The upcoming game against the Mercer Bears marks Alabama’s first non-Power 5 matchup since the Tide defeated Western Carolina on November 23rd, 2019. On one hand, it was kind of nice to not have any of these small-school matchups that are inevitably blowouts (although Alabama treated many SEC opponents much the same in 2020), but on the other, it will be nice to see the Tide have a chance to get many of the backups significant playing time by the 2nd half.
The Mercer Bears didn’t play football from 1941 until 2013, when they reinstated their program and won 10 games in the Pioneer conference of the FCS.