Mercer football plays Ole Miss, aims for playoffs in 2023. Here’s their schedule
The Mercer football season starts Aug. 26 as the first televised FCS game on ESPN, and it looks to be one of the Bears’ most important seasons yet.
After an intense practice on a sunny August morning, Mercer head coach Drew Cronic talked about the team’s expectations for this year.
“We got a lot of players back, they’ve been very close to being a playoff team, literally one play away. So at some point you gotta break through, and every experience you have helps you the next time,” he said.
Mercer had one of its best performances in 2022 since joining the Southern Conference, finishing 7-4 including a heartbreaking 50-44 loss to Samford in double overtime to end the year. A win in that game likely would have put the Bears in the FCS playoffs for the first time.
“But you gotta put yourself back in that situation again, there’s a mountain you gotta climb to get back to that point,” Cronic said. “Our kids are bought in, they’re good kids, they’re doing a good job… but we’ve been in those situations now, it shouldn’t be foreign to us. Now we just gotta figure out a way to break through… I’m proud of where we are.”
Cronic is not the only one holding sizable expectations for Mercer football. The FCS preseason rankings have the Bears as the No. 22 team in the country, with players like quarterback Carter Peevy and wideout Devron Harper expected to be a big part of their success.
Peevy, who was a surprise standout at quarterback during the 2021 season but only played in one game in 2022, said his teammates will be keys to success.
“I’ve got a good group of guys around me, that’s always comforting,” he said. “(Wide receiver) Ty James and Dev Harper are big playmakers, obviously, they’re gonna help me out a lot, we’ve got a good offensive line. We’re ready to roll.”
Harper was a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, given to the best offensive player in the FCS, and tallied 16 total touchdowns while breaking Mercer records. James also broke a record, finishing with 1,105 receiving yards, the most in Mercer history.
The defense also returns 10 starters, including team captain Lance Wise Jr.
“It’s a blessing that my guys trust me to be a team captain and leader and try to push this team to be player-led,” Wise said. “Coach Cronic has done a great job installing character into us leaders, and now he wants us to push this team where we want it to go.”
While their conference schedule will determine their path to the FCS playoffs, the Bears also have a big game in just the second week of their season on the road at Ole Miss.
“Ole Miss, I’ve always heard… is one of the rowdiest stadiums in the SEC. I’m ready to see how our team can face against the rowdy crowd, the hyped up atmosphere,” Wise said. “There’s 80,000 maybe, maybe more, fans in the stadium going crazy, so that’s gonna challenge us communication wise.”
Cronic agreed that it would be fun to test his squad against NFL-level talent.
“We approach that game like we do any other game, I know our kids will go out and play hard. I don’t worry about that game. It’s an opportunity to go play against really good players, see how you measure up,” Cronic said. “What you end up learning is, ‘Hey, when I do things right… then I can hold my own against SEC level players.’”
Mercer’s first game Aug. 26 is part of the FCS kickoff classic. Then it’s off to Ole Miss the first week of September before the schedule kicks into high gear.
2023 Schedule
Here’s a look at Mercer’s full schedule for the 2023 season:
Aug. 26: v.s. North Alabama University at 3:30 p.m. (FCS Kickoff Classic in Montgomery, AL)
Sep. 2: @ Ole Miss at 2 p.m.
Sep. 9: v.s. Morehead State at 7 p.m.
Sep. 23: @ Furman at 1 p.m.
Sep. 30: v.s. VMI at 4 p.m.
Oct. 7: @ ETSU at 3:30 p.m.
Oct. 14: v.s. Chattanooga at 4 p.m.
Oct. 21: v.s. Wofford at 4 p.m.
Oct. 28: @ Western Carolina at 2:30 p.m.
Nov. 4: @ The Citadel at 2 p.m.
Nov. 11: v.s. Samford at 3 p.m.
