Mercer football will kick off the first FCS game of the 2026 season with a home matchup against East Texas A&M inside Five Star Stadium this Saturday, Aug 29. The game will be nationally televised on ESPN and will begin at 7:00pm. The Bears are helmed this season by former defensive coordinator Joel Taylor in his first season as head coach. “We’ve got a pretty tight team,” Taylor said, noting the togetherness of the group amid offseason transitions in his preseason conference. This season, Taylor has brought over multiple players from the University of West Georgia, his previous head coaching gig. Three of them, safety Brandon Gunn '29, defensive lineman Cam Moore '28 and offensivel lineman Brody Balliew '27, were named team captains. This season's starters on both offense and defense remain to be seen. The team's first preseason scrimmage had four quarterbacks taking reps with the first team, including returning QB JP Pickles '28, the only one to see action with the Bears last year. Wide receiver Brayden Smith '27, who was named to the Walter Payton Award Preseason Watchlist and awarded the SoCon Preseason Player of the Year, figures to be the top target for the starter. Taylor looks to bring a strong defensive identity to a Bears team that struggled at times last year to keep their opponents out of the endzone. With an unknown starter at quarterback, Taylor will look to replicate the Bears' penchant for strong rookie quarterback play in the footsteps of Braden Atkinson…
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