We are officially in the week before game week for the Mercer football Bears.
The Orange and Black have wrapped up preseason camp, so now they can stop hitting each other, and focus on hitting other teams.
At least one group of Bears has tremendous depth going in to the season: the Mercer backfield.
Coach Bobby Lamb will keep the rushing attack, and fast paced offense, intact against a new group of teams in the Southern Conference.
"We'll stick with the no-huddle," Lamb said. "We're going to stick with our plan. The bottom line is we're going from [the Pioneer Football League] that was pass-happy, where we felt like if we could come in last year and be successful on the ground, they were not used to seeing that."
Mercer's probable starter at the position is Alex Lakes, a redshirt freshman currently listed at 5'10", 210 pounds. Air Force transfer Tee Mitchell, and last year's standouts, Payton Usher and JeTarii Donald, will see action as well.
On the other side of the ball, the Bears' defensive backfield is stacked as well.
"We [have] a couple freshmen who are going to play," said defensive back Alex Avant. "[We have] guys who were here last year and got better. There's a lot of competition back there."
Mercer's defense played some head games with the starting offense in camp, which effectively made both sides better.
"That defense, they come from everywhere," said Mercer starting quarterback John Russ. "They're tough. I don't think we'll see another defense that will come with as many blitzes as our defense comes with. They have so many disguises as a defense. That just made us better as an offense, seeing all that."
Perhaps the biggest setback from Mercer's camp is the loss of linebacker Tosin Aguebor. The Bears' pass rushing specialist led the team with 10 sacks and 13 tackles for loss last year.
According to coach Bobby Lamb, Aguebor broke a bone in his leg, and will be sidelined for 10 weeks. The loss hurts. Mercer's defensive members won't let it define them.
"Our defense has a bunch of guys that are all leaders," said linebacker Tyler Ward. "There's no one you have to drag along to get to try to make some plays."
The secondary will also feel Aguebor's absence, but Avant has faith.
"Obviously, losing a guy like Tosin, who's a great leader who makes plays, hurts the team," Avant said. "Like Coach Lamb says, it's 'next man up.' We all have confidence we have players who will step up and make plays."
Mercer opens the season against Reinhardt on August 28th, under the lights at Mercer University Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:00 in the evening.
