Mercer Bears football

Mercer Bears
2018 Mercer Bears football team
First season 1892
Athletic director Jim Cole
Head coach Bobby Lamb
6th season, 35–27 (.565)
Stadium Five Star Stadium
(Capacity: 10,200)
Field surface FieldTurf
Location Macon, Georgia
NCAA division Division I FCS
Conference Southern Conference
Past conferences Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Rivalries Stetson
Oglethorpe
Colors Black and Orange[1]
         
Mascot Toby
Website MercerBears.com
For information on all Mercer University sports, see Mercer Bears

The Mercer Bears football program is the intercollegiate football team of Mercer University located in Macon, Georgia, United States. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and is a member of the Southern Conference. The team plays its home games at the 10,200-seat Five Star Stadium on the university's Macon campus. The Bears are coached by Bobby Lamb.

History

Mercer's first football team was fielded in 1892, but the school did not consistently field teams until 1906. The sport was dropped in 1917 and 1918 during U.S. involvement in World War I, but returned after the war. Until 1924, the Mercer Bears were known as the Mercer Baptists. After the 1941 season, with the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, Mercer dropped football again, but did not resume the sport after the war. The program was reinstated after a 72-year hiatus in 2013; the first game was on August 31, 2013, when Mercer defeated (40–37) Reinhardt University in front of an overflow crowd of 12,172 at the Moye Complex.[2]

Conference affiliations

Notable former players

The first secretary of the Vacation Bible School Department of Nashville's Baptist Sunday School Department (now Lifeway) was Homer Grice, a prominent Mercer player. Georgia Tech player and later Hall of Fame coach Bill Alexander called Grice "the meanest and toughest guy I ever ran across on a gridiron."[3]

Brothers Crook Smith and Phoney Smith were both stars for Mercer.

Famous University of Georgia football coach Wally Butts, who led UGA to four Southeastern Conference titles and two National Championships, played end for Mercer from 1925–1928.

Les Olsson, known around Mercer as "Swede," was the only Mercer player from the pre-World War II era to go pro, playing for the Washington Redskins from 1934–1938. He was part of the 1937 championship squad.

Year-by-year results

On August 31, 2013, Mercer played its first game since 1941 before an overflow crowd of 12,172 spectators. The Bears' opponent, Reinhardt University, also revived its football program, having last played in 1920.[4] In a thrilling game that saw multiple lead changes, Josh Shutter helped Mercer clinch the victory with a 31-yard field goal with three seconds left in the game. Mercer won 40–37.

References

  1. ↑ "Color - Mercer University Style Guide". Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  2. ↑ "News from Macon and Warner Robins, GA, and beyond | The Telegraph". Macon.com. Archived from the original on 2013-09-09. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
  3. ↑ Morgan Blake (1952). A Sports Editor Finds Christ. p. 95.
  4. ↑ Constantine, Tim. "Communities — Voices and Insights – Washington Times". Communities.washingtontimes.com. Retrieved 2015-07-18.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.