2019 Mercer Bears football team

The 2019 Mercer Bears football team represents Mercer University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They are led by seventh-year head coach Bobby Lamb and play their home games at the Five Star Stadium. They are sixth year members of the Southern Conference (SoCon).

2019 Mercer Bears football
Conference	Southern Conference
2019 record	4–8 (3–5 SoCon)
Head coach	Bobby Lamb (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Bill Legg (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Adams (1st season)
Home stadium	Five Star Stadium (Capacity: 10,200)

2019 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 16 Wofford $^		7	–	1					8	–	3
No. 21 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Chattanooga		5	–	3					6	–	6
The Citadel		4	–	4					6	–	6
Samford		4	–	4					5	–	7
VMI		4	–	4					5	–	7
Mercer		3	–	5					4	–	8
Western Carolina		2	–	6					3	–	9
East Tennessee State		1	–	7					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS Poll

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2018 season 5–6, 4–4 in SoCon play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll and coaches poll on July 22, 2019. The Bears were picked to finish in fourth place by the media and in fifth place by the coaches.[1][2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	253 (21)
2	Furman	229 (6)
3	East Tennessee State	187 (2)
4	Mercer	146
5	Chattanooga	134
6	Samford	125
7	The Citadel	111
8	Western Carolina	88
9	VMI	32

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Wofford	63 (7)
2	Furman	55 (1)
3	East Tennessee State	44 (1)
4	Chattanooga	40
5	Mercer	34
6	Samford	33
7	The Citadel	22
8	Western Carolina	21
9	VMI	12

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Bears placed seven different players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.[2]

Offense 1st team Tyray Devezin – RB Austin Sanders – OL 2nd team Chris Ellington – TE David Durden – WR

Defense 2nd team Dorian Kithcart – DL Will Coneway – LB Malique Fleming – DB

Specialists 1st team David Durden – RS

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 p.m.	at Western Carolina	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	Nexstar/ESPN+	W 49–27	10,542
September 7[lower-alpha 1]	2:00 p.m.	at Presbyterian*	Bailey Memorial Stadium Clinton, SC	ESPN+	W 45–7	1,264
September 14	7:00 p.m.	Austin Peay*	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 34–48	11,478
September 21	1:00 p.m.	at No. 17 Furman	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	Nexstar/ESPN+	L 10–45	7,667
September 28	7:00 p.m.	Campbell*	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN3	L 27–34	11,272
October 5	4:00 p.m.	Chattanooga	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 17–34	8,972
October 19	3:00 p.m.	VMI	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	W 34–27	5,714
October 26	2:00 p.m.	at The Citadel	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	ESPN+	L 24–35	11,439
November 2	7:00 p.m.	Samford	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	W 36–33 ^3OT	8,272
November 9	3:00 p.m.	No. 24 Wofford	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 7–41	10,729
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at East Tennessee State	William B. Greene Jr. Stadium Johnson City, TN	ESPN3	L 33–38	7,121
November 23	3:30 p.m.	at North Carolina*	Kenan Memorial Stadium Chapel Hill, NC	ACCRSN	L 7–56	50,500
*Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

[4][5]

1. On September 2, it was announced that Mercer had added an away game against Presbyterian; the date was originally a bye week for Mercer and was scheduled after Presbyterian's week 1 game against Stetson was cancelled.[3]

Game summaries

at Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	14	28	7	0	49
Catamounts	7	7	7	6	27

at Presbyterian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	21	7	14	3	45
Blue Hose	0	0	0	7	7

Austin Peay

	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	7	6	14	21	48
Bears	10	3	7	14	34

at Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	10	0	0	10
No. 17 Paladins	14	14	17	0	45

Campbell

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Camels	6	7	7	14	34
Bears	0	6	7	14	27

Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mocs	7	10	10	7	34
Bears	14	0	0	3	17

VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Keydets	3	3	0	21	27
Bears	3	10	14	7	34

at The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	10	14	0	24
Bulldogs	7	7	7	14	35

Samford

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Bulldogs	7	3	7	6	7	3	0	33
Bears	3	7	6	7	7	3	3	36

Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Terriers	3	17	14	7	41
Bears	0	7	0	0	7

at East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	7	6	13	33
Buccaneers	10	21	0	7	38

at North Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	7	7
Tar Heels	21	21	14	0	56

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Final
STATS FCS	RV
Coaches

References

1. "SoCon Media Tab Wofford Preseason Favorite". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
2. "Football Coaches Select Preseason Teams, Poll". July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
3. "Football Adds Home Game With Mercer". gobluehose.com. Presbyterian College Athletics. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
4. "2019 Mercer Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
5. "2019 Football Schedule". Mercer University Athletics. Retrieved August 19, 2019.