseason SoCon Offensive Player of the Year, missed the first three games of the season while serving a suspension for an academic violation. The Catamounts went 0-3 without him, plummeting from the FCS polls in the process.

Since returning, though, Dickens has set the world on fire. 

The sophomore has an incredible 2,201 passing yards with 26 touchdowns and a lone interception across Western Carolina’s six-game winning streak. Perhaps his most impressive effort in that span came in a thriller against Wofford last month in which he completed his first 46 passes in a row, then finished 53 of 56 for 378 yards and three touchdowns.

Dickens somehow had numbers just as gaudy in his first game back from injury against Samford, throwing for an eye-popping 582 yards and six touchdowns. 

Western Carolina has certainly looked reborn with Dickens at the helm.

“Our defense likes a challenge. This kid is an elite passer. His accuracy is tremendous. They’ve also got guys that can get open, they’ve got guys that can make plays after the catch, they’re good in (pass) protection,” Jacobs said of Dickens and Western Carolina’s offense. “I think they’re looking forward to a challenge, you want to have a lot on the line and be playing in big games.”

Mercer’s own star passer, Braden Atkinson, has not quite been as mind-boggling on the stat sheet, but he’s also been able to take the fourth quarter off multiple times in recent weeks. The true freshman has been the straw that stirs the drink for the Bears’ offense with 2,474 yards passing and 28 touchdowns against four interceptions — plenty comparable to Dickens’ numbers.

While Mercer and Jacobs hope the Bears defense disrupts the Catamounts winning ways of late, Saturday’s action could bring a serious shootout in Cullowhee. The game is set to kick off at 2:30 p.m. and can be livestreamed via ESPN+. Radio coverage of the game is available via 100.9 The Creek.