Rhode Island Rams at Mercer Bears
· FCS Championship - Second Round
No. 7 Mercer stages 4th-quarter comeback to top No. 10 Rhode Island 17-10, advances to FCS semifinal
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.
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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
 |
TD | 1st Period 3:33 | Myles Redding 25 Yd Interception Return (Reice Griffith Kick) |
 |
FG | 2nd Period 0:00 | Ty Groff 17 Yd Field Goal |
|
TD | 3rd Period 2:33 | Marquis Buchanan 56 Yd pass from Hunter Helms (Ty Groff Kick) |
|
TD | 4th Period 14:19 | Adjatay Dabbs 4 Yd pass from Whitt Newbauer (Reice Griffith Kick) |
|
FG | 4th Period 6:10 | Reice Griffith 24 Yd Field Goal |
Statistics
 URI |
 MER |
|
|---|---|---|
| 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
Location: Macon, GA
Attendance: 8,012 · Capacity:
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