CHARLESTON, S.C. -- The Citadel (1-3, 1-1 SoCon) struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the program's Southern Conference home opener against RV/#25 Mercer (2-1, 2-0 SoCon), falling to the defending league champion Bears via a decisive 38-0 margin Saturday afternoon at Sansom Field at Johnson Hagood Stadium.

"What I was disappointed most in was our fight," head coach Maurice Drayton said. "We didn't win one-on-one battles when we had the opportunities. They are going to win some because they are on scholarship too. When we have those one-on-one opportunities, we need to win more of those battles."


KEY NOTES
-- Under center, Quentin Hayes took the majority of the snaps following an early injury to starter Cobey Thompkins, closing out his day 7-of-12 for 60 yards with one interception; the Air Force transfer added 38 yards on the ground off 13 carries
-- In the backfield, Garrison Johnson Sr. paced the running back corps behind a 53-yard, seven-carry outing, notably tearing off a 37-yard gash on the initial drive of the contest; Sebastien Boyle tallied eight carries as well for 15 yards
-- At wide receiver, Javonte Graves-Billips pulled down a team-best four catches for 26 yards; JJ Hudson contributed a pair of receptions for 14 yards as well while Jihad Marks notably grabbed his first catch of the year, good for 18 yards
-- Defensively, Cale Williams led the group with six tackles; Tyrik McDaniel, Nolan Jones and Sayre Smothers racked up five tackles apiece as well, including a combined 1.5 tackles-for-loss
-- Per the usual, James Platte impressed with his big leg, averaging 48.0 yards per punt on five attempts; notably, the grad student pinned Mercer inside their own 20-yard line on three occasions while dropping a 70-yard bomb to kick off the fourth quarter, good for a new career-best