NCAAF 2021 Week 05 Samford vs Mercer

five star stadium on the campus of mercer university in macon georgia it's southern conference football on espn the sanford bulldogs and the mercer bears today's game brought to you by ford hi i'm frank malloy along with phil cox welcoming you to southern conference action today mercer and sanford two teams coming in mercer looks to build on a big win last week samford looks to rebound after a tough loss the bears really making a statement frank defensively with what they were able to do in greenville and if you're samford you said it a game they maybe felt like they should have won but didn't win at home chance to bounce back here in macon today a lot of big big time players in this game for mercer the running game keys them and that means this man number eight brandon marshall not huge numbers against the paladins but able to find the end zone twice and just enough to keep firming honest defensively they'll need to do the same thing with it with him in the backfield today defensively mercer held chattanooga three points one of the reasons why the play of lukewarm he has been a staple in that bear defense for several years now a guy who really hustles to the ball and someone you expect to fly all over the turf today when sanford has the football well they're gonna rely on this man an unbelievable game last week phil and it just wasn't quite enough and you know you're used to seeing bulldog quarterbacks put up big numbers and liam welch has done that he's got the look and chris thatcher will need another big afternoon from him today defensively a young man from macon playing with samford and that's linebacker josiah he'll need to have a big afternoon a mercer offense that's proven to be multi-dimensional but josiah cotton up being able to put up some nice numbers last week in the lost at etsu the bulldogs and the bears the season series is close who wins today well that's what we're about to find out over the next several hours college football on espn mercer and samford a beautiful night for a football game here in early october in macon georgia 82 degrees temperature at kickoff it'll sink throughout the evening partly cloudy right now sun is not shining brightly on the field beautiful night for southern conference football action third member of our broadcast team is avery braxton and let's join him now on the sidelines for a look at what we can expect into furman and getting a win on the road was a huge point of emphasis for head coach drew chronic they'd only won one game on the road since he took over at mercer and the reason they got that win complimentary football the defense created turnovers the offense was able to capitalize and the special teams put him in good positions all game long and they've got to do that to beat good teams in the socon and speaking of the so-called samford thinks they played well against ecsu which is a top 15 team in the entire nation but they think they can be at the top at the conference when it's all said and done but they've got to play better down the stretch of close games and they talk to that defense specifically he says he's got too many guys going into business for themselves right now they've got to play again as a unit guys back to you [Applause] [Music] thank you avery coaching match up a man who's quite familiar with making georgia head coach chris hatcher he grew up here playing his high school football here in his seventh season at samford's done a good job with the bulldogs though [Music] but he's showing signs of getting this mercer program back into the upper echelon of the southern conference [Music] [Applause] home they've won five straight here at five star stadium four in the spring and then they opened the season with the winner of a point to get things going since then they played alabama on the road in last week at chattanooga [Applause] [Music] sanford has won the toss they have deferred that means mercer will get the football to start this game it's been a close season series between these two 14 to 12 with one tie this will be the 28th meeting they played last spring in a game in which samford jumped out early and then rode that to a victory phil very very important game early in the season for both these teams for mercer a chance to continue that momentum that impressive when they got at pilaton stadium last week and for sanford a chance to bounce back against a good etsu team they don't don't believe the uh uh the the lie that dtsu is not legitimate randy sanders is a fine football team but they felt like they should have won that football game and a chance to make a statement here on the road in the league it's a very uh open conference and a chance for one of these teams to put themselves in good footing going forward in the month of october samford 1-1 in the southern conference bursar 1-0 bulldogs get ready to boot the football away [Music] zach williams is the man who will be kicking off [Music] you send the key devron harper back for mercer [Music] glad to have you along here on espn for college football the southern conference always a very competitive conference and this year looks to be no different and two teams trying to get to the top of the conference set to face off [Music] [Applause] long boot right there out of the back of the end zone so mercer will take over at the 25 yard line kobe newman booted that one in the end zone no chance for a return and the bears will take over take a look at drew chronic gathering his team around him right now fred payton will be your starter with quarterback fred davis ethan durham with the joker parker robo also plays that joker position ty james number 13 very talented receiver strong up front jason poe is more or less the anchor the right guard eight guys in the box to start out for samford defensively payton hands off and a good push on that right side right there and fred davis is able to get it across the 30 to the 31 yard line and that's where they like to run again behind poe samford starting lineup on defense lloyd barry jordan cheeks and martin up front there east player edmonds anderson and turner has not been to the start has not been the start to the season defensively that chris hatcher would like with the amount of points that have been given up chance for his team to come out and make a statement early and speaking of making a statement that statement is made by fred davis davis with a good rush around the left-hand side big hit put in by kakeem johnson but a first down run for fred davis who has started strong here and mercer is already up to their own 49-yard line listed as just a red shirt freshman getting some good blocking and not afraid to put his head down and get his team almost to midfield with that run quick pass out harper and with the turn it up field and pick up what looks to be six yards so a quick pass from fred payton to ron harper the sophomore out of conyers georgia came in with five catches on the season now brandon marshall is checked into the backfield he stands next to fred payton parker the joker they like to run that play off the option that is smelled out nicely by the samford defense in a short game noah martin leading the charge right there number 32 for the bulldogs and that brings up a big third down here and four for mercer get an idea of the youth there davis redshirt freshman carrying it roble a true freshman so harper just a minute ago a sophomore a lot of underclassmen on this mercer offensive side of the football they cleared down here early davis is the back behind peyton peyton goes under center unique looking formation quick pass there incomplete tried to thread it in to ethan durham but not much opportunity good defense right there wade white number 40 had the play pretty well smelled out so after a couple of good running plays the bears drive stalls and they will be forced to punt trey turk number 97 a freshman from murfreesboro tennessee is averaging 38 yards per kick he's put two inside the 20. montrell washington very dangerous return man he has a punt return for a touchdown this year for the bulldogs he stands at about his own 10. [Music] washington comes up ball gets a good bounce for the bears and they were able to down it right there number 13 ty james the receiver was able to down that one i think they're gonna mark it right about the two yard line so a very effective punt by trey turk dropping it inside the five and that's where sanford will have to take over interesting no hesitancy at all to go ahead and pump the football there frank and in your opponent's territory but very effective on special teams there pinning the bulldogs way back liam welch the quarterback coming off an unbelievable game a week ago jay stanton is the running back next to him [Music] so samford backed up inside their own five and then welch will throw but he's under pressure able to dump it off and he's just barely fighting his way through there was number 88 michael vice mercer had pressure on the quarterback and then quickly moved to the receiver and that was number 48 solomon zamoro who got in there quickly on the quarterback [Applause] from an extremely slow developing play for samford that almost cost him two points indonesia gammage leading the tacklers there stanton now tries to get outside and again that was gammage who fought off a block and was able to trip up number 20 jay stanton and held him to a short game and that's going to bring up a third down and about seven for the bulldogs sanford offense that hasn't had trouble scoring the football but this part of the year but tested here early with a lot of field in front of them welch is going to tuck it under make a couple of men miss i believe he got the first down a hard run right there by liam welch on a design play looks like he was able to move enough bodies to pick up a big first down for the bulldogs it's a confidence boosting play early quarterback tucks it runs it gets you a little bit of breathing room now a quick pass and again he goes device number 88 he's able to break through brought down by lance wise [Music] going to be a gain of about five sanford again going very quickly welch will drop dump it off the stanton pass a little high and he was unable to pull it down and again the bulldogs back with a big third down play converted the first one from inside their own five [Music] welcher georgia guy frank aquinas high school in augusta big kid back there in the pocket but very comfortable here in the early going hands it to stanton and the bears are able to move quickly to the point of the football and stop him well short of the first down a lot of big bodies there including number 95 for mercer getting off the bottom of the stack and so the bears are able to move forward and shut down that play and that was big baron king well frank we thought defense would be a big storyline in this game and both these teams able to force some early punts both teams having mild success moving the football but what both these coaches want to see going forward with their teams is being able to stop people and both teams able to get stops in in proverbial punts bradley porcellato the senior from melbourne australia powers is just under 39 yards of kick justin mckee no sign of a fair catch makes a couple of men miss mckee makes another man miss now down the left sideline picks up some blockers and a good return by yasin mckee inside the 40-yard line and mercer will have excellent field position [Music] heck of a move about midfield was patient waited for a couple of blocks but made a couple of men miss on his own and frank what you love about that is he didn't immediately start going east to west north to south and just let his blockers help him out so mercer will have excellent field position here as they go ready on their second drive of the first quarter it's college football sanford and mercer in the socon back with more on espn [Music] welcome back to five star stadium frank lloyd cox with you and the mercer ground game has been impressive thus far this year phil it really has been you think back to mercer teams of the past that's not necessarily a strength of their offense their really want to do it more through the air but have been able to get them some yards on the ground and have started in that earlier drive establishing things in the run game so merger first and ten on the samford 36 following the ascend mckee punt return fred payton with fred davis next to him and davis has it power running pushing on the left side right there number 39 for marcus cheeks linebacker a junior out of hampton georgia makes the tackle gonna be a gain of about four yards stanford saw etsu's quay holmes he may be the best in the conference last week and they're seeing another bruising back today in the person of fred davis brandon marshall in motion now cuts back a high snap and it's gonna go to sanford number 32 is peyton could not pounce on it but noah martin did the sophomore from chattanooga on the high snap and it looked like peyton had a little trouble figuring out where the ball went there was no trouble right there for noah martin and samford gets a huge turnover now talking with some of the sanford folks early before this game started they talk about how in close games that they've been in the past it has been too many turnovers of their own that have cost them able to force an early one here see if they're able to cash it in with some good starting field position and a quick pass right there and mercer quickly swarms to kendall watson that is the 12th turnover that samford has come up with this year seven interceptions their fifth fumble recovery short gain maybe two yards second and eight three-man rush for mercer and welch has got a man open over the middle that's chandler smith who had a big game last week he's only 5 10 but the junior out of marietta makes the grab and sanford has the ball inside the mercer 40. take a look and see where they rank and among fcs teams they waste no time offensively offensive line giving the quarterback really good protection again with just a three-man rush and again kendall watson with his second catch of this drive brought down at the 30-yard line michael campbell makes the tackle for mercer but another first down completions of back-to-back first down passes from liam welch and samford is driving jacquard giles right there number 24 the junior from auburndale florida [Music] hasn't carried a lot this year but he picks up about five yards again the bulldogs going very fast and again mercer just the three-man rush giles slips out of the backfield he's got opening down the sidelines and he's going to take it around to the 15-yard line just a quick little flip pass and there was plenty of turf in front of jake giles with the ability that welch has got and with the video game numbers that he put up last week mercer has got to figure out a way to put more pressure on him he's having all night to throw again it's just the three with man rush pass is incomplete giles bobbled it and then isaac dowling came roaring in the captain out of lawrenceville to make the tackle now an empty backfield second and ten at the mercer 15. and this time welsh he can do this beautifully done dumped it over the middle of montreal washington for a touchdown look like welch was gonna take off he pulled up found washington and he's into the end zone for the first score of the night very very agile in getting through that arm tackle the pocket was starting to break down able to find an open receiver and taking advantage of the turnover frank so important [Music] chronic not the way he wanted to start this one here in a conference opener montrell washington's fifth touchdown reception extra point is up and good no problems there for zach williams who's now 21 of 21. so the bears had it in great field position turned it over and samford probably marched down the field and they lead the bears on top trailing the bulldogs they've got the ball when we come back at ingles we know the ever present welcome back college football by espn sanford leeds mercer william welch washington for the touchdown for more on that combination of roster washington let's go to avery braxton yeah you guys saw that touchdown sauce from welch to washington there sanford's actually missing their two top receivers in aj tony and ty king and so washington has had to step up and welcome washington they've got quite a connection they've been in the sanford program washington four years and welch is a graduate transfer so quite the connection they're very familiar with each other and welch has been doing a great job all year long spreading the ball around i think watson only had the one reception so he's hit 14 different receivers expecting to move the ball around a whole lot today but washington definitely his go-to guy back to you all righty mayors will take over after a short kickoff return at about their own 22-yard line brandon marshall pass flipped over harper makes a nice move trying to get a block there there's landon miller blocking in front of him quick defense right there by samford catrell player number two is one of those there first you're trying to balance it out a little bit in the air i've already started to establish things with payton but keep this same for defense honest look out peyton able to get away and finds an open man then he has got to ron harper and harper running free across the field gets across the 40-yard line before his he is hit by a swarm of white shirts led by noah martin number 32 and also number 39 for marcus cheeks was there the bears quickly line up and go hand off the middle and they go to brandon marshall he pushes the pile gets it up close to midfield but these teams are getting the line in the hurry samford working very quick offensively and you know frank you wonder a little bit the classic uh you know basketball teams that press don't like to be pressed do teams that run hurry up offenses not like to be hurried up on that mercer runs quickly to make no mistake but but samford runs about two or three steps quicker to anybody a little cut to the outside right there by fred davis close to the third to the first down marker looks like he's going to be about a yard short it's gonna bring up third and a long one for mercer on the samford 49 yard line let's go right back to davis here maybe he's proven that he can get you two yards just by churning his legs just keeps on running and puts his head down not afraid to take a pop or give a pop [Music] [Applause] they're gonna throw a quick little pass good hands right there by davis and he takes it down the sideline and still going inside the 30-yard line so just a quick little roll-out pass from peyton to davis he has a sensational play call there by drew khan and chronic and his offensive staff traditional going under center with the single back and here go to bears again frank hustling on offense dave is not much there on the right side stanford able to collapse the pile a lot of bodies underneath that includes joseph mara number 35 and watching this bear's offense work frank it does kind of have a traditional flavor to it doesn't it quarterback under center single back to some shotgun but a little bit of a kind of a throwback classical look to this drew chronic offense here at mercer so no game there brandon marshall now is the back and he gets the handoff he goes around the right side but a good play right there and hustling to the football [Music] number 35 it looked like and that was neville thomas i have to believe frank that samford coming out here really wanting to prove themselves defensively it hasn't been the start for them as far as the defensive side of the football disappointing efforts in their last couple of games but already forcing the turnover and trying to get another big stop here all right so third and eight mercer is at the samford 25 [Applause] and they're going to throw it in good coverage right there by sanford carter peavey came in the back up quarterback on the rollout but ethan durham was double covered and there was no way to thread that ball in there so the bulldogs not fruit had to turn and saw 15 in orange out there and i thought that was carter pv and good job by samford defending that bit of trickeration there for mercer [Music] devin foser on he's a 6-2 sophomore from mcdonough one for two and field goals thus far this year and that being from 45 yards out this will be about a 43-yarder and it is good so the bears do get points out of the drive after sanford shuts down the trick play good from 43 yards and mercer answers the samford touchdown with a field goal so sanford seven mercer three first quarter southern conference action on espn glad to have you along we're back with more after this welcome back you look at liam welch on the samford sideline he's off to a quick start in this game well a guy obviously with a lot of experience under his belt a native georgian himself and uh able to just elude a little bit of pressure when merch has been able to get to him a little bit but he would be the first guy i'm sure to tell you to credit his offensive line the big guys up front for the bulldogs have been giving me giving him good protection and if he can start to get some help from his run game and his running backs start to take some of the heat off of him he may even get even more comfortable back there devin folger will kick off montrell washington the deep man caught the touchdown pass earlier he's very efficient at returning the football he's averaging about 22 yards a return on the kick his longest is 54. you're interested to see what foster tries to do with this one gonna kick like a little line drive and bounces through one man bulldogs pick it up but the bear swarm down there maul's gonna be down about the 27 yard line number 83 picking that football up there for the bulldogs and then making the return and that is titus gardner is a junior at a tuscaloosa see if mercer can get more pressure on the welch here frank you mentioned it only three men really rushing on that last drive mercer's got to figure out a way to make him a little bit more uncomfortable back there fake to stanton then well she's going to keep it drive forward number 54 ken stanley sophomore out of weight cross in on the hit [Music] pickup of about four and the bulldogs immediately right back in formation [Music] well again with time now the pressure breaks down but this is what he can do he breaks through and drives across the 35 he is a big hit and tough to bring down isaac dowling in on the tackle that's gonna bring up a third down and two so many times frank with a quarterback who's as good with his arm as he is you get concerned when he runs the football is a short game there and that is going to be short of the first down marker and isaac dowling number three the freshman from lawrenceville one of the captains blew that play up so now let's see if samford's gonna try and go forward you would not think they would deep in their own territory and they instead will send the punt team on but a big play by isaac dowling on that third and short i'm just gonna say with welch you don't get super concerned if you're a st fan when he pulls it down and runs with it he's so smart he's such a big kid but a good stop there for mercer to get the football back bradley porcellato back to punt you send the key had a good return the first time but this time he's going to stick the arm up there fair catch and mercer will take over at their own 25 yard line well it had to be a little bit of a shot to mercer's ego frank remember this is a defense that didn't give up a touchdown at paladin stadium in greenville last week and then lo and behold the bulldogs come out with their potent offense and put seven points up on the board so good bounce back there from drew conic's defense and now we'll see if that rhythm can continue bears able to get three points out of it but that hard running of peyton and more and more or davis and payton looking more comfortable in the pocket davis behind peyton takes the handoff pushes across the right side and going to put him in about the 28 yard line a gain of three [Music] neville thomas number 45 in on the tackle with some help from his friends so [Music] payton quick pitch and again samford reads it well good job underneath at the bottom of the stack [Music] that almost has the look of a kind of almost an option type of look with the ends in tight it's not a wing bone but you've got the receivers in tight in a single back in the person of davis and then running the option there so drew chronic showing some interesting things offensively just trying to keep a same for defense that has obviously struggled over the course of the year off balance all right third down in seven for the bears [Music] peyton's gonna air one out he's gonna have to go through double coverage for devon harper and it's intercepted chris edmonds with his third interception of the season number 47 out of columbus georgia went high to pick off that long pass and it's samford football good protection up front but throwing in the double coverage pass under throne and i guess the silver lining for that if you want to for mercer as good as a decent punt there so not too too terrible on third and seven going for broke and end up with the pick yeah chris edmunds and immediately now the bulldogs go to work welts got a man open that's kendall watson the senior from chattanooga he's able to push it all the way up to the 45-yard line so a quick first down strike liam welch to kendall watson frank it's going to be a long night for the bears if they cannot get pressure on welch he has all kinds of time to throw the football and that's michael vice and that's going to be good depending where they mark it for another first down so two plays two first downs and the bulldogs have already moved it into mercer territory they'll have first and ten at the mercer 44. [Applause] well it's a little dump off and there's vice and a big hit right there by dowling the ball is loose but they're going to rule him down so no fumble dowling with a big hit on michael vice maybe a loss of about half a yard and that'll bring up second down get another look at that one perhaps and i thought he just took his legs out from under him on that hit bears trying to scoop up a turnover of their own [Music] sanford taking a little bit more time on this particular play the last time they've used tonight now the referees have stopped the clock not sure if they're going to review that play no no no we start the clock back again so there's under 15 seconds [Music] and now we've stopped it again with 10 seconds [Music] one referee said a catch and down [Music] well this isn't going to matter really one way or another if they looked at it because if it was complete it's second and ten at the spot where it is if it's incomplete it's still second and ten so no harm no foul either way well likely the last play of the first quarter and it'll be a pass and it's a long pass and a beautifully defended ball by lance wise he tried to slip on in there to torrance pollard he was running down the middle and wise right there the sophomore from marietta and that'll be the last play of the first quarter a lot of action in the first quarter but each team with just one score the bulldogs the touchdown the bears a field goal so samford leads versus 7-3 you're watching college football ready to start the second quarter here at five star stadium frank lloyd wilcox and avery braxton with you samford leads seven to three this is a very potent bulldog offense bill i'm very used to seeing them up near the top in those categories chris hatcher's offense usually does not have any problem getting the ball up and down the field well drills one across the middle incomplete he was trying to find chandler smith smith had a big catch in the first quarter on their touchdown drive so the mayor's defense is able to hold after sanford quickly moved it down the field this is very telling to me frank second time early in this game that chris hatcher has shown almost no hesitation to punt the football he believes in his defense to be able to slow down this mercer offense yeah they have the ball to mercer 44 but you're right sent the punt team out bradley porcellato trying to pin mercer deep good kick by porcellado then you send the key will go over and make the catch right about the 11 yard line so job well done by porcellato drops that one inside the 20. that's the seventh time he's done that this season [Music] and mercer will get their first possession of the second quarter [Music] again that bulldog offense early on looking very disciplined very strong wrapping up those mercer ball carriers before they can get loose [Music] tough run by fred davis but again a lot of white shirts over there number 92 brady royal among those at the bottom of the stack there and that's gonna be just a two yard game davis had to do a lot of maneuvering just to get that [Music] you have to know chris hatcher challenged his defense and said fellas we have got to bring it especially on the road mercer team that can be very explosive so far has to like what he's seeing second and eight peyton's gonna take off nice job of scrambling and is finally knocked out of bounds again good defense but peyton was able to pick up enough yards to get to the 20 and that'll bring up a third down and a short two good job to step out of a tackle you always get a little bit scared when you see your quarterback go down like that out of bounds [Music] i'd expect wouldn't expect mercer to get too fancy right here give it to davis and have him put his head down and move those chains ryan shifts instead they're just going to push peyton ahead and it looks like from where the judge from the side is coming in it will be enough for a first down so nothing to say you were right it was nothing fancy about that and how refreshing is that to see how many times do you see teams and you know what if you really can't fault them teams that go out of the shotgun out all the time frank if they've got third and one and you're lining your quarterback about eight yards back marshall and again bottom of that pile that's number big number 99 coming in to make that tackle that is seth simmer [Music] 300 pounders out of powder springs georgia and more youth frank for the bears marshall just a red shirt freshman [Music] mercer is doing anything they're keeping it fairly simple offensively and just as i say that they go to the verse to run harper harper able to pick up good yardage right there joseph mayor number 35 the junior from fort myers florida over there to knock him down short of the first down it's gonna bring up about a third down and looks like about four mercer two of five on third down here in the early going on third and four peyton will go from the shotgun but a simple handoff and a nice bruising run up the middle power running by fred davis the red shirt freshman from fortson georgia bear's got good push right there and that's a big first down franket in talking to some of the samford folks they felt like etsu had worn them down at the end of the game in that win in birmingham and if you're drew chronic maybe you're playing the long game here just trying to death by a thousand cuts slowly and methodically just taking the hits to samford up front peyton now he's gonna go down and that play was doomed from the start almost and noah martin made sure the sophomore from chattanooga he lost his footing but he was already going down it designed to develop a little bit more quickly with that and now mercer way behind schedule second down looks like about 17 that lost back to the 29. samford again with eight guys in the box they are really stuffing things up front payton takes it and breaks free and peyton has got room to run still going near that marker on the other side of the field but a simple play right there just a straight hand off and fred payton got good blocking and took off like a design quarterback run you're right partner had good blocking in front of him and as we said that samford defense it seemed like they kind of floated to one side of the field and confident running by the junior out of sewanee georgia alright so that brings up now a third and one and again peyton will go under center davis the running back behind him gets the handoff gets a push that's going to be enough for a first down as he takes it into sanford territory just across the 50-yard line so that's now a handful of third down conversions and we talk about wearing a defense down that can start to break the spirit of a defense a little bit you keep them out there longer and now you're starting to see hands on hips a little bit for samford and mercer starting to exert their will a little bit more in the run game another big third down conversion for the bears they're going to put it right at the 50. [Applause] let's see if they're going to give him a catch marshall came up after the slide holding the football up but he was wide open with great camera work from our own field staff and like a slot into second base right there i think they called it mercer tried to get the play off quickly i believe they're gonna review it [Music] around number eight brandon marshall another angle this should be pretty telling seems like he did get his hands underneath it with no wobble that looks like a catch if so it would be first and ten for mercer at the samford 30 yard line [Music] i have to like what you've seen from mercer on this particular drive and setting things up with the run and going to the pass as you take another look at this one good play action fake good time to throw good underthrown as you said that's going to be difficult to overturn i'll just say that about [Music] like he it it there that would be his first catch of the year would be a pretty impressive one for brandon marshall and that that residue that came up from the playing surface looked like it came from his elbow that was making contact not necessarily the ball that's a difficult angle for an official to get a look at because the judges the side judge the line judge on the respective sides of the field just have a hard time getting eyes on that our ruling is coming [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] brandon marshall can't believe it [Music] [Applause] i can't see if they think right there the ball through his hands maybe i can looking at it slowed down like that i can i can buy that as being incomplete well that brings up a fourth and one now for mercer at the 50-yard line after des bryant and that's the green day i've given up on trying to figure out what designates a catch but you're right this is a big decision now with the ball at midfield you're drew chronic you're probably thinking there's there's no way they they call this a drop unless he as you said given that the ruling on the field was a catch then it makes it harder to overturn but they obviously saw something that went against the ruling on the field so it now and now as you can see discussion continues and drew cronic is over there talking with the referees [Music] that's a situation that you know you've got replay you've got angles to look at and you almost wonder if that's a situation where the officials can all come together like in a baseball for example and talk what did you see what did you see because sometimes maybe that's a better look that the umpire has got in that situation because at least from our vantage point in the shots that we saw difficult to kind of tell one way or the other [Music] and coach cronic was lobbying he's like he was lobbying for something and are they gonna look at this again well it looks like they might well we'll see they've gone to the headset [Music] he must have made quite a point for the white hat to go back over there and put it on again [Music] all right let's have another look [Music] hands underneath but it's right there does the ball hit the ground but he comes up holding it the umpire's not looking at it that's something that either the line judge the field judge has got to make a call along or that's and you see the the black residue come up but that appears to be from his elbow and now chris hatcher has some words [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm not sure the change got moved or mixed up [Applause] so instead of fourth down and half a yard we now have second and ten which makes more sense because mercer had gotten a first down two plays ago now coach cronic has the team around him that good thing about that whether you get it or you don't get it you had a rhythm going frank on offense and that potentially kind of breaks it up a little bit gives the defense a little chance to catch their breath too [Applause] [Music] right side marshall room to run pyle is being pushed and picked up close to nine yards fred davis the kickball carrier there down to about the 41 yard line gonna mark it at the 42 so third down and two same thing davis right side gets pushed ahead good tackle right there number 45 neville thomas the sophomore from loganville georgia but it's going to be enough it appears for a first down they haven't moved the chains yet [Music] we are right next door to the samford coaching staff and frank just as you said same play i could over hear them say same play that has to be a little bit defeating for samford on third and short they run the same play with all those guys in the box and then bunching things up and mercer still able to be successful on the ground bears doing a good job on third down here conversions this drive and how about that play a good dump off pass to parker robert but hakeem johnson the senior from remington virginia said no way and that's a three-yard loss that's a sign of an upperclassman playing assignment football as cliche as it sounds and staying home playing his assignment if he doesn't that could have gone for big yardage the second and 13 from the samford 43. fake to marsha quick pass complete ethan durham nice move right there and durham gets it down close to the 30-yard line gonna be about a yard short of the first down the freshman from canton georgia with his sixth catch of the season [Music] a big tip of the hat to both of these offensive lines they have done a nice job of protecting their quarterback here in the first half [Music] and they go to roble tried something a little different and again hakeem johnson who two plays ago blew up parker roble in the backfield gets him here for about a four-yard loss [Music] good penetration there just talking about how good the offensive line has been in pass protection but on the jet sweep samford with a big play now drew chronic has to make a decision maybe not a bad spot he recall a time out and maybe talk about this this is a big moment in this game tonight fourth and five for mercer at the sanford 35. [Applause] payton will go from the shotgun with fred davis next to him let's see if they try and get samford jump nope [Applause] they've got a man open but the pass was under thrown as ty james made his cut well covered by silvon turner with the pass short of the mark and so samford holds thanks to a couple of huge defensive plays by hakeem johnson so the bulldogs stop the bears and they will take over on their own 35-yard line we talked about pressure just a little bit of pressure there from the corner and maybe the quarterback throwing it a bit before he's ready kind of been a theme with the first half prank some underthrown balls and turnover on downs i mean you want to count that as a turnover i guess you can samford forcing their third of the first half so they get the ball back a long drive for mercer quick handoff to jay stanton and there's nowhere to go bears get good push chris hill dj mcdaniel in there after a gain of maybe a yard short yard at that so took a big chunk of a clock off in that drive welch quick pass across the middle complete short game a flag comes flying in there montrell washington made the [Music] the catch occurred [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] with an offensive pass interference penalty and that's a 15-yarder the back judge threw that from way back there on a completed pass not something you see very often vice the junior from vestavia hills alabama kind of looking like what did i do [Music] so the bulldogs now go from their 35 back to their 20 and it's now second in 25 and the bears trying to get pressure on and they do and it's intercepted forced to throw under pressure and michael campbell the captain the second interception of the season that's what mercer was looking for finally able to get some pressure on the quarterback and it bears immediate fruit got him out of the pocket and really welch uncharacteristic just forcing a throw mercer gets their first turnover solomon zabarro had the initial pressure then i believe that might have been i did isaac dowling who came on after that and a beautiful interception by michael campbell the junior from darien georgia one of the team captains so the bears get it back at the samford 49 yard line i must say i'm a bit uh depressed that the turnover garb is no longer a thing in college football it's apparently run its course on him after getting that one no mercer has not gone with that now i know george's does use some sort of thing we have the hurricanes of miami [Music] the things i used to like with that they'd sometimes award that and when they're when the team would be losing like by three touchdowns it was like well okay short gain right there so the stanford defense back on the field so that's second and nine empty backfield now behind peyton marshall and samford does a good job as they brought marshall in motion payton faked the handoff and then took it maybe a yard maybe nothing so now third down and nine mercer continuing her should take samford continuing to stack the line of scrimmage they had seven guys on the line on that particular sequence and mercer within a blink of an eye third and long following the turnover the sanford defense has come out and made two good plays forcing a third and long for the bears [Applause] and now they have pressure peyton's going to find the man he threw it behind ethan durham who tried to make a one-handed catch pocket breaking down trying to make a play but you don't want to force anything and samford frank able to take advantage of their turnover one of their turnovers mercer not able to do anything with it the bears gained one yard in three plays big john thomas one of the mercer offensive linemen being held off the field at the top of your screen that's brought about a brief delay so trey turk will come in montrell washington very dangerous standing at his own 10 yard line both of these coaches showing a lot of trust in their defense and the the lack of hesitation to pump the football away and not really even taking a time out to think about it uh maybe a little bit surprising high kick washington comes up and about gets bumped a little bit there but no harm so that's going to be about the 14 yard line and that's where the sanford bulldogs will take over so the sanford defense rising to the occasion after the turnover the bulldogs lead the mayor 7-3 you're watching college football on espn five minutes 29 seconds left to play here in the first half samford leads 7-3 and they have the ball and liam welch again under pressure retreating there's going to be a holding right there big number 94. savio fraser was putting pressure on and it looked like one of the sanford lineman got a grab on him bottom of your screen as the pocket starts to break down you always have to keep that in the back of your head that your offensive line will just be holding on for dear life that was chris noble number 58. [Music] [Applause] [Music] and that'll bring up a first down and 17. sanford had their backs to the wall in their very first possession and able to do some things with it see if they can do it again here with them behind the chains quake giles is next to liam welch he gets the handoff and gets knocked down after a short game number three isaac dowling again [Music] along with baron king in there to make the tackle [Music] now welch with time tunisia gamage made the initial hit washington caught the touchdown pass able to break free will bring up a big third down and about five now at the samford 19. quick snap welch across the middle trying to thread the needle and nearly did he almost hit jairus kramer on a very tight window double thus far has featured just one touchdown and the mercer field samford defensively is whipped stout mercer continuing the good play that they had especially last week in the win not allowing furman in the end zone both defense oh it's a fight it's a fake they're running the football and they're going to get a first down chris hatcher went to the bag of tricks and it worked the quick snap and a nice job but israel the bears are pointing like they have the football samford's all excited because they picked up a good gain joseph mira number 35 [Music] and it's first down for the bulldogs something you would not think from deep in their own territory and maybe that's the reason you do it so a huge play right there for the bulldogs the way that they have gone with that hurry up offense they implement that in their special teams game and they immediately get a good push up the middle and strong running by number 20 and that's jay stanton [Music] you're exactly right frank the thing that makes that so successful is the spot on the field it's not the fourth and to go situation and stanton a good push there that's going to be enough for a first down so a big play right there instead of mercer having it with time running out in the second quarter samford able to keep the drive alive and now they get another first down from their 49. [Music] welch's pass is intercepted two deflections and it's lukewarm who had a big play last week with the interception uh flag down on what could be a lead hit out of bounds and mercer has the football [Applause] he was tiptoeing down the near sideline trying to stay in bounds and there may be something added on to that run [Music] another look at it two deflections looks like a both off of samford players i'm not sure he was out of balance see if they're going to take a late hit right right there and i think that's what they're going to call it look like [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so here's another opportunity for mercer they force the turnover can they take advantage of it after the fake punt maybe you're a little bit cloudy in the brain if you're mercer defensively but able to take the momentum back walking the tight rope and yeah he was already out of back well out of bounds and you can see right there right after the hit you see the referee throw the flag he just corrects himself now and says it is against that would be chris noble the offensive lineman so mercer comes up with their second interception and with the penalty [Music] depends where they rule them down so they're going to put it at the 32 so they said he was out of bounds [Music] from the 42 to 10 yards some mercer now last time they got the watch or a turnover they went three and out [Applause] this time it's fred davis running the daylight davis touchdown mercer beautiful play call on the counter give and that is a just a big big moment in the game right after the turnover the red sea parted great blocking up front and a big play on the ground for the bears the redshirt freshman out of fortson georgia with his third rushing touchdown of the season to give mercer a 9-7 lead devin fulcer 14-14 on pats drives that one through so one play after the turnover fred davis takes it to the house it's the mayor's 10 the bulldogs 7. you're watching college football on espn [Music] welcome back grocery leads 10 to 7 let's go down to the sidelines avery blackstone talking about that defense yeah guys when i talked to coach cronic earlier in the earlier in the week he said that this burster defense is a unit that is playing incredibly confident right now coach joel taylor the defensive coordinator emphasized creating turnovers and after the first interception by michael campbell you can hear them on the sideline the defensive coaches telling that defense way to bow up and you see again on the second interception they have that honey pot like so many teams around the t around the league have with that special emphasis uh incentivize their players and you saw michael campbell licking his fingers and i'm sure that second interception they are feeling really good about themselves after creating a turnover and getting a score guys back to you [Music] yard line so with three minutes and 13 seconds left to go here in the second quarter the bulldogs go first and ten from their own 36. and they start with a handoff to jay stanton and stanton bounces around and they pick up about nine yards so a good first down game for jay stanton first time samford with a little bit of a gut check of their own feeling like hey they maybe had a chance to add to this lead frank before the half after that fake punt feeling good then they turn it over all his experience the native of augusta georgia has to have a short memory he likes to move fast frank but sometimes you can move maybe a little too quick and you put one in a window that you shouldn't and he has shown the ability to use his feet as well but mercer has done a good job of making him at least a little bit uncomfortable in there in the pocket and stanton plows straight ahead good game right there more than enough for the first down that will move the ball up to the 49-yard line clock stops on the first down now it's rolling under two minutes and 40 seconds to go here second quarter samford behind for the first time today [Music] the bears swarmed to the football there to stand chris hatcher showing the mercer defense a lot of number 20 in white still plenty of time for samford to work with here before the hack is over and it's stanton again and again pushing off that left side takes it down to about the mercer 46 which will bring up third down in five [Music] [Applause] [Music] well it's looking at the sideline now already [Applause] from the shotgun and this time welch is going to keep it nice decision drives across the 40 down to the 38 yard line took a hard hit there lance wise among those this is a nice response from the bulldogs after that turnover and quick strike from mercer still all three timeouts for samford and was quick as quick as their offense moves 90 seconds they can get a lot done first and ten from the mercer 38 keeping it on the ground short gain down to the 36 yard line the ball resting at the mercer 36 sanford with second down and eight as you said plenty of time milk 14. and we're gonna take a break the bears and the bulldogs it's a tight one seems like it always is when these two teams battle mercer leads 10-7 you're watching college football on espn on a beautiful night in macon georgia welcome back college football action on espn in the southern conference mercer leads samford 10-7 the bulldogs driving with a minute 14 left here in the second quarter this drive almost exclusively on the ground so far phil yeah with as quick as their offense moves having a full complement of timeouts able to be on the ground you have to feel like they're gonna have to start to put it in the air here eventually unless they can get in the red zone here in the next play or so second and eight fake this time he's gonna man wide open and running three for a touchdown [Music] [Applause] and smith who had a huge catch in the first corner found himself wide open and let's laid it in there frank you have to feel like that samford rolled mercer to sleep a little bit they're running the football welts taking a shot but the pain well worth it ms smith wide open in the end zone chandler smith the 510 junior from marietta with his first touchdown catch of the season and it is a big one for the bulldogs [Music] extra point is good six seconds is all that took following the timeout beautiful fake and there he is chandler smith running behind the defense bulldogs league we're back with more right after this all right back to five star stadium on the campus of mercer university in macon georgia the sanford bulldogs striking on the long pass from quarterback liam welch drilling it to chandler smith who was running wide open so now mercer with a minute eight kobe neenan who booted his first kick of the game deep into the end zone lebron harper will take this at his own two harper tries to get away and then still there and finally wrapped up and tossed down by number 32 noah martin so mercer will start inside their own 25 yard line let's see where they're gonna spot the football a lot of options to weigh here frank if you're mercer you've got 59 seconds and you've got all three timeouts but with mercer doing the majority of their damage on the ground i feel like it would be tough for mercer to to get it deep into san francisco the first couple of plays go and we're gonna roll peyton out and then he's going to take it and run with the football nice job of getting out of bounds and that will be enough for a first down so a good first down gain by fred payton gave him about 11 yards ball now on the mercer 36 was still 52 seconds left we've seen mercer in the kicking game be successful hitting a deep one earlier so that's in the cards for the bears to go down just a point at the half they could get in range [Music] peyton's got time drills one incomplete drake starks number 83 [Music] would have been a short gain anyway samford getting the football to start the second half feel like you want to at least try to give yourself a shot to get three points before you go into the dressing room [Applause] gonna try and go deep and that's a tough read right there excellent coverage [Music] as you tried to thread the needle to ethan durham [Music] along with chris edmonds edmonds had an interception earlier and now 42 seconds samford still has two timeouts if they're able to get a stop here bulldogs look a little disorganized up [Music] front peyton's going to keep it see if he can turn the nice tackle right before but a flag goes down as payton was going out of bounds right before the first down marker if that's a late hit that would move the ball into samford territory this could be a second gift that samford has given mercer in the late hit category [Applause] [Music] [Applause] chris hatcher will not be [Applause] so that moves the ball to the 44-yard line it is a first down with 35 seconds left mercer has all three of their timeouts peyton goes under center [Music] fakes fires to ty james sanford saying he juggled the ball they're gonna rule with a catch though the referees come together and that would be the 30-yard line it would be a first down chris hatcher right there to play referee now we may take a look at it well i think chris hatcher wants him to take a look because samford is going to take a timeout [Music] [Music] so sanford is challenging the previous play which was a catch by ty james [Music] see if we can get a different angle than the one we just got with the receiver's back turned to us on that last look and after the last ruling no assumptions on what the ultimate decision will be [Music] good protection up front getting out rolling out this is one of the best looking throws we've seen from fred payton [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] samford charged with the timeout ruling on the field stands so the ball now at the 30 first and 10 mercer with 23 seconds left and again the bears with all three timeouts [Music] not a bad spot here to go to the end zone if you're a mercer after the break you've got first and ten at the 30. go through it all right here here come the bulldogs and they're to get to peyton who manages to somehow get it away to a man in the vicinity and that would have been landon miller number 17 so a good job of peyton to keep that play alive as sanford came with a fierce rush that's so dangerous though if you're peyton you obviously don't want to go down with the football but that ball can be picked off too you of course open the possibility of being called for grounding but mercer with a fairly good scoring opportunity here not wanting to squander it at least maybe get a good field goal look out of it before going to the break about a 47-yard field goal from where the ball currently stands 18 seconds left now second and 10. payne's going to go to the end zone for ty james and the ball deflected nicely and that was cut trail player both player and james were going for it and it falls incomplete interesting as you take another look at this one another a pretty good throw there two of the better throws we've seen from peyton nearly coming up with it in the end zone looks like both men had a shot at it first james and then player [Applause] mercer has not had to use a timeout in this stretch kept things in the air instead of resorting to their ground game even with their full allotment [Applause] 12 seconds left third and 10. [Music] trying to throw the slant to james to get him a little closer to field goal range pass is incomplete that is going to bring devin folzer out for a 45-yard field goal or 47 yards appears to be with the way this game is gone maybe not a bad spot for mercer to try zach lassiter the snapper dylan farm is the holder and now sanford will call a timeout [Applause] [Music] razzle dazzle from chris hatcher what a good game frank this has really kind of been a very tactical first half uh gotten a smidge chippy yes it has a couple teams that are trying to really establish themselves in the southern conference it's a anybody's uh type of year in the league and um this is a big game for both of these teams and an opportunity for mercer to continue the momentum from last week samford as we said at the top of the broadcast chance to bounce back from a a really heart-wrenching loss and extra time to east tennessee state polls are hit from 42 earlier in the game his longest this year is 45 he is two for three on field goals this would be a 47 yarder [Music] snap good oh good the kick is hit the upright and fell down hit the left upright and bounced back onto the field of play had plenty of distance so the bears come away with nothing just a breath i mean a breath of crosswind maybe messed with that one a little bit did it straight on and it bounced straight down tough break there for mercer and devin foser good break for the bulldogs [Music] to take a knee and wrap up this first half and there you have it a tightly played hard fought first half with the bulldogs of sanford on top mercer 14 to 10. teams now head to the sidelines to regroup try and figure out what worked in the first half what didn't [Music] and then maybe a change of strategy or try and do a few things a little better [Music] when they come out of the locker room so chris hatcher's bulldogs leading through chronic bears right now and all right coach you were able to control much of the clock especially in that second quarter with your run game how crucial is that going to be in the second half against the quick strike offense like stanford's well we got to run the ball uh we got to execute some things a little bit better i thought we left some things out there i think our defense is playing their tail off um we just got to keep fighting i i thought this would be a lower scoring game than maybe a lot of people thought it's a physical game you know we just got to keep playing i think we can be a fourth quarter team i really do so we got to keep playing we need to hit we got to settle down in our passing game a little bit um you know but uh our kids are competing really hard against a really good football team you told me this defense was playing confident two picks they're keeping you in this ball game what have you thought about their play here oh they're playing great and i thought they would play good you know and we got a good plan our kids are playing hard so we got to keep doing it though because we got to control the ball offensively so our defense isn't out there so much because that it wears on you after a while so we got to make sure we do a good job of playing team football special teams offense defense together all right coach good luck in the second half thank you thanks guys thank you coach head into the locker room right now his team on the short end of the scoreboard bears in bulldogs southern conference football samford leads 14-10 you're watching southern conference football on espn part of a nice crowd here at five star stadium in macon georgia samford leading mercer as you take a look at the first half numbers phil yeah and you see the balance that started to take place and mercer establishing things on the ground started to mix in the run for sanford it was kind of the opposite especially on that last drive frank we saw a lot of run and then out of the timeout the big pass over the middle so good balance you have to like that those penalties two of those late hits one of them really cause samford the second one almost cost them again but the discipline for drew chronic playing strong and hard without committing a penalty samford able to shore up a little bit of that time of possession gap at the end of the first half kind of what you would expect though in a 14-10 game the numbers are very close right there this action around the southern conference today always close ball games and it seems like that's been the case today we've had some very close games chattanooga oh not close poor western carolina is still struggling etsu gets a big win over wofford today yeah the terriers dropped another one josh conklin struggling a little bit in spartanburg but boy the bucks their resurrected football program in johnson city things going well and vmi i think a lot of people wanted to see if the key deaths were going to keep it up in the fall but thompson gets a big win in the military classic of the south always great when those two meet up and that is called again the uh what do they play for when they're bmi and send it out this is the battle for the silver shaco which goes to the citadel this year all right teams are back on the field second half of football how's it going to unfold well stay tuned you're watching college third member of our broadcast is avery braxton let's join him now on the sideline yeah i got a chance to i got a chance to talk to coach hasher right before the half and he said of his improved defense he's like what they've done so far he's felt like both defenses have had their moments there in the first half he'd like to see his be a little more consistent he said offensively mercer's defense has played a little softer than they've shown on film so what he'd like to see from both his offense and his defense is they play better on first down and put themselves in some better situations guys back to you short kickoff it was fielded by montreal washington he's able to get it back [Music] close to about the 35 yard line so not bad field position for william welch and the bulldogs as they come out to start the third quarter [Music] i was just going to say frank sanford proved at least on that last drive that they can be successful on the ground we know wealth when he gets time in the pocket can be good what will we see from them in their first possession of the third quarter jay stanton who had some of the success running the football in that second quarter drives ahead a short game maybe three the initial push helmet comes off [Music] so he will have to leave for at least a play and they'll bring jakoy giles in the junior from auburndale florida three rushes for eight yards in the first half so didn't see much action in that second quarter and there's washington he's the man they like to go to he caught one of the two touchdown passes and lowers the shoulder gets across the 50. and that's good for a first down montrell washington yeah he evaded the arm tackling attempt of mckee just good shifty maneuvers stepped right out of that tackle and gained some extra yardage on the ground this time the bulldogs were able to push it for about four yards ken stanley leading the defensive second and six from the mercer 45 welch empty backfield under pressure now and nice little dump off pass beautifully done and flipped it to kendall watson who's able to pick up a first down sanford coming out clicking here in the first minute of this third quarter i like what mac brown of north carolina calls this the middle eight the last four minutes of the second quarter in the last four minutes of the third quarter first four belonged earth last four the second quarter belonged to samford getting that touchdown and getting the stop and then you get the football to come out and start the third quarter first minute and a half of the third quarter has belonged to samford giles picked up three a hard run there brings up second and seven from the mercer 36. well it's under pressure again he goes to that man again watson and watson has come up with another big play so kendall watson who picked up a first down a couple of plays ago on the receiving end of that pass and run chris hatcher continuing to do a good job of mixing it up and giving mercer different looks they have marched this ball down the field now knocking on the door of the red zone from the 20 and again there's watson pretty much the same play makes a couple of nice moves but it's going to be very little yardage as the bears got a lot of players to the football including number three isaac dowling a chance for mercer here to bow their neck and do their best to keep samford out of the end zone but this is the pace that the bulldogs love the quicker the better for samford like a man on the field for mercer right now that's going to bring about an official's timeout not sure if it's a cramp that is number 24 that is denisia gamage the redshirt junior linebacker out of brunswick one of the leaders of the mercer defense [Music] so samford coming out and moving quickly down the field they've already taken it for about the 20-yard line where they'll have second down and 10. seven play 49-yard drive and it's taken not even two and a half minutes off the clock looks like it is a cramp the way the maneuvering damage his leg and he's able to get up and rejoin the defensive huddle [Music] pace is so important for a good offense and so many teams now run the hurry up the no huddle samford one of those teams and when they can get in that rhythm it can be very very difficult to slow down second and nine stanton room to run the bears able to swarm to the football and that's savio frazier number 94 throws him to the ground that'll bring up third down and seven stanford has made himself difficult to tackle i don't think he was down right there until he went down at the last possible moment third down here right here especially for the bears [Music] [Applause] welch firing to an open man across the middle and there he is montreal washington always have to keep an eye on him and that's his second touchdown catch of the night in the bulldogs lead 20 to 10. just a quick slant over the middle and another big third down a good play call [Music] little play action one step up in the pocket and what a start of the third quarter for the samford bulldogs sixth touchdown catch of the year for montreal washington the senior out of canton georgia extra point attempt is good and samford gets the second half kickoff and marches it down the field then the bulldogs make a statement they lead by a 11. can the bears answer you're watching college football in espn sanford leads mercer 21-10 thanks in part to that man montrell washington four catches 56 yards and two touchdowns he's been a solid target tonight another georgia native playing well in his home state what a great response [Applause] third quarter six touchdown catches deep kick there and the bears will take the touch back put them at their 25-yard line so samford took the second half kickoff moved it downfield and scored and now let's see what drew chronic can dial up for the mercer offense you know mercer frank with those three-time outs with a couple of minutes left in the first half it was a little bit surprised they didn't put the ball on the ground they've been pretty effective with that let's see if they go back to that and fred davis in the backfield he's put his head down and has really proven to be pretty strong when he's carrying the rock 88 yards for davis in the first half including a 31-yard touchdown run and they do give it to davis off the right side short game maybe picked up three among those getting off the stack is nick jackson number 97 for samford not to completely jinx them but mercer has played very disciplined football tonight they haven't hurt themselves with penalties carter peavey is now checked into the game at your top of your screen he's the backup quarterback he threw a pass earlier and they're going to try the same play this time a throwback to the other quarterback and that is peyton he's got room to run fred peyton with a blocker ahead of him down the sideline finally bumped out of bounds by hakeem johnson after a huge gain well if it first you don't succeed try it again and this time heavy gets it in turns the other way he had to throw against his body that time threw off his back foot but able to find the other quarterback for a big game [Music] and that was big riley adcock number 64 who was trying to stay ahead of him and did a good job so the bears have taken it all the way down to the 22-yard line first down [Applause] davis bounces out wow he's got room down the left side fred davis using a blocker heading to the corner of the end zone and a touchdown fred davis appeared to be stopped [Applause] talk about not giving up on a play and right after the trick play fred davis punches it in with a huge run ran into a brick wall on the right side spun around and scores his second touchdown of the game devin felser on trying to make it a four-point game [Music] and he does so just like that three plays and mercer answers the samford touchdown [Music] so fireworks to start the third quarter touchdown for each team samford leads mercer 21-17 you're watching college football in espn davis having himself a game for the mercer bears today well over 100 yards and two touchdowns just he's done it all he's caught the ball out of the backfield he's not giving up he has run so hard tonight head long into what has been a pretty stingy sambar defense for the most part but how about this just the the ability to not only not give up but to keep his balance and finish that run off on the better runs you'll see all season and devon folger boots that one out of bounds let's take it back to the sidelines and avery braxton yeah that's right they talked about fred davis and the game he's having so far him and brandon marshall both went from the joker position back to their natural running backs by coach cronic said the two of them actually feed off of each other and you can see him having the game he's having today they both do an excellent job at breaking tackles he breaks a tackle there puts his head down as he plunges into the end zone just vintage fred davis so far today officials conferring after the ball was kicked out of bounds there's a flag at about the 32-yard line [Applause] [Music] after the play number four [Music] [Applause] williams with some extracurricular activity [Music] after the whistle so a personal foul tacks on 15 more chronic just said for what is the first penalty of the game for mercer and it sets the bulldogs up at the 50 first down each team with the possession here in the third quarter each team with a touchdown both teams making some offensive adjustments that have obviously worked quick pass then the ball is dropped trying to get it out to jairus kramer so often talk about teams need to make defensive adjustments at the half maybe a little bit more talk about what to do offensively and at least from what we've seen those tweaks have worked for both sides second down welch a little bit of pressure and does a good job of just maneuvering around and then finding an open man in montreal washington is a good one to find picked up six and brings up third and four now [Applause] this is the spot that both teams really tonight frank have been somewhat conservative if they don't get this let's see how samford plays it on third and medium bears again rush three too much time welch is going and again he's got a man open and he's able to find him in stride the long ball has been a friend tonight and number 19 jairus kramer who dropped the pass a couple of plays ago redeems himself there and the bulldogs are inside the five just a eternity to throw back there for welch giles knocked down but got to the one yard line a hard runner big hit there by mercer from ken stanley but second and goal [Music] [Applause] giles again runs into his own man and gets pushed back so the bear is able to stack up the middle child is unable to get any forward motion [Music] [Applause] let's see where they're gonna put the football [Music] looks like we're gonna give it back to the original line which is about the one yard line probably gonna get an offside against mercer they ran the play so fast that the all sides occurred and then getting ready to run the next play before they could even get the penalty to be assessed so mercer without a penalty in the first half two right here a personal foul on the kickoff followed by this offside so now the ball about the half yard line welch by himself he's got four receivers to the top of the screen and he's gonna throw a quick little pass and it turns into a touchdown well maybe let's wait and see included number 88 michael vice and their ruling is a touchdown so vice was able to get into the score the junior from vestavia hills alabama fourth touchdown pass of the game for liam welch you see the pile up at the goal line [Music] the mercer coaching staff feeling like the the linesman closest to the play didn't signal and the one on the near side came in and did [Music] i think they're just going to play on here so the touchdown will stand one yard touchdown pass liam welch to michael vice [Applause] zach williams extra point is good three possessions in the second half three touchdowns two for samford and one for mercer so the bulldogs take advantage of a couple of mercer penalties and some on target throws from liam welch and they'll bump their lead back up to 11. another good response samford had to feel like they went into the halftime break break frank feeling good getting that late score and then holding mercer off the scoreboard they get the ball to start the second half and they are clicking offensively as you take another look at that last score of course you've heard it 10 000 times you only have to break the plane of the goal line in order for it to be a touchdown so liam welch now heating up 244 yards passing and four touchdowns [Music] so now it's the bear turn to try and answer [Applause] [Music] kobe meaning lines it up and the ron harper watches it sail into the end zone [Applause] so the bears will take over at their own 25 yard line now trailing 28-17 still nine minutes to play in the third quarter and no reason that you should feel like you have to abandon the run game that's been successful for mercer tonight they've reached into the bag of tricks a little bit just have to keep pressing me frank this is life in the southern conference if you are going to be a contender for a title and via fcs playoff team you have you have to get used to these types of games and mercer and samford both find themselves in the middle of one [Music] [Applause] again really have to tip your hat to the adjustments the offensive adjustments that both squads made at the break peyton quick pass to ron harper and nice defense right there quickly in there with silvon turner number 13 to kind of bust the play up before it had a chance to develop [Music] really impressed by the team speed of the bulldogs they played their assignment strong chris hatcher of course his years at valdosta state being successful the d2 level and going to powerhouse georgia southern he has experience in this conference peyton will take off he's got room to run gets a good block there he's going to pick up a first down she gets it over the 35 yard line so a good decision by fred payton to give mercer a first down [Music] he's very confident running the football smart with it running out of bounds and just taking what the defense gives him [Music] first and ten mercer on 38 [Music] and then pounding the ball ahead good gain that is brandon marshall kind of the offset to fred davis davis with two touchdowns today it was marshall with two last week against foreman keep feeding both of them the rock only down 28-17 midway through the third quarter don't abandon what's working gain of eight second and two ball on the mercer 46. for the bears frank just take care of the football davis back in makes a nice move and fred davis has got room to run down the sideline can they cut him off no fred davis with the hat trick his third touchdown of the game and the bears are back into the end zone boy samford just looked beat on that particular play davis ran by him like they were standing still he is having quite an evening partner once he turned the corner he turned on the speed looks like chris edmonds might have an angle [Music] extra point attempt is good so make it four possessions in the second half and four touchdowns two for each team fred davis having himself a night and we've got ourselves a football game again bulldogs leave the bears by four you're watching southern conference football on espn university in macon georgia's southern conference football on a saturday night glad to have you with us 2824 samford both teams very impressive offensively and we still have seven and a half minutes left in the third quarter a little half of the third quarter we've seen four touchdowns [Music] [Applause] short kick there the bulldogs are able to corral it kind of what the bears have been doing trying to keep the ball away from montreal washington this has been a very very intriguing game to watch and just something maybe to plant in the back your head that one was a little shorter than the last one this game keeps close gets down to the wire wouldn't put it past through chronic to maybe see if he could sneak one by and offsides it or something like that so samford will start at the 35 and welch just took the ball it's a big kid drives forward still going to pick up 12 yards for a first down on a simple play a bowling ball out there he is he is a stout kid and not afraid [Music] so just like that 13 yards in samford is that their own 48 first and 10. stanton that same side that welch just went to and he's gonna pick up seven yards [Music] if these coaches have done anything well tonight they have done a nice job of keeping the imposing defenses off balance the offenses have never really looked vanilla at times it's been just just enough misdirection just enough switching it up to keep both defenses especially in the second half just off kilter this time welch keeps it and gets hit hard but he gets enough for a first down liam welch took a big hit but as we said he's a big fella about 6-2 over 200 pounds so a first down for the bulldogs at the mercer 41. and a quick strike and there's the big man michael vice who caught a touchdown pass on the last drive [Music] that's good for a first down welch doesn't need a lot of time he's been getting a lot of time but not just a little one step drop right there knows the routes his receivers are running does his check downs very quickly has rushed a handful of throws but he's been pretty on his game tonight again that right side and that's where they've gone almost this entire drive [Music] that's going to be good for five yards for ken stick for jay stanton the junior out of crestview florida jordan swain defensive lineman one of those three linemen up front felt like he was being held the entire time his shoulder pad was taken out of his jersey [Music] [Applause] [Music] welch with time and he's got a man running wide open for a touchdown and that's j.r number eight there's a flag down in the back field in the area where you think may be holding and it is you mentioned phil the mercer player in the play before thought he was being held the call comes this time and notifies the touchdown pass to tran reno see if we can catch it here not really able to tell there beautifully run route great catch wide open you love them there if your mercer but again frank you know we sound like a broken record mercer has got to figure out a way to put some pressure on the quarterback they haven't been able to get to him once tonight and for the most part in the second half he really hasn't even been hurried that much yeah he's had plenty of time and a good gain right here quick little flip pass and that's going to be peyton ringer number 37. [Music] [Applause] five look defensive same play and the bears get a great defensive play right there and that is number 54 ken stanley who fought off the blocker and was able to bring ringer down now we've got fourth down ball is about at the 29 yard line and it looks like we're going to send the field goal team on and that would be zach williams williams five of six on the year his longest is only 36 yards to junior out of louisville kentucky this would be about a 47 yarder tie hatcher the coach's son will hold it's not a particularly good looking kick and it is short so the penalty pulls points off the board for the bulldogs negates the touchdown and then the mercer defense stands up results in a missed field goal and mercer gets the ball back with momentum still on their side trailing by four frank the that kick may have been rushed a little bit it was only about one second on the play clock when that snap was taken i thought for a moment chris hatcher and sanford may take a time out to talk about it and then take a timeout because the kicking team wasn't ready and mercer may have gotten a fingernail on that kick didn't see any indication from the officials but big stop there for mercer first time a defense has stopped an offense in the third quarter and there goes fred davis again graded through the first line and picks up another big gain that's going to be about 13 yards frank we said it early on in this game that etsu really wore down samford late in the second half and maybe we're starting to see that samford defense huff and puff a little bit as as the game goes on number five in orange just looks to be getting stronger and stronger ran through a tackle from coutrell player there goes davis again another big gain rolling the shoulder and driving picked up nearly 10 there that'll get him up to right around 190 yards on the game he's averaging better than 11 yards a carry picked up nine there after back-to-back rushes he goes out and brandon marshall comes in mercer in samford territory second and one at the bulldog 47. nothing fancy and marshall breaks through the hole a big gap right there off the left side and a first down for the bears to the samford 35 [Applause] or what a nice compliment he has given drew chronic in the backfield is mercer trying to play hurry up a little bit himself [Music] marshall good defense josiah cotton young man from macon georgia number 28 able to turn that play in [Music] maybe a gain of three would bring up second and seventy [Music] [Applause] you don't want to get lulled to sleep here if you're sanford and have mercer throw one over the top on you peyton will roll and fire has a man open and that's to run harper he makes the catch inside the 20-yard line so the bears are inside the rolling avenue dessert red zone with a nice pitch and catch [Applause] well-ran route mercer knocking on the door here frank threatening to take the lead here in the third period at the 17-yard line fred davis back in there has three touchdowns rushing on the night this time the bulldogs were able to get penetration and prevent davis from getting any type of momentum number 95 knifing in there to help out for the bulldogs to slow down that man that's johnny johnston defensive end he's a freshman samford has been good they haven't been as solid as they were in the first half here in the third quarter but a chance to prove themselves again if they can bow their neck and somehow keep mercer out of the end zone will be a loss of two there so second and twelve davis works his way around the left side and again the bulldogs get a lot of white jerseys to the ball getting up off the bottom of the stack right there number one cortland marsh a quarterback a sophomore so now davis goes out marshall back in mercer with third down call it nine from the samford 15. bears split only one man out and that's eastern ethan durham to the top of the screen [Music] peyton's got a man wide open a touchdown slipping [Applause] good protection up front peyton stepping up confident throw and mercer has the lead [Applause] first touchdown pass of the night for fred payton but it's a big one and it gives mercer the lead and the extra point puts the bears up by three so drew cronic has fined them found the magic touch here in the third quarter offensively mainly on the ground but this time through the air here phil frank when you have as much success as davis is having on the ground you set up plays like that you get the defense to creep up maybe an extra step or two it opens up the playbook and boy has the mercer offense delivered here in the second half fourth touchdown reception of the year for ty james the redshirt freshman from norcross georgia dayton now 10 of 20 just 100 yards 105 yards through the air but a confident throw there so often you sit back and talk about especially in today's game the run game complimenting the pass payton doing a nice job of mixing in some good throws to what has been a dominant performance by fred payton 200 yards on the ground and we still have an entire fourth period to go and there are the bears against booting it down that's been their strategy and samplers they would have been able to get pretty good feel for this that's the second time that dakota chapman a graduate transfer running back from jacksonville state he's been able to pick up pretty good yardage so in their quest to keep the ball out of the hands of montrell washington [Music] the mayors have been kicking it short but that time chapman is able to get it back to the 40-yard line so good starting position for liam welch [Music] stanton this time goes off the left side found room before the orange jerseys stack them up at a gain of close to eight yards for jay stanton mercer frank still looks pretty fresh defensively looks like sanford a little bit worn down on the defensive side of things they'll try to get their breath and be able to go strong back out there and a pressure right there and coming in it was solomon zabari to put the head on liam welch and force him to overthrow kendall watson who was breaking free down about the 25-yard line defended by harrison poole number 12. a rare sight for welts to be pressured but had to get rid of the football burning short [Music] which should be the final play of the third quarter and west does a good job of faking and then carries it across the 50 and that's going to be good for a first down [Applause] buckle up and that'll bring us to the end of a third quarter and what a wild win it was five touchdowns in the third quarter three by mercenary two by samford and the bears lead the bulldogs 31-28 this is southern conference football all right welcome back start of the fourth quarter samford and mercer bears lead the bulldogs by three samford's got the football on the mercer side of the field and that means liam welch has room to operate hands to jay stanton off the right side gets a good push across the ball well the ball popped out where no i came back with it looked like i thought it was loose for a minute it and then it fell right back in his hands of about five second and five [Music] the stantons are on the ball hard tonight frank he's put his head down drives straight ahead and ran into lance wise and it's gonna bring up a big third down and two as again his helmet comes off it's the second time that stan's lost his helmet and they've immediately brought in jake giles number 24. that's big because he's their hard-nosed runner and now they've got a third and two of course you can go with welch he's proven he can do that as well [Music] last time on third and short welch pulled it and kept it for the first down [Applause] this time he'll throw it at a quick pass and good defense and that was michael campbell who had an interception earlier closed quickly on chandler smith to prevent the completion well you lose your running back because of his helmet and then you've got limited options as far as welch is now he's going to come back in all right you got a fourth and two and chris hatcher is not hesitating here with the ball on the mercer 39 he's going to go for it he's shocked if number 20 and white did not get the football [Applause] [Music] looks like mercer has called a timeout the bears will take their first time out of the second half to set their defense as samford faces a fourth and two big play coming up fourth down from the bulldogs they trail by three beautiful saturday night in macon georgia a great college football game you're watching it on yet [Applause] [Music] mercer fans on their feet at five star stadium big play here early full fourth quarter samford down by three going for it fourth and two in the mercer 39 welch will roll and pitch and they get a first down and matter of fact stan has got a lot more to see where he went out of bounds but a good decision again by liam welch running the option and pitching at the perfect time that is what the option is all about is timing and just able to get the defense to commit and more than the first down for a guy who's very quietly had a very good game red how did the tackle indonesia gamage you had a shot at him as soon as he got the ball and now with time watch plenty of time he's going to dump it out and there's stanton and this time he's picked up and dumped short game bears did a good job defending down the field that's just what i was getting ready to say frank a great point and when you get when you give a quarterback that much time and he does his check down to his guy out of the backfield that's a very good indication of how good your secondary is doing in coverage [Applause] [Music] that freezer stopping to play [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] loss of a yard i don't know if mercer asked him to look at it but the play lost a yard so you wouldn't think that mercer would want them to review it unless they're [Music] so we'll have to see maybe samford said hey incomplete it's gonna be a yard difference either way let's see they're gonna be second and ten or second and eleven cronic has had some spirited conversations with our managed stripes tonight as we get another look at this one [Music] [Applause] that was clearly a completed pass [Music] not really sure what they're looking at [Music] cronic really has made some nice offensive adjustments difficult to come by points in the first half but that's what this is about [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] wow [Applause] isaac dowling one of the leaders of the mercer defense [Music] we have seen that some in college football this year as the officials say they are going to look at something and then they see something else and going to look at the play that they just reviewed and perhaps a lot of people think that that is too punitive the first targeting the ejection but that is a huge moment in this game captain the freshman [Music] [Applause] that's puzzling the officials say that they want to do it on a completed pass but they they end up with targeting and that's not dowling there he'll be coming in right there he lowers he hits him in the [Applause] let's watch this again [Music] now to me it's it's not so much whether it is targeting or not but it's for the officials saying that they are looking at something and then after looking they find something else which [Applause] that's that's a huge moment he did not i guess they're saying he led with his helmet into the man's body how to regroup here if you're the bears [Applause] stanton short game takes it down inside the 10. you know what frank a lot of times though you know a lot of times like in like in basketball the coach gets a technical or something like that a lot of times that's the last thing you want to do to a defense is that will fire them up and get them to up their level of play and that's definitely what the bears need right now and trying to hold on to this lead second and goal [Applause] [Music] welch will hand off a good hard run again as you have said jay stanton has been running hard for sanford and he got goody on it's there but it's going to bring up third in goal right about the five yard line [Music] [Applause] triple digits is stanton [Applause] [Music] washington to get a touchdown now the bears say they have the football but the arms are up that would be washington's third touchdown of the day two in the air and this time on the reverse [Applause] [Music] back and forth we go here in macon [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] washington is the man you have to keep your eye on and he has done damage his third touchdown of the night and sanford regains the lead and here's another look you're watching college football on espn [Music] welcome back stanford leaves mercer 35-31 the bears with the football now on the receiving end of the kickoff the samford defense has struggled in the second half this season phil yeah and you know you look at what they did in the first half and you thought well maybe it's going to carry over to the second half but you wonder where their fatigue level is you have to feel like what they just saw on the offensive side of the football motivates them but the uh the story lines in this game continue to grow more interesting as the minutes tick off kobe needs boot you said mckee is going to bring it out looks like for a moment he was gonna down it and mckee has gotten room to run spinning across the 35 to the 36 yard line so the decision to bring it out pays off for you send the key and mercer will start from about the 36 yard line good job just running to the gap and waiting for it to open up both teams with mercer electing to go with the swift kick and with the good returns for the bears both teams have had some pretty nice starting field position tonight frank virtual start from their own 37 [Music] trailing by four fred davis 190 yards rushing stands next to fred payton [Applause] drives ahead a short game there maybe three we're wondering about time of possession it's gotten pretty close mercer really had the advantage up until the last drive they got it for 24-39 samford's at it for 23-27 for sure the way they have been moving to football take some time off the clock on this drive [Music] [Applause] davis ducks down [Applause] it's gonna bring up a big third down here paul about the 44 yard line mercer must get to the 47 so third and three [Applause] [Music] [Applause] peyton will go from the shotgun with davis next to him [Applause] [Music] [Applause] nothing fancy and davis has got room to run fred davis continues to drive downfield a nice tackle by lamar anderson that offensive line for mercer is doing a job and once he gets through that first line of defense good luck bringing him down [Music] what an evening for number five in orange over 200 yards now and mercer has a first down at the samford 35. [Music] and davis around the left side this time again room to run could maybe enough for another first down something to mark him just short and you can see davis limps off the field and samford has a man down as well [Applause] number 31 that's lamar anderson the senior safety transfer by way of ball state ball resting on the samford 25 would be second down and a yard never liked to see any player go down but especially a senior looked like he was trying maybe to plant and figure out a way to get davis down you have just planted the wrong way but avery braxton our sideline reporter has checked in and said on the targeting call the replay official upstairs is the one that initiated that review there was not a call made on the field but the replay official has that power so he initiated the call which turned into a penalty against mercer and the ejection of isaac dowling that's definitely something that's a judgment and very difficult to define as to what it is or what it isn't big loss for mercer and speaking of loss you certainly hope that anderson will be okay but very much favoring one of his legs as he hobbles off they came in on 24 tackles on the season a sack and an interception for lamar anderson so he is now out and mercer has second and one [Music] seven guys on the line of scrimmage for samford fake to brandon marshall now peyton is gonna run there comes a flag down you heard the stanford coaches next to us covering holding and two flags appear to indicate that will be the case [Applause] when a play is drawn out like that it's going to be pretty obvious as it looked like that was maybe tay berry that was getting held there so instead of that was a second and one this would back them up 10 yards [Music] [Applause] so that makes it second down and 11. just the third penalty of the night for mercer [Music] [Applause] the bears will now backs them up to the 35-yard line second and 11. if you're mercer you just have to keep attacking it it's becoming more and more evident the samford just looks winded especially up front with the way the offensive line is holding their spots and they're having to work so hard there in the trenches [Applause] [Music] peyton faked the landon miller kept it a short gain though maybe down to the 32 that's gonna bring up a big third down [Music] and about seven for the bears [Music] with this as successful as the running game has been especially in the second half what do you do here do you play this as a two down type of scenario try to get a chunk in the next two plays and stick with the running game or you try to pick it up all here at one time through the air fred davis now back in after sitting out a couple of plays he's behind peyton looks like the bears are going to take a timeout the play clock was down to five seconds drew cronic will gather his offense around him [Music] that's the bear second time out now with 8 minutes and 30 seconds to go here in the fourth quarter you figured mercer down by four this would be two down territory field goal from here would be almost 50 yards and you make a good point you played as trying to get five of the seven here by running the football [Music] it was a very quiet start to this game and then things just took off the real melts has been very effective montrell washington that was the first of his three touchdowns speaking of three touchdowns fred davis on the ground for mercer welch's had good luck found an open chandler smith there and there's mr washington again number four and then davis just started to take over including this beautiful run bouncing it out and then getting a good block down field couple of big penalties have contributed to scores of course have the targeting a couple of trick plays special teams has been big see what the bears do here out of the timeout by third and seventh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] washington stands payton davis next to him and now samford takes the time out so after seeing [Applause] the bulldogs will take a 30-second timeout it's like a chess game out there and looked like that was getting ready to be obviously everybody stopped because of the time out but before it was indicating it looked like it was going to be a pretty good play for the bears and we've seen this in this game franken out of timeouts coaches being creative in trying things this gives drew chronic a little bit more time what does he do now after having that play pretty much going to the wayside can you come back with it thinking that samford's not going to think you're going to run it again or do you make an adjustment off it [Music] split out it's been effective one time for a big game you really shock him and go for it all right here a lot of options fred davis 228 yards that's a program rushing record and we still have eight and a half minutes left here in the fourth quarter they're gonna throw it and a beautiful [Applause] i thought he was going to run it too and had an option downfield what a big conversion [Applause] you know who he'll go to and that is his fourth touchdown fred davis finds payton again and the bears are back on top [Music] boy what a classic we are seeing and unfold here before us tonight as this goes back and forth a seesaw affair here on a saturday night in macon fred davis single game rushing record and four touchdowns now for the bears [Applause] tries to make it a three-point game perfect on extra points thus far this year [Applause] and remains that way [Music] [Applause] [Music] seconds left to play bears and bulldogs in a classic and you're watching it on espn dangerous but jeez welcome back to five star stadium fred davis one night for this young man number five program record over 200 yards rushing ties tyrae denison's mark with four touchdowns in a game he is just running so hard and put his head down not afraid of contact certainly putting himself in the offensive player of the week conversation in the southern conference this time a pooch kick [Applause] dakota chapman has been a busy man returning kicks back there that's the third one he's gotten as the bears continue to keep the ball away from montrell washington that kick worked out a little better for mercer than the squid kick chapman able to get it to about the 30-yard line and that's where liam welch in the bulldogs will take over still eight minutes and 12 seconds to play fourth quarter with mercer now on top by three one thing that both teams have done a good job of in the second half is taking care of the football and as this game starts to wear on can you continue to keep good care of it oh wells did a great job right there to avoid a sack and then just dumps the pass off and the bears were able to swarm to the football but liam welch looked like he was going down and was able to get it off to michael vice let's head down to the sidelines now avery braxton yeah i got a chance to listen i got a chance to listen to that mercer defense during that uh last offensive drive and you can see them hyping each other up understandably frustrated by that targeting call you can hear them telling each other hey we gotta get a stop hey we gotta get a stop isaac dialing obviously who got the targeting penalty had his arm around lance wise telling them hey go make a play you best believe they want to get a stop here with sanford threatening in this ball game getting into this later stages fellas [Music] nearly as quickly on this drive really taking their time [Music] uncharacteristic from what we've seen from them tonight bears trying to apply pressure roche is just going to let it a go ball and nearly caught right there and that was chandler smith who had a shot at it that's as discombobulated as samford has looked on offense they didn't their their rhythm was completely different than what we've seen tonight yeah michael campbell defending for mercer he tripped and smith had a shot at it it couldn't bring it down so a three and out a rarity in this football game [Music] [Applause] does a beautiful job of scooping it up and it's a short kick goes out of bounds not one of his best efforts and now we'll see where they're going to mark and the mercer is going to get excellent field position they're still going they're going to be at their own 47 yard line 48 yard line he did a good job of that ball short hop to him on the snap he did a good job of getting it but his punt left a good bit to be desired so now frank mercer has not been super fancy with what they've done really all game it's not like we've seen different stuff from them in the second half it's just worked better and now they're in a spot they really haven't been in all night they've got the lead and the ball and a chance to just continue to do what they've been doing which is run the football which you move the ball and you run the clock mercer just came up with a big stand defensively can the bulldogs now answer with a stand brandon marshall plows ahead gets it across the 50 may give him four yards [Music] sanford looks tired i know i've said that a lot but this is unfortunately been somewhat of a theme for them this year they they play pretty well in the first half as far as keeping them off the palmetto off the scoreboard but have not been successful in half number two a little dump pass and nicely done and that's ethan durham and durham's got room to run so they just rolled out fred payton durham right in front of him and that's good for a mercer first down mixing it up a little bit if you're drew chronic real simple roll out bootleg to the right [Applause] clock running will go under six minutes number one priority here if you're the bears take care of the football because you know samford is thinking strip davis back in there now takes the pitch good job of patiently waiting and samper did a good job of stretching that play out and holding fred davis to just a yard game [Music] nick jackson number 97 also help right there from tate berry number 44. the bulldogs did not let davis turn the corner looks like lamar anderson able to come back in there for samford which is good to see after he exited with a knee issue they need him out there samford needs something good to happen they have just not been able to slow down mercer at all in half number two bears looking quick pass out completed and that is number 11. brandon mays he's out of danville georgia that's going to be his first catch if it holds i think we may have a discussion [Music] flag on the play like maybe against sanford the result of the play is a first down [Applause] [Music] so in addition to the completion to maze they get tate berry with hands to the face [Music] [Applause] again you wonder about fatigue if you're starting to get tired you haven't [Applause] [Music] just inside the 10 yard line so first and goal from the 10 under five minutes to play fourth quarter bears lead by three davis picking his way still kelly looked like he was down at about the five and was able to push ahead gonna put him [Applause] davis right side into the end zone for [Applause] [Music] [Applause] absolutely punishing with the football in his arms they have had no answer for him off the right side good push up front the bears getting great blocking big number 51 jason poe the captain opened the hole and this to give mercer a 10-point lead [Applause] four minutes 21 seconds to play in the fourth quarter [Applause] and the bears lead by 10. number five with five tds you're watching college football on espn [Music] welcome back to five star stadium campus of mercer university in macon georgia southern conference football on a saturday night at espn frank malloy phil cox avery braxton with you mercer now leads by 10 45 35 on the strength of a five touchdown night from fred davis for the bears it's a historic night in macon georgia a real stalwart has been kind of born before our eyes if you will let's see how this again they're gonna go with the pooch kick this one carries a little further and a nice play right there and the bears are able to get down quickly and that's number 32 excellent job of defending the short kick and that is kapoor robinson young man out of honolulu hawaii well if you're samford you've got to get back to the pace they've been going out all game we didn't really see it in that last possession but they thrive the quicker they go the better they operate and they've got to do that now by necessity there's fred davis with the record five touchdowns in the game now quick with his pass and they're going to go to their big play man and that is montrell washington [Music] washington hit hard right there by zach hopkins in just a short game davis with five tds for mercer washington has three for samford under four minutes now well it's just short passing nice throw right there a sliding chandler smith and that's good for a first down keep in mind in college football clock stops momentarily on a first down to reset the chains [Music] well it's quick snap under pressure and then just throws it away avery almost caught it down there too our sideline reporter there [Music] was applying pressure for the bears so now second down again mercer just rushing three and welsh with all kinds of time that time montrell washington unable to make the catch and that brings up a third down bears get fresh bodies in again they're still consistent going with the three-part three-man rush right now they've been able to get a little bit of pressure and and kind of push back on welch at least a little bit again three down linemen they drop eight third and ten [Applause] and a nice defensive play right there and it was denisia gamage who dropped back in coverage was able to tip the ball away but not much doubt here fourth down the bulldogs will go for it [Applause] welsh had a man damage he was looking for kendall watson i believe it game's got a hand on it so here it goes this is pretty much the game for samford fourth down and 10 from their own 45 down by 10. bears again rush three watch is going to win for it and he makes it beautiful move at about the 48-yard line he was still three yards short he avoided a tackler and a huge first down for the bulldogs he's done enough with his feet tonight to extend drives you've got a man wide open that's kendall watson then watson is able to take it down inside the 20-yard line they're going to mark him at about the 17. so here come the bulldogs as we back that the quicker they go it seems like the better they are so this fits in with their offensive philosophy under three minutes zach hopkins right there makes the tackle in the running back j stanton what you have to kind of keep in the back of your mind here if you're sanford is if it does stall you can kick a field goal as a as an option of course you want seven that's obvious but if you run into an issue you can kick it but now you're probably close enough you just go for it anyway completion there torence pollard and that sets up a third and two from about the seven yard line [Applause] and we're gonna get a false start so instead of third and two it'll now be third and seven [Applause] that's the disadvantage of going so fast your quarterback's ready clap in his hands give him the ball your offensive line just not quite down and ready to go two minutes 13 seconds left on the clock samford with a third and seven [Applause] about the 12. welsh will keep it [Applause] tribe he is a tough man to bring down gonna be sure to the first down though depending on where they market they play continued gonna put him at about the nine that'll bring up about a fourth and two and the clock continues to run [Music] welch runs the option does a good job of pushing it stanton driving down he got the first down which you have to be careful of here obviously you have to be in a hurry but you can't be in so much of a hurry that you don't execute the way you should that watch is going to take it right to him and he's going to drive the pile and get in for a touchdown excellent second effort by liam welch he appeared to be stacked up was able to move in for a score and the bulldogs get what they had to have to get back into this game it's now a four-point game the good thing about that frank is they didn't have to use one of their two remaining timeouts they did all of that without having to use a timeout so now zach williams [Applause] important extra point right here make it a three-point game and he does 45-42 one minute 25 seconds on the clock for samford do you onside kick oh i don't think there's any question i would be shocked if they didn't with the way that mercer has moved the football on the ground that i would be flabbergasted if they kick the football away granted they have two timeouts but still and even though they just need a field goal i still would be surprised if they kick the football away so 12 plays 71 yards two minutes at 51 seconds off the clock a couple of key fourth down conversions including a huge one by liam welch when the ball was right about at midfield [Music] well mercer certainly thinks the onside kick is coming zach williams [Music] from the 35 regardless of who wins this game this has been just a treat to watch another southern conference classic glad to have you along with us on espn tonight the idea is try to kick the top of the football as hard as you can and you get a lucky bounce and it falls right into one of your hands team members if you're sanford [Applause] ball is up in the air it looks like maybe you send the key for mercer got it but there's a scramble this referee is signaling mercer football let's see who's on it there's nobody getting a chance to see it there i couldn't see who got off the bottom of the pile the ball bounces right there oh it's number 12. i thought it was number two and it was number 12 for the first verse leaping high in the air and harrison came down with it greg gary may want to recruit him for the basketball team with hops like that paul is a richard senior out of saint mary's george only 511. keep in mind samford has two timeouts ball is at the samford 44. of course you've got fred davis behind [Music] and davis makes a man miss and is running free fred davis towards the end zone inside the 10 down to the 5 yard line tonight from davis the red shirt freshman from fortson georgia get off that right side the bear's offensive line has been just huge eric come out number 79 jason he has just shredded this samford defense tonight did it more with hard hard-nosed runs for four or five yards in the first half but it's broke some big ones here in half number two and as mercer on the doorstep of a 2-0 conference start and now four the clock is running samford with two timeouts there's not much room they can do [Applause] commercial referees [Music] [Applause] wow 28 carries 276 yards for fred davis and five touchdowns again the blocking off the right side look at 79 just drive [Music] has done the [Music] [Applause] [Music] the bears will go into the victory formation [Music] fred payton takes him [Applause] and samford i believe will use one of their timeouts bears flex their defensive muscle last week frank on that 24-3 win versus furman had to really do it with their run game tonight but boy did fred davis show off on the ground [Applause] [Music] with 568 total yards both teams over 500 yards mercer with 353 on the ground samford's got 312 through the [Music] [Applause] air halftime adjustments i don't know what drew chronic tweaked but whatever it is it worked just punishing the bulldogs running the football all right samford still has one more time out [Applause] this is second down and the grand payton will take the knee and samford will use their final timeout now you know frank to have a to have a good season to have a special season you have to win games in different ways and that's what mercer has done last week and this week going on the road dominating furman keeping the paladins out of the end zone a shootout in the second half here against a different football team but off to a 2-0 start in a league that is completely wide open anyone up for the taking in 2021. [Music] this is one of those games that in past mercer has struggled sometimes at like one key game at home after opening strong to get the victory and it looks like they are going to get that signature win tonight [Music] and that should be the last play and the clock will tick down on a mercer victory over the samford bulldogs in a southern conference shootout and this crowd who stuck around to see it as a football team that is going to raise a few eyebrows in this area hey hear what mercer did the other night sort of thing what a win big crowd on hand and a beautiful night for football and mercer would take the 45-42 victory over sanford a second half that was non-stop action samford doing it through the air and mercer on the ground with a couple of key completions thrown in from fred payton [Music] and mercer goes to 2-0 in the conference now 3-1 overall samford drops to one and two in the conference [Applause] and two and three overall and there's the band playing in that so as you said a wide open southern conference this year and this certainly puts mercer in good stead heading on the road next week against western carolina [Music] all right coach this one certainly went back and forth down to the wire we talked about these kind of games in the socon all the time what was it like to be a part of this win that was fun today i mean it was such a competitive game kids making plays on both sides of the ball um i think we beat a pretty good team today in the second half we really responded we found some things in the run game we were able to hit up enough throws to keep them you know just keep them off balance a little bit i thought our defense got stopped when we had to i mean that that was that was a fun game that was wild fred davis 276 yards five touchdowns both records and he looks like he's about to join us here in a second uh just talk about the performance he had today how good was it to watch it as a coach i just fed him i just kept feeding him didn't i so i'm proud of him because this is what we thought he could do um and he's locked in and he's playing great football and he's been he's really unselfish he's a great teammate um so i need to keep feeding him a little bit absolutely absolutely let's see we can grab fred frank come here my man come here my man [Applause] let's see he's going to join us here fred 276 yards five touchdowns both mercer records what was the key to you running the football today the old line the front five blocked their asses off excuse my language online did their job we came in this week we worked we worked hard we had a goal set we had revenge we wanted to get on the boys the front five was that was the key right there to get a conference win like this with this crowd that's here at home what was that like that was big time uh this we felt like this is a big team that we needed to get over the hump to try to uh expand our goals when it come to conference the fact that we did this just makes it even that much better to be that much closer big win enjoy it man congratulations thank you frank phil back to you guys brad davis standing next to anybody didn't look all that big but where was he been on the field today oh my goodness what a win for mercer tonight frank an impressive win over a really good football team samford team that will just have to regroup as they go forward this year and frank a mercer team that probably will at least get some votes in the upcoming poll maybe even will be ranked when they go to western carolina next week all right craig roy on hand with phil cox and avery braxton you've been watching

Channel: Wally the Bronco Too

Views: 2,670

Keywords: Samford, Mercer

Id: -67XSzi0Gic

Length: 163min 31sec (9811 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 04 2021