This is a column of opinion and analysis by 13WMAZ’s veteran news and sports anchor, Frank Malloy.
They're called Statement Games, game in which a team sends out notice they are no longer who we thought they were.
Take Mercer's victory over Samford on Saturday -- big win for the Bears, bigger because it kicked off the Southern Conference season, biggest because it proved the Bears could stand tall when it counts the most -– in the fourth quarter, a stumbling block for the team in seasons past.
Hey, finishing off close conference games is tough, especially when a scorching sun makes it feel like you're playing in the desert. Standing toe-to-toe with a Bulldog on his home turf and coming away with a win makes a statement.
But Head Coach Bobby Lamb will tell you that statement has a short lifespan. For his players, that lifespan lasted until 3:15 Sunday afternoon.
That's when Samford slid into the rearview mirror and another band of Bulldogs –- this group from the Citadel Breed -- took over the spotlight.
This is what Bill Underwood and Jim Cole hoped for when they restarted football -- a big time game with a big time atmosphere. The Bears made their statement, time now for the fans to make theirs.