Sneak Peak: Mercer, Rebels’ first opponent of 2023, opens the season a week before heading to Oxford to face Ole Miss
OXFORD, Miss. — We have one week before Ole Miss starts the 2023 season when Mercer comes to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on
September 2nd.
However, Rebels’ fans do not have to wait that long to see the Bears in action. Saturday, Mercer will play North Alabama in the FCS Kickoff at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN.
It will be the first college game of the season — in the U.S. An hour before Mercer and the Lions kick off in Alabama’s capital city, Notre Dame and Navy will begin the season in Dublin, Ireland.
A look at Mercer
Mercer, a member of the Southern Conference and ranked No. 22 in the FCS, has an impressive offense. Last season, the Bears scored 38.2 points per game and gained over 470 yards per game. Mercer is especially impressive in the passing game, averaging nearly 300 yards per game. Quarterback Carter Peevy is expected to take over the starting quarterback position, but he has a pair of receivers who have the ability to pick up chunks of yardage on any play.
Both Devorn Williams and Ty James are not only each on the Walter Payton Award watch list — which goes to the best player at the FCS level — but each join 20 Ole Miss players on the Senior Bowl watch list.
The duo combined for more than 3,000 receiving yards last year and 33 touchdown receptions. The odd thing is physically, each receiver is physically the polar opposite of one another. Apart from each having blazing speed, Williams is only 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, while James stands 6-2 and weighs 200.
Defensively, the Bears gave up 337 yards a game last year, but only 120 of those came on the ground.
Still, Mercer, a school from Macon, Ga., best known for beating Duke in the NCAA basketball tournament in 1994, should be a solid favorite against the Lions.
North Alabama is coming off a 1-10 season and is joining the United Athletic Conference. That league comprises Abilene Christian, Austin Peay, Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Southern Utah, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State and Utah Tech.
Although UNA has not had success lately, as a Division II member, the Lions won three straight D2 national titles and it is home to the Harlon Hill Award, also known as the Division II Heisman.
Also, the Florence, Ala., school can boast Terry Bowden as a former head coach. Coincidentally, Bowden will visit Oxford in November with his Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.
Before Ole Miss can get to that point of the season, however, it must get past the season opener against Mercer. Fortunately, the Rebels get a sneak preview of Mercer Saturday.
The Ole Miss home opener is set for 1 p.m., and can be seen on ESPN+.
Steve Barnes
Steve Barnes joins The Rebel Walk staff as a senior writer and brings a trifecta of journalistic experience. As a writer, he has covered college sports for Rivals.com, Football.com and SaturdayDownSouth.com as well as served as a beat writer for various traditional newspapers.
He has been a broadcaster for arena football and several national tournament events for the National Junior College Athletic Association as well as hosting various shows on radio.
A former sports information director at Albany (Ga.) State University and an assistant at Troy and West Florida, he has helped host many NCAA conference, regional and national events, including serving five years on the media committee of the NCAA Division II World Series.
Barnes, a native of Pensacola, Fla., attended Ole Miss in 1983-84, where his first journalism teacher was David Kellum. The duo has come a long way since that time.
He will bring a proven journalistic track record, along with a knack for finding the out-of-the-ordinary story angles to The Rebel Walk.
Barnes continues to reside in Pensacola a mere ten minutes from the beach because he does have taste and a brain.
