Mercer opens season against defending league co-champ

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The Mercer University football program starts the 2016 season Thursday at 7 p.m. with a home game against The Citadel.

It’s the fourth season in the latest installment of Bears football and the team’s third in the Southern Conference.

“We’re excited about getting started,” head coach Bobby Lamb said earlier this week. “Any time you start the football season with a conference opponent like The Citadel, certainly you have to have a sense of urgency.”

The Bulldogs won a share of the SoCon title in 2015 but barely got by Mercer, winning 21-19. It was their second straight two-point win in the series.

“I think about [those two points] a lot,” said senior quarterback John Russ, one of Mercer’s 20 returning starters. “It haunts me sometimes, but you’ve got to move on. I’m very excited and hopefully it comes down to a situation like that again where I can make a play to win the game.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Five Star Stadium. We’ll recap the game on 41NBC news at 11.