Mercer beats Abilene Christian 34-17
Team pages: Mercer · Abilene Christian
Mercer beat Abilene Christian 34-17. Share this game
We had Abilene Christian favored. Mercer won.
Next: Mercer beat VMI 54-3, Sat Oct 3
Box score
Mercer 34, Abilene Christian 17
Mercer covered +3.5 by 20.5. The total, 51, went over 48.5.
Mercer leaders
- Passing JP Pickles 8 of 11, 77 yds, 1 TD
- Rushing Devon Caldwell 23 for 132 yds; JP Pickles 18 for 130 yds, 2 TD
- Receiving Brayden Smith 6 for 68 yds, 1 TD; Eric Rasheed 1 for 8 yds
Abilene Christian leaders
- Passing Tucker Parks 16 of 28, 195 yds, 3 INT
- Rushing Rovaughn Banks Jr. 11 for 92 yds; Tucker Parks 16 for 85 yds, 1 TD
- Receiving Raydrian Baltrip 4 for 79 yds; Dallas Dudley 3 for 47 yds
Before kickoff
Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.
Recent games
Last 4 games
Mercer · 2-2
Rated 169th in our preseason ratings, 169th now.
2-2 in its last 4 — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.
W 23-15 vs East Texas A&M #240 of 668
won by 8 as a 22.5-point favorite
Last 4 games
Abilene Christian · 1-3
Rated 112th in our preseason ratings, 130th now.
1-3 in its last 4 — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.
Week by week
Abilene Christian
- Wk 1Lat Lamar14-21
- Wk 1Lat Texas Tech10-33
- Wk 2Lvs Stephen F. Austin7-26
- Wk 3Wat Idaho41-39
Mercer
- Wk 1Wvs East Texas A&M23-15
- Wk 1Wvs Presbyterian62-3
- Wk 2Lvs Furman13-20
- Wk 3Lat Georgia Tech11-44
Power rating by week
Abilene Christian is rated 2.7 points ahead as of week 3. Our power rating by week; higher is better.
The series
Abilene Christian leads the series 1-0
1 meeting since 2020 · Abilene Christian won the last meeting
- 2020Abilene Christian 20-17
Line, fans and home field
The betting line, and the fans
Our model and the betting line don’t fully agree on Abilene Christian’s chances here.
Abilene Christian favored by 3.5 · Total 48.5
The market
The total fell 1 point.
Total: 49.5 → 48.5
The books’ cut: 5.3%, the margin built into the odds
Home field
Abilene Christian has had no measurable home edge since 2018 — −0.2 points (±5.6), home against road — 1st percentile of FBS.
0% at home, 11% on the road against FBS opponents (0-2 home, 2-16 away).
Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads +4.6 at home vs. away over 56 games — inside the ±7.2 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.
Night kickoff — historically worth about half a point more to the home side against the number, and not much more than that. The visitors travel about 934 miles to get here.