MERCER at MEMPHIS
Saturday, Sept. 1 • 7 p.m. • ESPN3
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium (58,318/AstroTurf)
Memphis, Tennessee
Television
ESPN3
Mike Watts and Tyoka Jackson
Radio
WREC-AM 600 (Memphis flagship)
THE GAME
Saturday’s game will be the first meeting on the gridiron between Memphis and Mercer … Memphis has won its last five games against NCAA FCS opponents, outscoring those teams by a combined 226-61 margin … Mercer is the first of three first-time opponents for Memphis this season (Georgia State, South Alabama).
MERCER
0-0, 0-0 Southern
Head Coach
Bobby Lamb (Furman ’87)
32-25, sixth season at Mercer
99-65, 15th season as collegiate head coach
Notes
Mercer is in its sixth year of varsity football following a 72-year hiatus of the sport on the Macon, Georgia, campus … The Bears were 5-6 last season, but scored wins against two teams (The Citadel and Western Carolina) that were ranked in the FCS national polls … Mercer was the only team in college football that played both at Auburn and at Alabama last year … Mercer was within a touchdown of Auburn with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before falling 24-10 … QB Kaelan Riley threw for 2,030 yards and 13 touchdowns with 10 interceptions last season … RB Tee Mitchell led the Bears with 626 rushing yards and seven TDs, while WR Marquise Irvin was the team leader with 41 catches, 536 receiving yards and four touchdown receptions.
rv/rv MEMPHIS
0-0, 0-0 American
Head Coach
Mike Norvell (Central Arkansas ’95)
18-8, third season
Notes
Memphis has won at least eight games in each of the last four seasons and has registered two 10-win seasons in that span, including last year’s 10-3 mark … The Tigers have played in a school-record four straight bowl games … Memphis won The American’s West Division title last season … The Tigers went 10-1 in the regular season, lost to UCF in double-overtime in The American Championship and fell 21-20 to Iowa State in the Liberty Bowl … Memphis has won 12 straight nonconference regular season home games … RB/WR Tony Pollard is a two-time American Athletic Conference Special Teams Player of the Year … Pollard averaged 126.8 all-purpose yards last year and scored four touchdowns on kickoff returns … RB Darrell Henderson rushed for 1,154 yards and nine touchdowns and averaged 8.9 yards per carry.