MERCER, Ga. – On Saturday afternoon, the Wofford College football team was defeated 31-17 by Mercer at Five Star Stadium. The Bears led 10-7 after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth quarter on the strength of two defensive touchdowns, but the Terriers scored in the final two minutes for the 31-17 margin.
 
Wofford is 0-8 overall and 0-5 in the Southern Conference, while Mercer is 5-3 overall and 3-2 in league play. The Terriers were led by Pauly Seeley with 227 passing yards on 19-of-29 attempts. Alec Holt and Dillon Droze had touchdown receptions. The Bears were led by quarterback Carter Peevey on 23-of-29 passing for 238 yards and a touchdown.
 
"I was proud of the way that the kids battled today and that is the character of this team," said head coach Shawn Watson. "I am proud of how hard they played and how hard they battled. I appreciate the belief they have in what we are trying to do here together. On the other side of it, we have to clean up our mistakes and those mistakes hurt us. We should be past those now."
 
The Terriers had the ball first and had two first downs before punting. With the ball at the one-yard line, the Bears put together a 17-play drive that included three third-down conversions and one fourth-down conversion and ended with a three-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead at 3:13 in the first quarter. Wofford went three-and-out on their next possession. The Bears then added a 40-yard field goal on a 13-play drive to take a 10-0 lead with 10:14 left in the second quarter. The teams then traded three-and-outs.
 
With the ball back, Pauly Seeley had a first down catch to Tyler Parker and then found Alec Holt across the middle for a 56-yard touchdown reception. The Mercer lead was 10-7 with 6:10 on the clock in the quarter. The Bears drove down the field and on fourth-and-two from the 26-yard line, the Bears were called for a penalty and the Terriers took over with 3:30 left in the half. After Wofford went three-and-out and punted, Mercer used a 37-yard pass to move across midfield. They tried a 37-yard field goal as time expired, but the kick was short.
 
To begin the second half, Mercer had one first down and then on third down a sack by Brandon Maina forced a punt. Wofford had two first downs to move across the 50. After a pair of first down passes to Alec Holt, the Terriers were faced with a fourth-and-one from the nine-yard line and the run was short to turn the ball over. The Bears drove the 91-yards in twelve plays, which included five first downs, and scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass to go up 17-7 with 13:20 left in the fourth quarter. Wofford began their next drive at the eight-yard line, but Pauly Seeley was sacked and fumbled, with the ball recovered in the endzone by the Bears for a 24-7 lead at 13:05.
 
The Wofford defense forced a three-and-out, highlighted by a sack by Brandon Maina. The punt was shanked and the Terriers took over at the 23-yard line. On first down, Pauly Seeley found Tyler Parker who was out of bounds at the one-yard line. Seeley was sacked and fumbled, but the Terriers recovered. Bridger Jones made a 37-yard field goal to cut the lead to 24-10 with 3:57 left in the game. After Mercer recovered the on-side kick, Harrison Morgan forced a fumble that was recovered by John Michael DiRoberto. Wofford went deep on their first play, but the ball was intercepted by Lance Wise and he returned it 79-yard for a touchdown. Mercer was up 31-10 with 3:31 remaining on the clock. After three first downs, Seeley found Dillon Droze for a 16-yard touchdown catch to make it a 31-17 game with 1:21 left. Atkins Roberts executed a perfect onside kick that was recovered by Alec Holt. Wofford had one first down before Seeley was intercepted on the 43-yard line. The Bears took a knee twice to end the game.
 
Wofford had a 281 total yards, with 227 passing yards. Mercer had 338 total yards, with 238 of those passing yards. Mercer had 22 first downs to 16 for the Terriers. Wofford was 4-of-11 on third down and 0-of-1 on fourth down. Mercer was 6-of-12 on third down and 1-of-2 on fourth down. Both teams were called for eight penalties. The Bears had a 32:04 to 27:56 time of possession advantage.
 
Wofford vs. Mercer Post-Game Notes
This was the 16^th meeting between the two teams, dating back to 1915. Mercer leads the series 9-7 and have won the last three meetings.  
 
On offense, J.T. Smith, Jr. and Tyler Parker both started their first career games.
 
The 227 passing yards were a career-best by Pauly Seeley.
 
Defensively, Brandon Maina had two sacks and David Powers had 12 total tackles.
 
Wofford will take the bye week on October 28 before returning home on November 4 to host Western Carolina at 3:00 p.m.
 
Game captains were Bryson Dickerson, John Michael DiRoberto, Anthony Garcia, and David Powers.    
 
Attendance at Five Star Stadium was 8,711.