# 2018 Mercer Bears football team

The 2018 Mercer Bears football team represented Mercer University as a member the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Bobby Lamb and played their home games at the Five Star Stadium in Macon, Georgia. Mercer finished the season 5–6 overall and 4–4 in SoCon play to place in a three-way tie for fifth.

## Preseason
### Preseason media poll

The SoCon released their preseason media poll on July 25, 2018, with the Bears predicted to finish in fourth place. The same day the coaches released their preseason poll with the Bears predicted to finish in sixth place.
Media poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Samford | 204 (20) |
| 2 | Furman | 174 (2) |
| 3 | Wofford | 163 (1) |
| 4 | Mercer | 133 |
| 5 | Western Carolina | 114 |
| 6 | Chattanooga | 88 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 83 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 53 |
| 9 | VMI | 23 |
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Samford | 63 (7) |
| 2 | Wofford | 53 (1) |
| 3 | Furman | 52 (1) |
| 4 | Western Carolina | 39 |
| 5 | Chattanooga | 34 |
| 6 | Mercer | 32 |
| 7 | The Citadel | 28 |
| 8 | East Tennessee State | 15 |
| 9 | VMI | 8 |

#### Preseason All-SoCon Teams

The Bears placed eight players on the preseason all-SoCon teams.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 7:00 p.m. | at Memphis* | Liberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis, TN | ESPN3 | L 14–66 | 33,697 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | Jacksonville* | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN3 | W 45–3 | 10,200 |
| September 15 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 9 Samford | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | ESPN+ | W 30–24 | 8,717 |
| September 22 | 4:00 p.m. | The Citadel | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN+ | L 31–38 | 11,772 |
| September 29 | 1:30 p.m. | at VMI | Alumni Memorial FieldLexington, VA | ESPN3 | W 48–38 | 3,251 |
| October 13 | 1:00 p.m. | at Yale* | Yale BowlNew Haven, CT | ESPN+ | L 28–35 | 2,861 |
| October 20 | 4:00 p.m. | Western Carolina | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN+ | W 59–46 | 8,230 |
| October 27 | 1:30 p.m. | at No. 9 Wofford | Gibbs StadiumSpartanburg, SC | ESPN3 | L 21–42 | 6,374 |
| November 3 | 3:00 p.m. | East Tennessee State | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN+ | L 18–21 | 10,002 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | at Chattanooga | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | ESPN+ | W 13–9 | 8,014 |
| November 17 | 3:00 p.m. | Furman | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN+ | L 30–35 | 8,811 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Game summaries
### At Memphis

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |
| Tigers | 28 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 66 |

### Jacksonville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Dolphins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Bears | 7 | 24 | 14 | 0 | 45 |

### At Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 30 |
| No. 9 Bulldogs | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |

### The Citadel

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 7 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 38 |
| Bears | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### At VMI

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 13 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 48 |
| Keydets | 7 | 13 | 0 | 18 | 38 |

### At Yale

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Bulldogs | 14 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 35 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Catamounts | 7 | 20 | 6 | 13 | 46 |
| Bears | 0 | 28 | 17 | 14 | 59 |

### At Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 21 |
| No. 9 Terriers | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 42 |

### East Tennessee State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buccaneers | 0 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 18 |

### At Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 13 |
| Mocs | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |

### Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Paladins | 7 | 13 | 9 | 6 | 35 |
| Bears | 7 | 3 | 14 | 6 | 30 |