CHARLESTON, S.C. - The 15th-ranked Citadel Football Team opens its Southern Conference title defense Thursday night at Mercer. The Bulldogs and Bears kickoff at 7 p.m., and the game will be broadcast live on FOX Sports Southeast and FOX Sports West as well as available on the FOX Sports Go app. Outside of the FOX Sports Southeast and FOX Sports West viewing areas, the game can also be found on ESPN3 and via the ESPN app.

• The Citadel is 57-48-3 all-time in season openers and has won three of its last five season-opening contests.
• The Bulldogs open their season on the road for the first time since 2009 and are playing an FCS opponent on the road in a season opener for the first time since 2004 at Appalachian State, which also is the last time The Citadel opened its season with a Southern Conference game.
• The Citadel is 56-12-3 in season openers against non-FBS competition.
• The Bulldogs return 15 starters and 88.2 percent of their touchdowns, 86.4 percent of their total offense, 82.4 percent of their all-purpose yards, 84.8 percent of their rushing yards, 94.1 percent of their passing yards, 52.6 percent of their receiving yards, 85.0 percent of their interceptions, 91.7 percent of their forced fumbles, 67.6 percent of their tackles, 56.0 percent of their tackles for loss, 51.9 percent of their sacks, 93.5 percent of their kickoff return yards and 100 percent of their blocked kicks, punt return yards and punt yards from last season.
• The Bulldogs' nine wins in 2015 was the second-highest single-season win total in program history, trailing only the 1992 team's 11 victories.
• The Citadel won its third Southern Conference championship and first since 1992 in 2015, finishing with a 6-1 record in SoCon play to tie with Chattanooga.
• The Citadel's 23-22 win at South Carolina was the first FCS victory over an SEC team since Georgia Southern, now an FBS member, won at Florida in 2013.
• The Citadel won a road playoff game for the first time in program history with its 41-38 victory at Coastal Carolina in the first round.
• The Bulldogs' 524 rushing yards at Coastal Carolina was the highest total in an FCS Playoff game since 2012 when Georgia Southern rushed for 602.
• The Citadel led the Southern Conference in interception return yards (515, 1st in FCS), touchdowns (5, 1st-t), rushing yards per game (346.9, 2nd), yards per completion (17.21, 2nd), sacks allowed (0.62, 2nd), tackles for loss allowed (3.54, 3rd), interceptions (20, 3rd-t), turnovers forced (31, 3rd-t), yards per carry (5.70, 4th), rushing touchdowns scored (41, 4th), punt return defense (3.10, 6th), passing touchdowns allowed (10, 11th-t), fumble recoveries (11, 25th), third-down defense (.365, 42nd), tackles for loss (6.5, 43rd) and kickoff return defense (20.26, 60th).
• The Citadel's +117 scoring margin in 2015 ranked 1st in the SoCon. In conference play, the Bulldogs ranked 1st with a +100 scoring margin.
• Last season in conference games, the Bulldogs lead the SoCon in touchdowns (29), rushing offense (344.0), rushing defense (130.6), pass efficiency defense (112.8), sacks (20), sacks allowed (4), third-down defense (.337), first downs allowed (17.4), interceptions (11), and kickoff returns (27.4).

The complete game notes packet can be found here.

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