2018 Mercer Bears football team

The 2018 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Five Star Stadium. They were fifth year members of the Southern Conference (SoCon). They finished the season 5–6, 4–4 in SoCon play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.

2018 Mercer Bears football
Conference	Southern Conference
2018 record	5–6 (4–4 SoCon)
Head coach	Bobby Lamb (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Joe Pizzo
Defensive coordinator	Mike Kolakowski
Home stadium	Five Star Stadium (Capacity: 10,200)

2018 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 13 Wofford +^		6	–	2					9	–	4
No. 22 East Tennessee State +^		6	–	2					8	–	4
Furman +		6	–	2					6	–	4
Samford		5	–	3					6	–	5
Chattanooga		4	–	4					6	–	5
The Citadel		4	–	4					5	–	6
Mercer		4	–	4					5	–	6
Western Carolina		1	–	7					3	–	8
VMI		0	–	8					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Previous season

The Bears finished the 2017 season 5–6, 4–4 in SoCon play to finish in fifth place.

Preseason

Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Bears predicted to finish in fourth place.[1] The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Bears predicted to finish in sixth place.[2]

Media poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	204 (20)
2	Furman	174 (2)
3	Wofford	163 (1)
4	Mercer	133
5	Western Carolina	114
6	Chattanooga	88
7	The Citadel	83
8	East Tennessee State	53
9	VMI	23

Coaches poll

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Samford	63 (7)
2	Wofford	53 (1)
3	Furman	52 (1)
4	Western Carolina	39
5	Chattanooga	34
6	Mercer	32
7	The Citadel	28
8	East Tennessee State	15
9	VMI	8

Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Bears placed eight players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

Offense 1st team Austin Sanders – OL Sam Walker – TE Marquise Irvin – WR 2nd team Tee Mitchell – RB

Defense 1st team LeMarkus Bailey – LB 2nd team Isaiah Buehler – DL Eric Jackson – DB

Specialists 2nd team Matt Shiel – P

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	at Memphis*	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	ESPN3	L 14–66	33,697
September 8	6:00 p.m.	Jacksonville*	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN3	W 45–3	10,200
September 15	3:00 p.m.	at No. 9 Samford	Seibert Stadium Homewood, AL	ESPN+	W 30–24	8,717
September 22	4:00 p.m.	The Citadel	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 31–38	11,772
September 29	1:30 p.m.	at VMI	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA	ESPN3	W 48–38	3,251
October 13	1:00 p.m.	at Yale*	Yale Bowl New Haven, CT	ESPN+	L 28–35	2,861
October 20	4:00 p.m.	Western Carolina	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	W 59–46	8,230
October 27	1:30 p.m.	at No. 9 Wofford	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC	ESPN3	L 21–42	6,374
November 3	3:00 p.m.	East Tennessee State	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 18–21	10,002
November 10	1:00 p.m.	at Chattanooga	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	ESPN+	W 13–9	8,014
November 17	3:00 p.m.	Furman	Five Star Stadium Macon, GA	ESPN+	L 30–35	8,811
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

• Source: Schedule

Game summaries

at Memphis

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	14	14
Tigers	28	28	0	10	66

See also: 2018 Memphis Tigers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Jacksonville

	1	2	3	4	Total
Dolphins	0	0	0	3	3
Bears	7	24	14	0	45

See also: 2018 Jacksonville Dolphins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2017	MERC, 48–7

at Samford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	7	10	0	13	30
No. 9 Bulldogs	7	0	7	10	24

See also: 2018 Samford Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
10–13–1	2017	SAM, 20–3

The Citadel

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	3	21	38
Bears	7	10	7	7	31

See also: 2018 The Citadel Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
5–9–1	2017	MERC, 24–14

at VMI

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	13	14	14	7	48
Keydets	7	13	0	18	38

See also: 2018 VMI Keydets football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
3–1	2017	MERC, 49–14

at Yale

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	14	7	7	28
Bulldogs	14	14	0	7	35

See also: 2018 Yale Bulldogs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
First meeting

Western Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catamounts	7	20	6	13	46
Bears	0	28	17	14	59

See also: 2018 Western Carolina Catamounts football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–2	2017	MERC, 35–33

at Wofford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	7	14	21
No. 9 Terriers	0	14	14	14	42

See also: 2018 Wofford Terriers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–4	2017	WOF, 28–27

East Tennessee State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buccaneers	0	14	7	0	21
Bears	7	3	5	3	18

See also: 2018 East Tennessee State Buccaneers football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–1	2017	ETSU, 26–23

at Chattanooga

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	0	0	13	13
Mocs	0	0	3	6	9

See also: 2018 Chattanooga Mocs football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–19–1	2017	MERC, 30–10

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Paladins	7	13	9	6	35
Bears	7	3	14	6	30

See also: 2018 Furman Paladins football team

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–8–2	2017	FUR, 28–21

References

1. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=21895&SPID=1781&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211735859&DB_OEM_ID=4000
2. http://www.soconsports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=21895&SPID=1781&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211735863&DB_OEM_ID=4000