CULLOWHEE, N.C. (AP) — Braden Atkinson threw three touchdown passes, CJ Miller ran for three scores, and Mercer defeated Western Carolina 49-47 on Saturday in a shootout to win the Southern Conference title.
Mercer clinched the SoCon's automatic bid into the FCS playoffs.
Reice Griffith's 37-yard field goal gave the Bears their 49-47 lead with 1:30 remaining before Taron Dickens drove the Catamounts to the 15-yard line with 3 seconds left. Marcus Trout then missed a 33-yard field-goal attempt on the final play.
Dickens threw seven touchdown passes, including three in the fourth quarter when the Catamounts twice rallied from a 12-point deficit. They took a 47-46 lead on his final TD pass, a 42-yarder to James Tyre, but they failed on a 2-point attempt that would have given them a three-point lead.
Dickens completed 33 of 49 passes for 551 yards. Malik Knight had 141 yards receiving, scoring twice for the Bears (8-1, 7-0), who are tied for 10th in the FCS coaches poll.
Atkinson was 23-for-39 passing for 443 yards. Adjatay Dabbs had 147 receiving yards and Miller ran for 91 yards for the Catamounts (6-4, 5-1), 24th in the FCS poll.
Western Carolina had the edge in total yards, 599-568.
Dickens, a sophomore, had a career-high of 528 yards with six TD passes against Samford earlier this season.
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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