After coming off of a home opener loss to Presbyterian College two weeks ago, Mercer football has had a week to regroup. The team is set to take on Wofford College on Sept. 13 for the first Southern Conference matchup of the season. Mercer is currently 0-1 on the season and Wofford is 0-2 on the season, with last year's matchup being won by Mercer on the road 22-3.
“I think a bye week was very beneficial to us because it allowed us to dive into what we are doing in practice,” Head Coach Mike Jacobs said in a press conference on Monday. “Disappointed in how we coached and how we played, but we're not 'Chicken Little.'”
“Wofford has played really good defense, but has not produced a ton of offense yet,” Jacobs said when talking about how Mercer is similar to Wofford in ways. The Terriers' defense could prove to be a challenge for the Bears offense as the last game Mercer played against Wofford showed how high pressure situations caused quarterback DJ Smith ‘26 to drop in the pocket and get sacked twice in the game. Wofford Head Coach Shawn Watson is in his third season as coach, has not beaten Mercer since he was given the coaching job in 2022.
More focused preparation going into the game this Saturday was a theme of the press conference. While Jacobs said he did not sense any lackluster attitudes during the week leading up to the first game, he wants to make sure the team's priorities are set straight everyday leading up to this conference match up.
"I want to make sure that our intent and our urgency at practice are where they need to be to make sure that we have purposeful reps every time we rep, and that we're not just doing it to get through a Tuesday," Jacobs said. "Every rep needs to be treated like it's a game-like situation."
Jacobs, who is in his second season as head coach and has been given a contract extension through 2029, will start Smith ‘26 at quarterback. Smith is coming off of a leg injury that led to his losing the starting position last year. Whitt Newbauer, who led the team for the latter half of the season last year, transferred to the University of Oklahoma over the summer to compete for the third-string job in the SEC.
After losing many key players on last year’s roster to graduation and the transfer portal, a lot of young Bears have had to step up and take on big roles. Cornerback KJ Thomas ‘29 and defensive end Kobe McInnis '29 have been “extremely coachable” and are “making progress” as players after being sent onto the field early and often in their collegiate careers, Jacobs said.
Saturday's game will start at 6 p.m. in Five Star Stadium and will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
Nevaeh Wilson '28 is majoring in Journalism and minoring in Film Studies. She has been writing for The Cluster since her freshman year, and has worked for Mercer's ESPN studio. She enjoys watching college and professional sporting events.
