NCAAF

Rhode Island Rams at Mercer Bears

· FCS Championship - Second Round
11-3, 4-3 Away
Final
10 - 17
11-2, 7-0 Home

No. 7 Mercer stages 4th-quarter comeback to top No. 10 Rhode Island 17-10, advances to FCS semifinal

Rhode Island Rams vs. Mercer Bears: Full Highlights

Mercer advances to the FCS semifinals for the first time and will face No. 2 North Dakota State, which beat No. 15 Abilene Christian 51-31.

Redding swooped in front of Hunter Helms' intended receiver for his seventh interception of the season with 3:33 left in the first quarter, tying him with teammate TJ Moore for the most in the nation. Rhode Island got a 17-yard field goal from Ty Groff as time expired in the first half and took the lead late in the third quarter when Helms connected with Marquis Buchanan on a 56-yard touchdown for a 10-7 lead.

Senior Dwayne McGee set up two fourth-quarter scores for the Bears, slashing through the right side for a 33-yard gain to give Mercer a first-and-goal at the Rhode Island 10. On third-and-goal from the 4, Newbauer found Adjatay Dabbs for the go-ahead touchdown. After the Bears twice forced the Rams to punt in their own half of the field, McGee ran 40 yards on first down to give Mercer a first down at the Rhode Island 25, setting up a 24-yard Reice Griffith field goal for the game's final score.

McGee finished with 114 yards on 21 carries and CJ Miller added 81 yards on 10 carries for Mercer (11-2), which remained unbeaten in seven home games.

Helms finished 22 of 33 passing for 266 yards and Buchanan caught 11 passes for 119 yards to lead Rhode Island (11-3), but the Rams managed just 46 yards on 26 carries on the ground.

How To Watch

How can I watch Rhode Island Rams vs. Mercer Bears?
  • TV Channel: Rams at Bears 2021 College Football, week 15, is broadcasted on ESPN+.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

MER TD 1st Period 3:33 Myles Redding 25 Yd Interception Return (Reice Griffith Kick)
URI FG 2nd Period 0:00 Ty Groff 17 Yd Field Goal
URI TD 3rd Period 2:33 Marquis Buchanan 56 Yd pass from Hunter Helms (Ty Groff Kick)
MER TD 4th Period 14:19 Adjatay Dabbs 4 Yd pass from Whitt Newbauer (Reice Griffith Kick)
MER FG 4th Period 6:10 Reice Griffith 24 Yd Field Goal

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/227.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originURI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/ncaa/500/2382.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMER
14 1st Downs 15
3-14 3rd down efficiency 8-19
0-1 4th down efficiency 0-0
315 Total Yards 242
266 Passing 57
22/33 Comp/Att 10/20
8.1 Yards per pass 2.9
49 Rushing 185
26 Rushing Attempts 43
1.9 Yards per rush 4.3
6-60 Penalties 4-35
1 Turnovers 0
0 Fumbles lost 0
1 Interceptions thrown 0
26:22 Possession 33:38

Game Information

Venue: Five Star Stadium

Location: Macon, GA
Attendance: 8,012 · Capacity:
Full Standings

College Football News

College football conferences with the best bowl game records

College football conferences with the best bowl game records

The SEC is a dominant college football powerhouse, especially when it comes to bowl games. See which other conferences also have bowl success.

Sources: Steve Belichick expected to join North Carolina as DC

Sources: Steve Belichick expected to join North Carolina as DC

Steve Belichick is expected to join father Bill Belichick's North Carolina staff as the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator, sources told ESPN.

Mason Rudolph evades pressure, fires TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Mason Rudolph evades pressure, fires TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine

Mason Rudolph avoids getting sacked and throws a short touchdown pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine.

Heupel speaks on Vols' first CFP appearance, where to go from here

Heupel speaks on Vols' first CFP appearance, where to go from here

Josh Heupel discusses what No. 7 Tennessee needed to improve on for a better result in the first round of the CFP and outlines his vision for the future of the program.

College football SP+ rankings after first-round CFP games

College football SP+ rankings after first-round CFP games

After the first round of the College Football Playoff, the championship odds are more bunched than ever.