Mercer Bears @ Samford Bulldogs — Oct 17, 2026

NCAA Division FCS·Round 1 October 17, 2026
Bears Mercer MER 6-1, 3-0 Away
31
Final
21
Bulldogs Samford SAMF 1-5, 1-2 Home
1 2 3 4 T
MER 21 7 0 3 31
SAMF 8 3 3 7 21
Top Performers
Passing Yards
J. Pickles QB MER
108 PASS
C. Gilliam QB SAMF
123 PASS
Rushing Yards
D. Caldwell MER
134 RUSH
K. Cherry RB SAMF
108 RUSH
Receiving Yards
T. Solomon WR MER
26 REC
P. Bird WR SAMF
32 REC
Passing
Mercer
PLAYER C/ATT YDS TD INT SACK QBR
J. Pickles 16/22 108 0 0 0 83.1
Samford
PLAYER C/ATT YDS TD INT SACK QBR
G. Johnson 4/8 34 1 1 0 61.5
C. Gilliam 14/23 123 0 1 0 57.0
C. Cleland 4/8 74 0 0 0 82.3
Rushing
Mercer
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
D. Caldwell 13 134 10.3 0 43
E. Rasheed 1 47 47.0 0 47
Z. Palode-Gary 7 11 1.6 0 5
J. Pickles 17 86 5.1 3 22
Samford
PLAYER CAR YDS AVG TD LONG
G. Johnson 1 -3 -3.0 0 0
C. Gilliam 1 -7 -7.0 0 3
K. Cherry 13 108 8.3 0 57
B. Martin 1 4 4.0 0 4
E. Russell 2 0 0.0 0 1
W. Shields 1 -5 -5.0 0 2
M. Henderson 2 10 5.0 0 12
C. Cleland 4 12 3.0 1 10
Receiving
Mercer
PLAYER REC TGTS YDS AVG TD LONG DROPS
T. Solomon 4 4 26 6.5 0 9 0
B. Smith 3 3 25 8.3 0 13 0
D. Caldwell 1 1 5 5.0 0 5 0
Z. Palode-Gary 2 2 15 7.5 0 13 0
Samford
PLAYER REC TGTS YDS AVG TD LONG DROPS
E. Russell 1 1 6 6.0 0 6 0
P. Bird 3 3 32 10.7 1 16 0
M. Henderson 1 1 11 11.0 0 11 0
N. Bookman 2 2 9 4.5 0 5 0
C. Aukerman 1 1 5 5.0 0 5 0
C/ATT - Completions/Attempts · YDS - Yards · TD - Touchdowns · INT - Interceptions · SACK - Sacks · QBR - Passer Rating · CAR - Carries · AVG - Average · REC - Receptions · TGTS - Targets · TKLS - Total Tackles · SOLO - Solo Tackles · AST - Assisted Tackles · TFL - Tackles for Loss · PD - Passes Defensed · FF - Forced Fumbles · FG - Field Goals · XP - Extra Points · PTS - Points · FC - Fair Catches
Team Statistics
Mercer
Samford
0 Total Yards 0
0 First Downs 0
0/0 3rd Down Eff. 0/0
108 Passing Yards 231
276 Rushing Yards 119
0 Turnovers 0
0-0 Penalties 0-0
0:00 Possession 0:00
0/0 Red Zone 0/0
Play-by-Play
Score Lines
Lead Tracker
Lead Changes: 0 Times Tied: 0
League
NCAA Division FCS
Season
NCAA 26/27
Round
Round 1
Date
October 17, 2026
Time
11:00 pm
Duration
1h 0m