Weekly Predictions: ACU vs. Mercer 

Season Records:

T-1st. Owen 2-1

T-1st. Carrie 2-1

T-1st. Madi 2-1

4th. Tavian 1-1

5th. Jalen 1-2

Owen: The Wildcats are off to their worst start since 2016 where they lost its first seven games of the season. That finally changes Saturday when they take down Mercer. There’s not much to gauge from Mercer’s two losses of the season, most recently Army, 49-3. The Bears throw a lot of turnovers and struggle to run the ball. They’ll rely on their defense to pull off the upset. Meanwhile, senior quarterback Peyton Mansell is coming off his worst game this season, committing his first three interceptions as a Wildcat against SFA. He’ll need to protect the ball more if ACU hopes to come out on top. Junior wide receiver Kobe Clark now seems to be in midseason form, and they’ll rely on him to help ignite an inconsistent offense so far this season. The Wildcats win their first game of the season and the first in over a year.

ACU: 27  Mercer: 13

Carrie: The Wildcats are heading to Georgia for their fourth game of the season as they get ready to face Mercer on Halloween. As for the Bears, they are coming off a 49-3 loss against a now-familiar opponent to ACU, Army. Mercer’s offense is led by junior quarterback Harrison Frost, who has a 55 percent completion rate, passing for 228 yards while throwing for two touchdowns in their first two games. Defensively, the Bears are led by freshman linebacker Isaac Dowling, who has on the season 16 tackles, seven of those being solo tackles, and two sacks. As for the Wildcats, they are coming off an overtime loss against familiar conference foe Stephen F. Austin. Still leading the Wildcats on offense is junior quarterback Peyton Mansell, Who has thrown for 705 yards accompanying a 62 percent completion rate, having also thrown three touchdowns this season. If the Wildcats are to win their game on Saturday, they would need to make sure to reduce turnovers and work on fine-tuning their defense to help stop Mercer’s offense. If ACU does those two things and continues working their offense well, they should come out on top on Saturday.  

ACU: 31 Mercer: 14

Tavian: Last week the Wildcats came off of an overtime thriller against Southland conference foe Stephen F. Austin, losing 35-32 in Globe Life Park in Arlington. The Wildcats were still able to keep it a close competition. Junior wide receiver Kobe Clark came alive in the 4th quarter with a breakout run to help send it to overtime. As we look towards this week’s game against Mercer the Wildcats need to do three things: First, limit the number of turnovers. Second, they’ll need to take more chances down the field. Finally, they have to win the field position battle. Now the only common opponent that they share with Mercer is Army. ACU lost 55-23 and Mercer lost 49-3. We were able to put points on the board and Mansell played his best game of the season against a very good Army team. I think the Wildcats are going to be able to get their first win of the season this Saturday.

ACU: 30 Mercer: 13

Jalen: Coming off of an overtime defeat against Stephen F. Austin Saturday, the Wildcats face off against the Mercer Bears this weekend, still looking for their first win of the season. As far as this season goes, both of these teams have winless records and give up over 300 yards of offense per game. This will be the Bears’ last game of the season before resuming play in February. For the Wildcats, their defense has obviously been the weakest element of their team, so I believe this game will give them a boost of confidence in continuing to strengthen their defensive gameplan. The Bears average a little over 15 points per game and have scored only 31 total points in this season. Although the Wildcats have struggled the entire season, I believe the Wildcats will come out on top in this matchup. 

ACU: 21 Mercer: 10

Madi: Last week the Wildcats fell short in overtime against conference opponent SFA. There were a few plays made that help put the game into overtime but the Wildcast could not overcome the hump to win. Mercer is the Wildcats opponent this week and to be quite honest, this is a must-win game if they want to prove they can win games they are supposed to. Looking at who Mercer has matched with compared to ACU, I expect the Wildcats will get a win this weekend. They have yet to prove that they can finish a game and pull out a win, so I think this is an opponent that will allow ACU to find its offensive stride in keeping a lead. Mercer has not been very impressive this season, so I think this is a must win for the Wildcats if they are going to prove they can handle business against teams they are supposed to beat. 

ACU: 21 Mercer: 7