Mercer 28, Austin Peay 7
MACON, Ga. – The Mercer University football team outscored Austin Peay 21-0 in the second half to open the season with a 28-7 victory at Governors Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Bears broke open a tie game on the opening drive of the second half, moving 62 yards on nine plays thanks a pair of APSU penalties and 32 yards rushing from Alex Lakes. Lakes capped off the drive with his second rushing touchdown of the day to hand Mercer a 14-7 lead. The Bears added two more scores in the fourth quarter to run away with the 21-point win.
Mercer’s defense took care of the rest, holding the Governors scoreless in the second half. The play of the night on the defensive side came from Lee Bennett in the fourth quarter, as the sophomore linebacker stopped a potential game-tying drive with an interception deep in Bears’ territory.
Mercer’s running backs were the story of the game for the offense, accounting for a combined 260 yards rushing and each of the team’s four touchdowns on the night. Alex Lakes ran for a game-high 159 yards on 23 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry and adding two touchdowns. Tee Mitchell finished with 101 yards and a score on 15 carries, while adding a 42-yard touchdown reception. Robert Brown added a team-best four receptions for 52 yards, including a soaring grab for a key first down in the fourth quarter.
Lee Bennett’s interception was the story of the night for the defense, but the Leesburg, Fla., native also added two tackles including one stop for loss. Lendell Arnold paced the defense with seven tackles, while Tosin Aguebor (2.5) and Isaiah Buehler (1.5) each had multiple tackles-for-loss.
The Citadel 69, Davidson 0
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Behind three first-quarter touchdowns, The Citadel football team earned a 69-0 shutout win over Davidson in the 2015 season opener Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium.
The Citadel (1-0) broke the program record for points scored in an opener, breaking the previous record of 64 set in a 64-10 win vs. Charleston Southern in 2003.The last time the Bulldogs recorded a shutout in their season opener was a 38-0 win vs. Wofford in 1987. It was also the first shutout since a 76-0 win vs. Weber International in 2007, a span of 89 games. Tonight marked the first shutout of an FCS opponent since a 21-0 win vs. Elon in 2005, a span of 102 games.
The Citadel improved to 5-0 under head coach Mike Houston when scoring first and when gaining more than 500 yards of total offense. Four Bulldogs made their first collegiate start Saturday: quarterback Dominique Allen, defensive lineman Jonathan King, bandit Dondray Copeland and cornerback Mariel Cooper. Offensive lineman Sam Frye started his team-leading 25th consecutive game.
Offensively, the Bulldogs did most of their damage on the ground amassing 280 yards in the first half and 535 in the game. Dominique Allen scored the first points of the game, punching it in from four yards out. It was Allen's first rushing touchdown of his career.
The Bulldogs scored their first defensive touchdown since Oct. 12, 2013 when Tevin Floyd returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown on the final play of the 1st quarter. The score was the second of Floyd's career. Mitchell Jeter moved into 7th on The Citadel's all-time career sacks list. He now has 12.5 in his career, passing four people, including teammate Mark Thomas (12.0).
Eric Goins moved into 13th on The Citadel's all-time career kick scoring list. With 7 points, Goins now has 67 in his career, passing Emmer Chavez (61, 1978-80).
Western Carolina 42, Mars Hill 14
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Sophomore tailback Detrez Newsome accounted for two touchdowns including a season-opening, 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of scrimmage, while senior counterpart Darius Ramsey rushed for two scores as Western Carolina opened 2015 with a 42-14 victory at E.J. Whitmire Stadium / Bob Waters Field.
On a night that was capped by a fireworks display, the Catamount offense lit the scoreboard a total of six times. Each of WCU’s three active tailbacks scored touchdowns on the ground, while senior quarterback Troy Mitchell tossed his first TD pass of the year as the Catamounts claimed their 16th-consecutive victory over Mars Hill and won their season-opener for the first-time since 2012.
“Well, number one, I’m happy to get the win and be able to come out in front of a great crowd of Catamount faithful; just a lot of excitement in the air,” WCU head coach Mark Speir said during opening comments of his post-game press conference. “I thought we got off to a great start with the first pass from Detrez Newsome to Spearman (Robinson) to set the tone for the ball game. But credit Mars Hill – they’re a good football team.”
Mitchell completed 29-of-43 passes for 298 yards and the score, adding a team-high 62 rushing yards on eight carries. Along the way, the Houston, Texas, native became Western Carolina’s all-time leader in total offense, by-passing previous record holder Lonnie Galloway (6,832 yds, 1990-93) who held the record for 22 years. Mitchell eclipsed Galloway’s benchmark on his 44-yard scoring strike to Karnorris Benson in the third quarter, giving the Catamounts a 28-7 lead.
Western Carolina (1-0) jumped out to a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter on a pair of rushing scores and the season-opening gadget play. Mitchell opened the game by lateraling to Newsome out of the backfield on a swing pass. The second-year back then stopped and fired down the right sideline to a streaking Spearman Robinson for the 75-yard pitch-and-catch for the season-opening score. Newsome later capped scoring in the opening quarter with an 11-yard rushing score with Ramsey tallying his first TD on a one-yard plunge.
The Lions cut the deficit to 13 just before halftime as Keshaun Taylor capped a 13-play, 99-yard drive with a 25-yard pass reception from Matt Layman to make it 20-7 at intermission.
Neither team had success finding the end zone early in the third quarter until Benson’s first TD reception of the season late in the frame. The Catamounts capitalized on superb field position, moving 47 yards in just two plays with the bulk coming on the 44-yard scoring play.
The fourth quarter was top-heavy with scoring as the two teams combined for 21 points inside the first four minutes of the final frame, bookended by Catamount touchdowns. Ramsey added his second TD of the day, leaping into the purple end zone from a yard away before redshirt freshman Corey Holloway rounded the left edge untouched on a six-yard romp to cap the game’s scoring. In between, Mars Hill tailback Shaikel Davis corralled a fortuitous bounce on a pass attempt and scampered 24 yards for a touchdown.
WCU junior Steffon Hill led six Catamount receivers with eight receptions totaling 58 yards, while Robinson finished with four catches for 128 yards and a score. Benson finished with 76 receiving yards with tight end Tyler Sexton catching five passes for 65 yards.
Junior Trey Morgan and redshirt sophomore Daniel Riddle paced the Catamount defense with seven stops apiece with Riddle adding a TFL. Sophomore defensive lineman Ezavian Dunn had three stops including a team-best two tackles for loss with Tyson Dickson posting 1.5 TFLs on a six-stop night. Second-year defensive back Keion Crossen recorded WCU’s first takeaway of the season, tallying his first career interception to go along with five stops.
WCU’s specialist also had an exceptional night. Ian Berryman and Destry Barnwell shared punting duties, downing each of their six punts inside the Lions’ 20-yard line. Berryman averaged 42.6 yards per punt with a career-long 54-yarder, while Barnwell successfully pooched a punt into the coffin corner on his lone attempt. Blake Metcalf tallied three touchbacks on seven kickoffs, while Logan Howard connected on five PATs.
Mars Hill (0-1) had two quarterbacks throw for over 100 yards as Matt Layman completed 16-of-25 passes for 167 yards with an interception and a touchdown, while Austin Brown – younger brother of former WCU quarterback, Garrett Brown – completed seven passes for 107 yards and a score. Gilbert Johnson posted a game-high 144 receiving yards while Keshaun Taylor had 81 yards and a score.
Davis finished with 59 yards and added the receiving score in the fourth quarter to make it 35-14 at the time.
Jacksonville State 23, Chattanooga 20
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - With the backdrop of the third-largest crowd in school history (15,812), the eighth-ranked Chattanooga Mocs fell to No. 7 Jacksonville State 23-20. The Gamecocks converted the win late in the fourth quarter.
"They made more plays than we did," head coach Russ Huesman shared. "That's why they won the football game. They made three fourth-down plays. We could have got them off the field and won a football game. We didn't get it done, bottom line.
"They made a play, we didn't. They deserved to win the game. That's what I told the team."
Redshirt freshman Montrell Pardue put the Mocs on top 20-16 with a big defensive play. JSU running back Troymaine Pope ran left and as he got hit, Pardue reached in, took the ball, turned and ran 55 yards for the score. It was the squad's first fumble return for a touchdown since Wes Dothard at Samford November 5, 2011.
That set up heroics from Eli Jenkins and the Gamecocks offense. Jenkins engineered a 10-play, 79-yard drive for the game-winning tally. JSU converted two fourth-downs along the way.
Senior defensive tackle Josh Freeman stuffed Pope at the Mocs 22 on third-and-four. Miles Jones entered for an injured Pope and crashed the right side for a four-yard run and fourth-down conversion.
The Gamecocks continued to plod along. Keionta Davis dropped Jenkins for a two-yard loss on third-and-one at the 11. Jenkins found Josh Barge on the right sidelines for eight yards to the 3 on fourth. Two plays later, Jones got the deciding score.
It was tough sledding offensively tonight. The Mocs posted 196 yards with 110 coming on the ground. Derrick Craine ran for 59 yards on 12 carries. Jacob Huesman added 50 gaining 81, but losing 31 mostly to four JSU sacks.
Dee Virgin had eight stops including one for loss, while Nakevion Leslie also made eight tackles with one-and-a-half for loss. Pardue had seven tackles to go with his big play in his first collegiate action.
Pope had a career-high 173 yards rushing on 15 carries to power the Gamecocks' running game. JSU ran 44 times for 298 while totaling 411 yards of total offense. Five plays led to 215 of those yards between Pope (65, 52, 28), Josh Clemons (49) and Jenkins (21).
Jacksonville State used both big plays and timely plays. The Mocs limited their visitors to three-for-15 on third down, but JSU was three-for-three on fourth down. The final two made the difference.
Coastal Carolina 38, Furman 35
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Alex Ross passed for 328 yards and two touchdowns to Bruce Mapp to lead FCS fifth-ranked Coastal Carolina to a 38-35 win over Furman in the season opener for both schools Saturday night at Paladin Stadium.
Ross, a senior, completed 27-of-36 passes, including touchdown strikes of 11 and 24 yards to Mapp, whose second scoring grab came midway through the fourth quarter to give the Chanticleers (1-0) a 35-27 lead.
The Chanticleers took advantage of an interception at the Furman 25 to stretch their advantage to 38-27 with a 29-yard Ryan Granger field goal with four minutes remaining, and then held off the Paladins, who cut it to 38-35 on a Reese Hannon 9-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Snellings and a successful two-point conversion. Furman’s comeback bid ended on the next play, however, as Alex Scearce pounced on an onside kick with just over a minute to go.
Hannon, making his first game appearance since suffering a season ankle injury in the Paladins’ 2014 season opener, passed for a school record 365 yards and registered another school standard with 400 yards in total offense while also throwing a pair of touchdowns for the Paladins (0-1). The Greer, S.C., native completed 27-of-41 pass attempts but suffered a pair of interceptions.
“We made some mistakes you can’t afford to make against a good team,” said Furman head coach Bruce Fowler. “We have five, maybe six motion penalties and two personal foul penalties on one drive that gave them 30 extra yards. Then we gave up the long kick return, mishandled an extra point, and burned some timeouts that I wish we didn’t have to use. A lot of that stuff we’ve got to get cleaned up, but I like the fact that we kept coming back and made a lot of plays, just not enough of them and not as many as they did.”
Furman compiled 525 yards in total offense to Coastal Carolina’s 488 but lost for the sixth time in seven meetings to the Chanticleers, the six defeats coming by a combined total of 27 points.
An 11-yard Ross connection with Mapp staked Coastal Carolina to a 7-0 lead.
After Furman tied it a 7-7 on the first of three touchdown runs by Ernie Cain, Devin Brown took the ensuing kickoff and raced 100 yards untouched to the end zone for a 15-7 lead.
The Chanticleers pushed their advantage to 21-7 early in the second period on a D’Angelo Henderson 2-yard run.
Furman closed the first half in strong fashion with two more Cain scoring runs in the last three minutes to tie it a 21-21. The senior fullback from Atlanta, Ga., bolted 35 yards up the middle to make it 21-14 with 2:38 to go, and then capped the Paladins’ final possession of the first half, a six-play, 89-yard effort, with a 2-yard run set up by a 57-yard pass from Hannon to Logan McCarter and a 19-yard Hannon connection to Antonio Wilcox to the CCU 2.
Osharmar Abercrombie broke the tie in the third quarter with a 2-yard run, three plays after Henderson took a Ross pass and sprinted and cut his way on a 60-yard play to the Furman 12.
Furman cut it to 28-27 on Hannon’s first touchdown pass of the game, a 33-yard hook-up with Andrej Suttles, but a mishandled snap on the extra point cost the Paladins a chance for the tie.
Coastal Carolina answered with a nine-play, 75-yard drive on the ensuing possession that Ross ended when he lofted 24-yard a scoring pass to Mapp in the corner of the end zone for the 35-27 lead.
Both teams rushed for 160 yards with Henderson’s 15-carry, 95-yard, one-touchdown effort leading the way. He also topped the Chanticleers with seven catches for 129 yards.
Cain paced Furman with a career best 61 yards and the three touchdown runs.
Cory Magwood, last year’s SoCon tackles leader, topped the Paladins with nine stops.
Clemson 49, Wofford 10
CLEMSON, S.C. – The Wofford football team was defeated 49-10 by 12th ranked Clemson on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. The Tigers scored touchdowns on six of their first eight possessions of the game and limited the Terriers to 213 total yards.
The Terriers open at 0-1, while Clemson is 1-0. Wofford was led by Nick Colvin with 31 rushing yards and 48 kickoff return yards. Evan Jacks had 21 rushing yards and 42 passing yards. Will Gay added 49 receiving yards. The Terriers leading tackler was Daryl Vining with nine, while Drake Michaelson had seven, including a sack. Clemson was led by Wayne Gallman with 92 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Deshaun Watson was 18-of-22 passing for 194 yards and a pair of passing touchdowns.
“You can look at the stats and tell that as a team we struggled on offense,” said head coach Mike Ayers. “We did not do a good job of adjusting to their defense. Our defense did a great job considering how many snaps they played and we did a real good job in the kicking game. Offensively we can’t struggle like that. We were hunting and pecking for plays and never really had any continuity. They did a nice job with their defensive front with caused problems. We can take from this game that we battled against a team that is 12th in the country and their skill set is pretty good. There was some growth out there today for us and we fought all the way through.”
The Tigers had the ball first and drove down the field in twelve plays to score a touchdown. On a reception that was originally ruled out of bounds, Mike Williams was credited with a four-yard touchdown reception for a 7-0 lead with 11:07 left in the first quarter.
After the Terriers went three-and-out on their opening possession of the game, Clemson added a touchdown on a two-yard run by Wayne Gallman for a 14-0 lead at the 6:15 mark of the first quarter. Wofford was forced three-and-out and Clemson was able to move the ball into the red-zone by converting a 4th-and-4. Lincoln Stewart forced a fumble that was recovered by Michael Roach at the 33-yard line. The Terriers were unable to gain a first down after the turnover and punted.
With 13:49 on the clock in the second quarter, Deshaun Watson had a 35-yard completion to Artavis Scott to give Clemson a 21-0 advantage. Wofford went three-and-out on the next possession, giving the Tigers the ball at the 42-yard line. Clemson used a 25-yard pass to set-up a one-yard touchdown run by Tyshon Dye. The Tigers had a 28-0 lead at the 9:58 mark of the second quarter. After another three-and-out by the Terriers, Clemson added a touchdown on a 25-yard run by Zac Brooks for a 35-0 lead.
On the next drive by Wofford, the team was forced three-and-out and punted. The return by Hunter Renfrow was fumbled and recovered by Colton Clemons. Lorenzo Long and Evan Jacks each picked up rushing first downs and Nik Colvin had a 17-yard run to move the ball to the 15-yard line with 13 seconds left in the half. Zach Muller caught a pass and was called out of bounds just short of the goal line with five seconds remaining. After a play of no gain, Chase Nelson ran the ball for a touchdown as time expired in the first half. Clemson took a 35-7 lead at the break.
The Terriers had the ball to open the second half and on the first play Will Gay ran for a first down. Will Irwin threw a 41-yard pass to Will Gay to move the ball to the 20-yard line. A 37-yard field goal by David Marvin made it a 35-10 game with 11:33 on the clock in the third quarter.
Clemson had fourth-and-goal from the one and Wayne Gallman went in for the touchdown as the Tigers built a 42-10 lead with 9:23 left in the third quarter. With the ball back, the Terriers gained a first down on a 14-yard reception by Nick Colvin. Wofford punted and the return was fumbled, however it was recovered by the Tigers. On the next drive by Clemson, they went three-and-out and punted. Wofford was able to gain one first down before failing to convert a fourth-and-three. The Tigers were stopped on third down by a Drake Michaelson sack and were forced to punt. Wofford followed with a three-and-out and punted.
With the ball back, Clemson was able to drive the field and Tyshon Dye scored from one-yard out with 7:46 left in the fourth quarter for a 49-10 advantage. The teams then both went three-and-out and punted twice. Wofford got the ball back with 1:49 left on the clock. Andre Stoddard and Brad Butler each had rushing touchdown, but the final play of the game was an incomplete pass.
Wofford had 213 total yards, with 123 on the ground. Clemson had 533 total yards, 311 of which were passing. Clemson had a 27 to 9 advantage in first downs. Wofford was 4-of-16 on third downs and 0-of-1 on fourth down. Clemson was 9-of-15 on third down and 2-of-2 on fourth down. Wofford had four penalties, while Clemson had six. Wofford had a 31:17 to 28:43 time of possession advantage.
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