What does Mercer football have in common with Alabama in 2024? More than you might think

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.

Kendall Harris didnt see the ball until the very last second.

He streaked toward the end zone, the sun in his eyes the entire time, but he trusted his route, and the ball dropped perfectly into one hand as he entered the end zone.

Touchdown Mercer.

The scoreboard read Alabama 28, Mercer 7 late in the second quarter.

The game was never in doubt as Alabama cruised to a 52-7 win , but the moment that culminated in Harris being bombarded with cheers on the sideline is why Mercer played the game.

That was a big one for me, the redshirt freshman said of his first career touchdown.

That was really nice.

It was a lot of fun to go out there, be able to catch that and be hyped up by my teammates and everything like that.

Touchdown on Saban Field pic.twitter.com/PSCpEsLC57 Mercer Football (@MercerFootball) November 16, 2024 That visiting sideline was filled more than usual.

Among the players, coaches, support staff and sideline passes, there were 193 Mercer credentials.

Alabama has credentialed more people one time this year: against Georgia (209).

FCS programs like Mercer can see games like these as their Super Bowl, a chance to compete against the best and live out a career-making experience.

Advertisement But Mercers biggest game of the season wasnt Saturday in Tuscaloosa.

Its this week, with much bigger stakes than the 60 minutes versus the Tide.

Just get this out of our system, senior linebacker Isaac Dowling said.

Refocus on the main mission, winning the conference.

Mercer is the No.

7 team in the FCS rankings.

Saturday, the Bears will host rival Furman, last years Southern Conference champion, with a chance to clinch its first outright conference championship since the programs reboot in 2013.

The program in Macon, Ga., began playing in 1892, stopped in 1941 and resumed in 2013 with a 10-2 season.

Last season, Mercer reached the FCS playoffs for the first time, winning one game before losing to eventual national champion South Dakota State.

The Bears have clinched a bye in the first round with their share of the SoCon title but could improve their standing with a win against Furman.

The challenge this week is avoiding a fate Alabama opponents know all too well: letting a loss linger into the next week and affecting the next game.

I think thats a little bit of the story here, Mercer coach Mike Jacobs said.

These games usually arent this late in the year with different things on the line.

Within Mercers story, there are parallels to the FBS national championship contender it just played: a January coaching change, a cultural blend and adversity throughout the season.

Those storylines have led to an inflection point in November with the chance for redemption and the opportunity for a championship.

That all has to sound familiar to Alabama fans.

Its been too many close games, so many losses, Dowling, in his sixth and final season, said of his career.

It was right there.

We just never finished.

I think thats one of the biggest things coming into this season, you know, is that we get that chance and need to finish it out.

No matter what, no matter what coaching staff comes in here, weve been too close to just come this far.

Jan.

10 was a normal day for Mercer director of operations Bennett Houston until it wasnt.

Mercers 2023 season, which ended in Brookings, S.D., had been completed for about a month.

Excitement was building for the 2024 season, but coach Drew Cronic left for an FBS job: the offensive coordinator post at Navy .

Advertisement Its hard to go from 9-4 and make your first playoff run to everybodys unemployed, Houston said.

On the same day, about 300 miles to the west, Alabamas Nick Saban retired.

Both programs went into a period of uncertainty from finding a new coach, the transfer portal opening back up and more.

Houston , hired by Cronic in 2020, was asked to be a part of Mercers search committee.

In more ways than one, the answer was obvious: Jacobs, the coach at Division II program Lenoir-Rhyne.

We went through a million candidates in the search, Houston said.

We sat in there and just went through everybody.

The first column on every single persons list was win-loss record.

Coach Jacobs record blew everybody out of the water.

Jacobs compiled a 74-17 record at Lenoir-Rhyne and Notre Dame College (Ohio).

His 81.3 winning percentage before this season ranked sixth among active Division I and Division II coaches, trailing several familiar names like Kirby Smart, Ryan Day, Curt Cignetti and ...

Kalen DeBoer.

Mercers 9-2 record this season (81.8 percent) is right on par with Jacobs career percentage.

But Jacobs hire offered a unique coincidence.

In 2020, he replaced Cronic at Lenoir-Rhyne when Cronic accepted the job at Mercer.

Four years later, Jacobs replaced Cronic again.

I mean, we know each other now, Jacobs said.

But when I took over for him at Lenoir-Rhyne, complete strangers.

And then it just happens that were about polar opposites in terms of just like daily personality types.

Jacobs retained Houston, running backs coach Fred Jones, defensive line coach Jimmy Long and strength and conditioning coach Evan Barr among other support staff and quickly turned to roster retention.

They leaned on Dowling, now the programs all-time leading tackler, to speak player to player with the others.

Advertisement Dowling and a few others decided to use their sixth and last year of eligibility to stay with Jacobs for the chance at an elusive conference championship.

The Bears get the shot to win it outright when they host Furman on Saturday.

Weve been so close, Dowling said.

We have a lot of veterans whove played a lot of football.

We met and said, Hey, if we stay, we could definitely win it this year.

Just try again.

Then seeing how spring practice went, there was no doubt in my mind that we could finish this out together.

Mercer football is surrounded by reminders of how far it has come and still can go.

It shares Five Star Stadium with the womens lacrosse team, one of the top FCS programs in the conference.

Within walking distance is Betts Stadium, home to the mens and womens soccer teams that are consistent conference contenders.

Inside nearby Hawkins Arena, mens and womens basketball banners hang, and the baseball program has a championship history.

Everybody but us, Jones said.

The story of the past few years has been about close calls.

But the breakthrough came this season.

The sweetest part? Mercer was picked fourth in the preseason SoCon poll, and the Bears beat two of the teams picked ahead of them (Chattanooga and Western Carolina) with Furman to go.

The first player to predict this seasons run was one of Jones players: Dwayne McGee.

He followed Jacobs from Lenoir-Rhyne to Mercer after amassing more than 4,500 rushing yards in his career.

He knew what Jacobs brought to the table and what Mercer brought back.

Early in spring practice, he stood in front of the team and delivered a simple but powerful, message: This is a new Mercer.

What went into building that new Mercer? It was part on-field instruction and part off-the-field culture shifts.

Jacobs dedicates an enormous amount of time to fundamentals.

Mercer can spend upward of 30 minutes on simple blocking and tackling drills in practice.

The approach has been effective for the defense, the Bears calling card this season.

Before the Alabama game, Mercer ranked No.

1 among 123 FCS programs in interceptions (21), rushing defense (54.7 yards per game allowed) and third-down rate allowed (21.4 percent).

Advertisement A tight-knit atmosphere was the other component.

Fridays before games, the team has a game night with card games and food while watching whatever college game is on, instead of long meetings.

Inside Mercers facility, one of the first images youll see is a wall of the coaches pictured with their families.

Wives and children are regulars at game nights.

Its a contrast from the approach of many coaches, but it has made a difference for Mercer in moments of adversity, particularly recently.

The Bears overcame 14-point deficits in two of their past three games (West Carolina, East Tennessee State) to keep their dream season alive.

Theres no right or wrong, Jacobs said.

Most people have these long meetings; theyre so worried that they miss something.

To me, the real miss is if you dont have the connectivity.

Were not going to lose the game because we took an hour to enjoy one anothers company and create core memories and moments.

I think thats helped create the togetherness for us.

I think its been a huge piece of it.

Mercer QB Whitt Newbauer grew up an #Alabama fan.

Wears No.

8 because of Julio Jones.

pic.twitter.com/Vn8Lv3AiVR Jack Knowlton (@JackKnowlton_) November 16, 2024 During its run toward the SoCon outright title and the FCS playoffs, Mercer took a hard pivot to take on Alabama, the sports top program that is entrenched in a championship race of its own.

For players like freshman quarterback Whitt Newbauer, who wears No.

8 because of former Tide star Julio Jones, it was a chance to live out a dream against the program he grew up cheering for.

Holistically, the program could measure itself against the best while the athletic department earned a nice payday: $600,000.

But most importantly, this was one of the few opportunities for the FCS players to carve out a name for themselves, win or lose.

Everybody thinks they are going to the league, Jones said of the NFL .

We use it in recruiting.

You can come here, compete against the best in FCS, then have one game a year where you can show that you can play with the big boys as well.

You think you got a chance to go to the league? Go ahead and make some plays, whether we win or not.

You can at least show that you belong on the field.

Saturdays loss wasnt Jacobs desired outcome.

Early in the week, he hammered home the point that his players and coaches werent going to Tuscaloosa as tourists.

Expectedly, Alabama overpowered Mercer, but Jacobs found some good moments: Harris touchdown catch and a pretty good effort by Newbauer, who started the game 13-of-15 through the air.

Advertisement On the other hand, Jacobs weighed the possibility of these games going away.

College Football Playoff expansion could change the way schedules are viewed.

Its very possible Power 4 teams will stop scheduling FCS teams to help their strength of schedule.

For a program like Mercer, which is dedicated to supporting its athletic department, those big game checks would be missed.

Just me being very speculative, I think at some point, youre going to see that Power 4 completely detached, Jacobs said.

I do think its a great opportunity.

A lot of our kids grew up wanting to play SEC football.

To have an opportunity to play against the best and put it on the line, I think, is an important factor in their overall experience in college.

Itd be devastating (financially).

Sunday offered a snapback to reality for Mercer.

The team went through its weightlifting sessions at 2 p.m., followed by team meetings and preparations for Furman.

That game will offer a huge recruiting weekend as Mercer is expecting a large group of recruits to watch the Bears go for the outright conference title.

And some distractions have come with this success.

When Mercer clinched a share of the title a few weeks ago, it was approached by its ring company to start designing the championship rings.

The design box is sitting in Houstons office, visible but out of his immediate reach.

His message to the company: Well talk after Furman.

For mainstays like Dowling, Houston and Jones to newcomers like Jacobs and McGee, being part of the first championship football team at Mercer is a lifetime achievement and a building block for whats to come.

The biggest game of the year is coming off the worst loss from a point differential perspective.

Alabama does that to many teams, although Mercer is not into moral victories.

In a way, the Bears hope that loss will be helpful.

Great chance for our kids to self-evaluate, Houston said.

And you know, Furman will be moving a lot slower after Saturday.

The boys in Alabama are faster than anything weve seen.

(Top photo of Kendall Harris: Will McLelland / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.