Tag: Mercer Bears

Previewing the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mercer Bears

Previewing the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Mercer Bears

Alabama will make their home debut of the 2021 season this Saturday against the Mercer Bears.

This matchup will not garner the type of anticipation that Alabama vs. Miami did, but it is the next game on the schedule so it is the most important.

Let’s take a look a look at the Bears first.

Mercer Preview: 

Mercer is coming off a dominating performance over Point University. The Bears were able to put 69 points on the board while not allowing the Hawks to score in the contest.

Mercer runs multiple formations on offense, but in its opener, they relied heavily upon the running game. Cumulatively, the Bears ran the ball 59 times for 539 yards and seven touchdowns. Freshman Tommy Pollack led the way for the Bears with 13 carries for 111 yards and two touchdowns.

In their blowout win, the Bears also played three different quarterbacks led by Carter Peevy. Peevy finished the game 9 of 12 for 139 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The Bears were also very stingy on the defensive side of the ball, holding Point to just a total of 99 yards of offense.

Alabama Preview:

Alabama had one of the better overall performances of the first week of the college football season. The Tide held a talented Miami offense to just thirteen points and 266 total yards. Offensively, Alabama had their way with the Hurricanes, compiling 501 total yards and 44 points.

Bryce Young leads the quarterback room, while Alabama uses their plethora of talented backs to split carries in the run game. John Metchie and Jameson Williams are stars in the making out wide for the Tide.

Defensively, Alabama has talent all on three levels. Phil Mathis anchors the defensive line, Will Anderson, Christian Harris, and Henry To’o To’o make for an elite linebacker corp, and Malachi Moore, Josh Jobe, and Jordan Battle make up a stingy back end of the defense.

Overall Thoughts & Score Prediction

Obviously, Alabama is the superior team in this contest and will have the avoid the proverbial “rat poison” heading into Saturday’s matchup.

I think this 2021 team is determined and focused. I believe they will show up ready to play in front of a packed-out Bryant-Denny Stadium and compete at a high level and dominate an inferior opponent.

Score Prediction: Alabama 63 Mercer 7

Alabama’s all-time record against the Mercer Bears

What is Alabama’s all-time record against the Mercer Bears?

Alabama will make its home debut of the 2021 season this Saturday as they host the Mercer Bears.

This will be the first time that Bryant-Denny Stadium will be at full capacity since Alabama hosted Western Carolina in late November of the 2019 season.

Alabama is coming off a dominating victory over the Miami Hurricanes while Mercer also picked up a win in a run-away fashion against Point University by a score of 69 to 0.

Alabama and Mercer have only faced off a total of three times heading into Saturday’s matchup. Alabama has won all three of the previous matchups.

The two programs last met back in the 2017 season, a contest that Alabama won by a score of 56-0.

Bryce Young and the rest of the Tide players look to carry their hot start in Atlanta back home to Tuscaloosa this Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CT.

Stay tuned to Roll Tide Wire for more coverage of Alabama’s matchup with the Mercer Bears.

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Baseball Preview: Florida hosts Mercer Bears in midweek matchup

The series may tilt heavily toward the beginning and the end, but the Mercer Bears have the historical momentum coming into this game. 

The No. 15 Florida Gators (16-8, 3-3 SEC) took a tumble in the polls after getting swept on the road by the then-No. 25 South Carolina Gamecocks this past weekend to drop their first conference series. Now, the squad looks to get back on track against the Mercer Bears (13-10, 2-1 SoCon) in a midweek solo matchup between two schools with a longer history than you might think.

The Bears lost their last game against the Wofford Bulldogs on Saturday but had been riding an eight-game winning streak prior to that — with three postponed games sprinkled in there as well. Most notably on their schedule is a three-game series they had with South Carolina at the beginning of the month in which they were swept, but also managed to keep the score respectable in all three losses including a 1-0 defeat in the final game.

Historically, the Gators hold a narrow one-win lead in this series that stretches back all the way to 1913 when Florida swept a three-game series in Gainesville. The two battled back and forth in that first decade of play, with Mercer holding a strong upper hand by the mid-20s. The two schools took a 54-year hiatus from 1931 to 1985, but before the break — which featured 40 total games — the Bears held a 24-16 edge on the Gators, though UF won the last two.

Once the series resumed in 1985, Florida went on to win 10 more consecutive games stretching their series-long winning streak to 12 and ultimately accrued 16 wins in 17 games up to 2005. However, Mercer has won the last three meetings — all in Gainesville — in 2006, 2014 and 2018. The series may tilt heavily toward the Gators over the past few decades, but the Bears have the historical momentum coming into this game.

Here is a look below at the starting pitchers lined up for Tuesday’s solo game along with the projected starting lineup. Scroll down further for interesting excerpts from the media guide.