SPARTANBURG, S.C. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team opened the season with a 31-14 win over Mercer at Gibbs Stadium. The Terriers took a 17-0 lead into halftime and added touchdowns in the third and fourth quarters for the victory.
 
Wofford is 1-0 overall and Mercer is 0-4 on the season. The Terriers rushed for 201 yards and passed for 173 yards, with four different players scoring touchdowns. Irvin Mulligan led the team with 90 rushing yards and a touchdown, while Jimmy Weirick was 12-of-18 passing for 173 yards. The Bears were led by Nakendrick Clark with 67 rushing yards.
 
"Having not played in over a year I was really pleased," said Wofford head coach Josh Conklin. "I was pleased with the effort and I thought we tackled well on defense. We made a few mental mistakes on offense but from an execution standpoint I am happy where we are at. It is a great game for us to build on for next week. I thought we got some big take-aways when they were driving the field which helped us out a lot and we were good on third down offensively which was a huge positive. The turnover margin was huge and when you win that you have a chance to win the game, especially when you score off of the turnovers."
 
The Terriers had the ball first and went three-and-out. On the first series for the Bears, Michael Mason forced a fumble that was recovered by Brandon Brown at the 33-yard line. With the short field, Wofford had two first downs before Irvin Mulligan scored a five-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead with 9:53 on the clock in the first quarter. Mercer then went three-and-out and punted. Wofford had one first down on their next drive before punting.
 
Mercer picked up three first downs before Michael Mason forced a fumble that was recovered by John Beckley at the 27-yard line. The teams then traded three-and-outs. With the ball back, Wofford had three first downs to move into the red zone before a 25-yard field goal by Dawson Henis gave the Terriers a 10-0 lead with 7:24 left in the second quarter. Mercer followed with a three-and-out. Wofford then had a fourth-and-long that was converted with a 36-yard pass to Landon Parker. Ryan Lovelace capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run and Wofford had a 17-0 lead with 1:11 left in the first half. Mercer turned the ball over on downs and the Terriers took a knee to end the half.
 
To open the second half, Mercer had four first downs and ended the drive with a four-yard touchdown run to make it a 17-7 game with 11:12 on the clock in the third quarter. Wofford answered with a nine-play drive that covered 70 yards and was capped by a two-yard run by Nathan Walker for a 24-7 lead with 6:25 left in the quarter. After Mercer gained one first down, a stop by Michael Mason on fourth-and-three turned the ball over on downs. Wofford had a first down by Ryan Ingram before having to punt.
 
On the next drive by the Bears, they had one first down before a fumble was recovered by Elijah Ball at the 29-yard line. D'mauriae VanCleave had a 36-yard reception for a first down and Irvin Mulligan followed with a rushing first down. Jamari Broussard scored a 12-yard touchdown for a 31-7 lead with 11:19 on the clock in the fourth quarter. Mercer converted three fourth-down plays on the ensuing drive before scoring a one-yard touchdown run with 2:23 remaining in the game for a 31-14 score. With Peyton Derrick in at quarterback, the Terriers went three-and-out and punted. Rett Russell had a sack on the next possession by the Bears and they had to punt. Wofford took a knee to end the game.
 
Wofford had 374 total yards, with 201 rushing yards. Mercer had 312 total yards, 181 of which were rushing. Wofford had 18 first downs, while Mercer had 17. Wofford was 7-of-14 on third down and Mercer was 4-of-15 on third down. The Terriers were 1-of-1 on fourth down and Mercer was 3-of-5 on fourth down. Wofford was called for four penalties to only one for the Bears. Mercer had a 30:42 to 29:18 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. Mercer Post-Game Notes
Wofford has now taken a 7-6 lead in the series, winning the last seven-straight since Mercer joined the SoCon.

It marked the 100th win in school history at Gibbs Stadium (100-34 since 1996).
 
The game ended a stretch of 488 days between football games, the longest stretch since 1,095 days between games during World War II.
 
The touchdown by Jamari Broussard in the fourth quarter was the first of his career.
 
Brandon Brown led the team with nine tackles, while Michael Mason added eight tackles and a pair of sacks.
 
Game captains were John Beckley, Brandon Brown, Al Hogan and Darron Paschal.     
 
Attendance was 1,078 at Gibbs Stadium.
 
The Terriers will travel to face Chattanooga on February 27 before returning home on March 6 to host East Tennessee State.