Mercer football will kick off the first FCS game of the 2026 season with a home matchup against East Texas A&M inside Five Star Stadium this Saturday, Aug 29. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and will begin at 7:00pm.
The Bears are helmed this season by former defensive coordinator Joel Taylor in his first season as head coach. “We’ve got a pretty tight team,” Taylor said, noting the togetherness of the group amid offseason transitions in his preseason conference.
This season, Taylor has brought over multiple players from the University of West Georgia, his previous head coaching gig. Three of them, safety Brandon Gunn '29, defensive lineman Cam Moore '28 and offensivel lineman Brody Balliew '27, were named team captains.
This season's starters on both offense and defense remain to be seen. The team's first preseason scrimmage had four quarterbacks taking reps with the first team, including returning QB JP Pickles '28, the only one to see action with the Bears last year. Wide receiver Brayden Smith '27, who was named to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watchlist and awarded the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year, figures to be the top target for the starter.
Taylor looks to bring a strong defensive identity to a Bears team that struggled at times last year to keep their opponents out of the endzone. With an unknown starter at quarterback, Taylor will look to replicate the Bears' penchant for strong rookie quarterback play in the footsteps of Braden Atkinson '29 last year and Whitt Newbauer '28 in 2024.
East Texas A&M went 3-9 last year, including a 3-6 record in the Southland Conference, a win total which tied their program's record. The Lions have never faced the Bears before in a regulation game. The Bears have not lost a season opener since 2020.
The Bears went undefeated in Southern Conference play last year at 8-0, finishing 9-3 overall, and ending the 2025 season with a first-round playoff loss to South Dakota 47-0. The Bears dominated the SoCon off of a historically succesful passing offense, led by 2025 Jerry Rice Award winner Atkinson, who broke records for passing touchdowns, completions, attempts and completion percentage in his first and only year with the Bears. Mercer was ranked third nationally in total offense during the season, and also fielded a stout defense led by Buck Buchanan award winner Andrew Zock '28.
Zock, along with wide receiver Adjatay Dabbs '28, running back CJ Miller '28 and twelve other members of the 2025 team followed former head coach Mike Jacobs to the University of Toledo this offseason.
With massive turnover on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, as well as within the coaching staff, how effective Mercer can be remains to be seen. Despite these reservations, the Bears were picked to three-peat by a panel of the SoCon's ten head coaches on July 21.
The Bears' schedule prominently features a game against Georgia Tech on Sep. 19 and a matchup against Tennesee Tech on Nov. 14, as well as the usual gamut of SoCon matchups. Newcomers to the SoCon this year, the Golden Eagles posted an 11–2 record last season and went 8–0 in its former conference. Tennesee Tech will provide strong competition this year for the Bears, who haven't lost a conference game since 2024.
“I think we’ve got a really competitive schedule coming in. It’ll be a gauntlet,” head coach Joel Taylor said during the FCS Kickoff Press Conference on Aug. 6. “This schedule is going to prepare us for the playoffs, so I am excited about it," he said.
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.
