Western Carolina Catamounts Western Carolina 3-4
14 Final Oct 10, 2026
Mercer Bears Mercer 5-2
17 Stats Markets Info
Closing line US sportsbooks, consensus at kickoff Spread WCU +7.5 −107
MER −7.5 −113
Total O/U Over 60.5 −113
Under 60.5 −110
Spread: Western Carolina +7.5 covered. Total O/U: under 60.5 (31 points).
Recap Mercer edged Western Carolina 17-14 at Five Star Stadium in Macon on Oct 10, 2026 to move to 5-2.
The go-ahead score came with 6:28 left in the fourth quarter: Zahmari Palode-Gary 63 Yd pass from JP Pickles (Simon Zeidan Kick).
Score by quarter Western Carolina Catamounts and Mercer Bears, score by quarter Team 1 2 3 4 T WCU 0 7 0 7 14 MER 0 0 7 10 17
Scoring plays Second Quarter WCU Touchdown · 0:39 Marlin Cochran 9 Yd pass from Lex Thomas (Bryan McCollum Kick) 7 - 0 Third Quarter MER Touchdown · 0:38 Brayden Smith 18 Yd pass from JP Pickles (Simon Zeidan Kick) 7 - 7 Fourth Quarter MER Touchdown · 6:28 Zahmari Palode-Gary 63 Yd pass from JP Pickles (Simon Zeidan Kick) 7 - 14 WCU Touchdown · 1:29 Lex Thomas 5 Yd pass from Jai Boyd (Bryan McCollum Kick) 14 - 14 MER Field Goal · 0:00 Simon Zeidan 42 Yd Field Goal 14 - 17
Team stats WCU MER
1st Downs 17 23
Total Yards 293 373
Passing 220 142
Rushing 73 231
3rd down efficiency 6-17 4-13
Turnovers 1 2
Possession 27:08 32:52
Top performers Western Carolina Catamounts Mercer Bears
Passing Lex Thomas 19/35, 215 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INT
JP Pickles 12/15, 132 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Josh Perry 12 CAR, 50 YDS
JP Pickles 19 CAR, 71 YDS
Receiving Jai Boyd 6 REC, 76 YDS
Zahmari Palode-Gary 1 REC, 63 YDS, 1 TD
Tackles Nassor Ashenafi 10
Jyarius Carter 9
Player stats Western Carolina · Passing Player C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT Lex Thomas 19/35 215 6.1 1 1 Jai Boyd 1/1 5 5.0 1 0
Western Carolina · Rushing Player CAR YDS AVG TD LONG Josh Perry 12 50 4.2 0 13 Lex Thomas 15 18 1.2 0 9 AJ Colombo 1 3 3.0 0 3 Anthony Benjamin 1 1 1.0 0 1 Marlin Cochran 3 1 0.3 0 3 Jordan Martin-Durham 1 0 0.0 0 0
Western Carolina · Receiving Player REC YDS AVG TD LONG Jai Boyd 6 76 12.7 0 36 AJ Colombo 2 32 16.0 0 19 Josh Perry 3 28 9.3 0 19 Marcus Striggles 1 26 26.0 0 26 Jake Young 3 21 7.0 0 8 Marlin Cochran 2 14 7.0 1 9 Bode Burns 1 11 11.0 0 11 Jayden Cornelius 1 7 7.0 0 7 Lex Thomas 1 5 5.0 1 5
Western Carolina · Defense Player TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HUR TD Nassor Ashenafi 10 7 0.5 1.5 0 0 0 Marco Patierno 6 4 0 0 0 0 0 Trystan Anderson 6 3 0 1.5 0 0 0 Blue Monroe 6 3 0 1 0 0 0 Da'Shawn Davis 6 2 0 0.5 0 0 0 Joshua Collins 5 3 0 0 0 0 0 Chase Kerns 5 2 1.5 1.5 0 0 0 Andre Jackson Jr. 4 3 0 0 0 0 0
Western Carolina · Interceptions Player INT YDS TD Jayden Cornelius 2 1 0
Western Carolina · Kicking Player FG PCT LONG XP PTS Bryan McCollum 0/0 0.0 0 2/2 2
Mercer · Passing Player C/ATT YDS AVG TD INT JP Pickles 12/15 132 8.8 2 1 Jaylen King 3/6 10 1.7 0 1
Mercer · Rushing Player CAR YDS AVG TD LONG Devon Caldwell 12 71 5.9 0 17 JP Pickles 19 71 3.7 0 26 Zahmari Palode-Gary 12 66 5.5 0 18 Jaylen King 4 20 5.0 0 14 Brayden Smith 2 16 8.0 0 8 Team 1 -13 -13.0 0 0
Mercer · Receiving Player REC YDS AVG TD LONG Zahmari Palode-Gary 1 63 63.0 1 63 Brayden Smith 5 43 8.6 1 18 Travion Solomon 4 18 4.5 0 10 Samuel Albee 1 12 12.0 0 12 Eric Rasheed 1 5 5.0 0 5 Asa Gregg 1 1 1.0 0 1 Devon Caldwell 2 0 0.0 0 1
Mercer · Defense Player TOT SOLO SACKS TFL PD QB HUR TD Jyarius Carter 9 5 0 0 0 1 0 Ronin Dangler 9 5 0 2.5 0 0 0 Nigel Gay 7 4 1 1.5 1 0 0 CJ Favors 6 3 0 0.5 0 0 0 Eric Brantley Jr. 5 1 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 Kobe McInnis 4 1 0.5 1.5 0 1 0 Cameron Goggins 3 2 0 0 2 0 0 Jeremy Richardson 3 2 0 0 1 0 0
Mercer · Interceptions Player INT YDS TD Evin McDowell 1 0 0
Mercer · Kicking Player FG PCT LONG XP PTS Simon Zeidan 1/1 100.0 42 2/2 5
Game info Venue Five Star Stadium, Macon, GA
Attendance 3,139
Scores and stats: ESPN. Closing line: TheRundown. Prediction-market prices: Kalshi and Polymarket. Betting splits: a consensus across several sportsbooks. Odds change constantly: confirm the price at the book. 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER .
Game details updated Oct 10, 6:18 PM ET. How game pages are made
