No. 18Mercer Bears

FCS Championship · Quarterfinals

Ugh, no.

Mercer Bears lost to the North Dakota State Bison

Ranked #18 · 11-3 7 – 31

12-2

Final · Sat, Dec 14

Game Details

Fargodome (Fargo) · 10,353 fans · ABC, ESPN+

Highlights

Miller throws for 2 TDs, runs for another as North Dakota State tops Mercer 31-7 in FCS quarterfinal

Cam Miller threw a pair of touchdown passes to Bryce Lance and ran for another to lead North Dakota State over Mercer 31-7 on Saturday and into the FCS semifinals.

Recap via ESPN

0:25 Touchdown! Barika Kpeenu scores vs. Mercer

0:23 Cam Miller connects for 4-yard TD pass

0:32 Mekhi Collins shows the hands on 70-yard reception

0:25 CJ Miller breaks off 26-yard rush

Clips play on ESPN

Fargodome · Fargo

Line Score

	1	2	3	4	T
MER	7	0	0	0	7
NDSU	14	10	0	7	31

Win Probability · Mercer Bears

kickoffnow: 0%

Game Leaders

Mercer Bears

Whitt Newbauer · 8/18, 90 YDS, 1 TD, 1 INTPassing Yards
DM Dwayne Mcgee · 14 CAR, 59 YDSRushing Yards
KP Kelin Parsons · 1 REC, 38 YDS, 1 TDReceiving Yards
Marques Thomas · 1.5Sacks
Marques Thomas · 2Tackles

North Dakota State Bison

Cam Miller · 16/25, 259 YDS, 2 TD, 2 INTPassing Yards
CharMar Brown · 11 CAR, 58 YDSRushing Yards
Mekhi Collins · 4 REC, 119 YDSReceiving Yards
Toby Anene · 1.5Sacks
Toby Anene · 2Tackles

2026 Southern Conference Standings

Team
East Tennessee State
Tennessee Tech
Chattanooga
Wofford
Furman
Mercer
Western Carolina
Samford
The Citadel
VMI

2026 Mountain West Conference Standings

Team
North Dakota State
New Mexico
San José State
UNLV
Air Force
Wyoming
Northern Illinois
Nevada
UTEP
Hawai'i

Scoring

Q4 1:57

TD Barika Kpeenu 1 Yd Run (Griffin Crosa Kick)7–31

Q2 0:11

FG Griffin Crosa 38 Yd Field Goal 7–24

Q2 12:01

TD Cam Miller 34 Yd Run (Griffin Crosa Kick)7–21

Q1 7:01

TD Kelin Parsons 38 Yd pass from Whitt Newbauer (Reice Griffith Kick)7–14

Q1 9:31

TD Bryce Lance 4 Yd pass from Cam Miller (Griffin Crosa Kick)0–14

Q1 12:03

TD Bryce Lance 40 Yd pass from Cam Miller (Griffin Crosa Kick)0–7

Team Stats

Mercer BearsNorth Dakota State Bison

Offense

195 Total Yards 392

86 Passing Yards 259

109 Rushing Yards 133

8 First Downs 20

Efficiency

1-11 3rd Down 9-17

0-2 4th Down 0-0

10/20 Completions 16/26

Turnovers & Clock

1 Turnovers 2

7-56 Penalties 5-45

24:22 Possession 35:38

Box Score

Mercer Bears ▾

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
Whitt Newbauer	8/18	90	5.0	1	1
D.J. Smith	2/2	-4	-2.0	0	0
Team	10/20	86	4.3	1	1

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG
Dwayne Mcgee	14	59	4.2	11
CJ Miller	4	58	14.5	28
Tyrell Coard	1	8	8.0	8
D.J. Smith	3	6	2.0	2
Kelin Parsons	1	4	4.0	4
Parker Wroble	1	-3	-3.0	0
Whitt Newbauer	7	-23	-3.3	11
Team	31	109	3.5	28

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Kelin Parsons	1	38	38.0	1	38
Kendall Harris	1	17	17.0	0	17
Samuel Albee	3	17	5.7	0	6
Adjatay Dabbs	1	8	8.0	0	8
Parker Wroble	2	5	2.5	0	6
Brayden Smith	2	1	0.5	0	4
Team	10	86	8.6	1	38

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD
Marques Thomas	2	1	1.5	1.5	0
Arias Nash	1	1	1	1	0
Brayden Manley	1	1	1	1	0
Andrew Zock	1	0	0.5	0.5	0
Ken Standley	0	0	0	0	1
Dainsus Miller	0	0	0	0	3
Myles Redding	0	0	0	0	2
Team	5	3	4	4	6

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS	TD
Myles Redding	2	0	0
Team	2	0	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Brayden Smith	3	86	28.7	34
Parker Wroble	2	37	18.5	19
Team	5	123	24.6	34

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
Parker Wroble	2	10	5.0	10	0
Team	2	10	5.0	10	0

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Reice Griffith	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1
Team	0/0	0.0	0	1/1	1

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
John McConnell	7	281	40.1	0	1	43
Team	7	281	40.1	0	1	43

North Dakota State Bison ▾