The Jackrabbits face a new foe in the 2nd round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday! The Jacks will host the Mercer Bears at 1pm CST. The Bears are from Macon, Georgia and defeated Gardener Webb 17-14 in the first round of the FCS playoffs. Mercer is 9-3 on the season with losses to FBS Ole Miss, and FCS playoff teams, Furman and Chattanooga. This is a good team and we are about to find out how good.
Offense
The Mercer Bears have a balanced offense with dynamic playmakers at the skill positions. They score a little over 26 ppg while rushing for 153 ypg (3.8 ypc) and passing for 184 ypg. They control the ball with nearly 31 minutes of possession per game. However, they are not great on 3rd down and convert on just 35.63% of their opportunities. Have also allowed 31 sacks this season. It’s a mixed bag on turnovers with just 3 INTs tossed but a whopping 13 fumbles lost on 20 total. In the redzone, they are not great. They have scored on 32 of 43 attempts and just 23 of those have been touchdowns.
The offense is lead by #7 Carter Peevy (6-3, 220) who is a dual threat quarterback. Peevy has completed 67% of his passes for 2,209 yards and 11 TDs and he has only tossed 3 INT. He is the second leading rusher on the team with 556 gross yards but a net of just 312. Against Gardener Webb he broke off a big 75 yard run and he had the same against Ole Miss early in the season. The backup QB, #12 Hess Horne (6-2, 185) has attempted just 3 passes on the season. Even with the 31 sacks and physical running style, Peevy has managed to stay healthy.
The Bears have a nice lead back in #5 Al Wooten II (6-0, 225). He looked like a player who maybe has some juice against Gardener Webb. On the season he has 725 yards (4.8 ypc) and 6 TDs with a long of 76. He is also a threat in the passing game where he has 12 receptions for 119 yards and 2 TD. #25 Tyrell Coard (6-0, 210) looked like the primary backup and he has 250 yards (5.0 ypc) and 2 TD. Coard, a freshman, did look like he got a bit dinged up against GW.
Mercer has two dynamic receivers for Peevy to target. #13 Ty James (6-2, 200) is a true number 1 target and has the size, speed and talent combo that you want out of a wide receiver. He will be a terrific test for the Jackrabbit secondary. He leads the team with 61 receptions for 1,102 yards (18.07 ypc) and 7 TD. I’ve just been impressed with the film and highlights that I have watched of James and look forward to seeing him in person. He ranks right up there with Bryce Oliver and the Janke’s in terms of physical talent. He was selected as an All-SoCon selection. #1 Devron Harper (5-9, 170) is a gadget type player who has 53 receptions for 536 yards and 2 TD. He also has 25 carries for 179 yards and 1 TD. He’s a threat in the return game as well and we’ll get to that in a bit! #23 Travion Solomon (6-1, 190), #10 Parker Wroble (5-10, 185) and #21 Brayden Smith (5-10, 185) are others who will get involved in the offense. Solomon has 13 receptions for 117 yards, Wroble has 14 for 69 yards, and Smith has 11 for 93.
The tight ends for Mercer do a nice job run blocking but aren’t super involved in the passing game. #85 Sawyer Burt (6-4, 250) certainly looks the part but he has just 3 receptions for 37 yards. #86 Sam Albee (6-5, 230) has just 6 receptions for 40 yards.
The offensive line has struggled this season and certainly struggled against Gardener Webb. From left to right they go #73 John Thomas (6-2, 315, SR), #71 Israel Mukwiza (6-1, 320, RJr), #64 Riley Adcock (6-0, 270, Jr), #52 Demetri Robinson (6-2, 275, RSo), and #68 Nate Howard (6-7, 320 RJr). This group does a lot of shifts and movement along with the tight ends. At times they’ll flip sides and at times they’ll be unbalanced. Again, they did allow 31 sacks this season.
Defense
The Mercer defense has some good players at every level. They will shift between a couple of different looks but primarily play a 4-2-5. They allow 22.5 ppg, 107 ypg on the ground (3.3 ypc) and 219.5 through the air. They have registered 28 sacks, forced 13 interceptions, and recovered 10 fumbles. They are good on 3rd down and hold opponents to just a 33.72% conversion rate. In the redzone, they are even stouter! Opponents have have entered the redzone 44 times and have scored 36 times BUT only 22 of those were touchdowns.
The defensive line is led by #11 Solomon Zubaira (6-0, 245) and he is active! He has 9 sacks, 17.5 TFL, and 47 total tackles to go along with 12 more QBH. Zubaira was rewarded for his efforts with a 1st Team All-SoCon selection. Opposite him is #42 Christian Hanson (6-0, 235) who plays the KAT position which is a standup defensive end type. He has only played in 7 games and has just 8 tackles and a sack. He has split time with #40 Isaiah Washburn (5-11, 230) who has 33 total tackles, 3 TFL, and 2 QBH. On the interior, are #91 Jordan Swain (6-3, 290) and #94 Savio Frazier (6-0, 295). Swain has 29 tackles, 4 TFL, and 1.5 sacks along with 2 more QBH. Frazier has 28 tackles and 6 TFL. #98 Chris Hill (6-1, 295) and #99 Caden Camese (6-1, 285) provide good depth on the interior. Camese is actually a graduate of Bellevue West High School in Nebraska (home of Cade Johnson). #90 Brayden Manley (6-2, 245) is a reserve end and he has 11 tackles and 4.5 sacks.
The linebacker duo for the Bears is active and appear to be really tough at playing downhill. #15 Ken Standley (5-11, 225) leads the team in tackles with 89 total. He has a whopping 15 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 INT, 3 PBU, and 9 QBH. Standley is one of PFF’s highest graded FCS linebackers and was an All-SoCon selection. Next to him is #24 Marques Thomas (6-0, 225) who is 3rd on the team with 68 tackles. He also has 9 TFL, 2.5 sacks, 2 QBH, and 2 forced fumbles. These two do not leave the field. Reserve backers #51 Drew Clare (6-2, 225) and #46 Isaac Prince (6-0, 215) have 12 tackles apiece. Maybe their best linebacker, #3 Isaac Dowling was lost midseason due to injury.
The secondary statistically looks pretty good but did have some issues with Gardener Webb last week. At corner, #8 TJ Moore (6-0, 185) and #4 Tavion McCarthy (5-9, 190) have 34 and 50 tackles. McCarthy has added 3 TFL, 1 sack, 2 INT, and 3 PBUs while Moore has 5 PBUs. Again, Gardner Webb had some opportunities vertically against these two. #31 Myles Weston (5-11, 175) is a key reserve and he has 18 tackles and 2 INT.
The safety group is really talented and is led by #0 Lance Wise Jr. (5-9, 195) who is undersized but is definitely talented. He is second on the team with 77 tackles, 2.5 TFL, 5 INT, 3 PBU and a forced fumble. He was also a 1st Team All SoCon selection. #2 Myles Redding (6-1, 195) has 51 tackles, 2 INT, and 3 PBU. The 3rd safety is #20 Richie Coffey (5-10, 195). He has 33 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 4 QBH, 1 forced fumble and a wild 3 fumble recoveries. #45 Tommy Bliss (5-11, 195) also has a role on this defense and he has 26 total tackles.
Special Teams
The Bears have a very dangerous returner in #1 Devron Harper. He has 27 punt returns for a 13.74 average and 2 TDs. As a kick returner he has 20 returns for 470 yards (23.5 yard average) and a long of 43. I would expect the Jacks to avoid kicking to him. Gardener Webb chose to utilize rugby style punts to minimize his ability to spark a run through special teams.
Mercer uses a few different guys in their kicking game. #36 Bryce Addison took over the kicking duties later in the season and has 24 kicks with a 56 yard average and just 2 touchbacks. The Bears, like the Jacks, want to pin their opponents inside the 25 yard line and they appear to be pretty good at it. on 51 return attempts, opponents have just a 16.75 yard return average with a long of 45. #93 Reice Griffith handled the kickoff duties for the majority of the season but is now just handling the field goal duties. Griffith is 10 of 15 on the year with a long of 44 and he is perfect on extra points. He has had 1 blocked. Griffith has also taken over the punting duties and he has a 37 yard average with a long of 45. He has forced 10 to be faircaught and landed 8 inside the 20.
Prediction
The Bears are a good team with a number of talented players as I have highlighted throughout this post. However, I just don’t think they have the talent on the offensive line to slow the Jackrabbit front 4 or create any running lanes to keep the secondary honest. The Jackrabbits should be well rested and some of the nagging injuries should be healed up.
Jackrabbits 35- Bears 7
Go Jacks!
Matt
