MACON, Ga. (Interstat) — Western Carolina will visit Mercer on Saturday for an NCAA Football Championship Division game at Five Star Stadium. Mercer will be the home team and Western Carolina will be the visiting team. The forecast calls for 78 degrees at game time. Western Carolina enters at 3-3, while Mercer is 4-2. The Catamounts will look to build on a recent win, and the Bears will try to maintain momentum after a recent victory.

Western Carolina’s most recent outing produced a 44-20 home win over Tennessee Tech. Lex Thomas passed for 236 yards and rushed 19 times for 94 yards with one touchdown. Josh Perry rushed 25 times for 157 yards, caught three passes for 24 yards and scored twice. Marlin Cochran added 11 carries for 26 yards. Earlier this season, Thomas passed for 163 yards and rushed 11 times for 52 yards with three touchdowns in a loss to East Tennessee State, and he passed for 268 yards and rushed nine times for 34 yards with one score in a win over Presbyterian. Western Carolina also owns a 58-14 win over Presbyterian and a 45-21 win over Eastern Kentucky. The Catamounts lost 62-10 at Cincinnati, 28-19 at Campbell and 58-31 at East Tennessee State.

Mercer enters at 4-2 after a 54-3 road win at Virginia Military Institute. Jaylen King passed for 202 yards and rushed five times for 25 yards with one touchdown. JP Pickles passed for 34 yards and rushed six times for 66 yards with two touchdowns, and Adrian Parker passed for 20 yards and rushed once for 4 yards with a score. King also passed for 20 yards and rushed five times for 2 yards earlier at Georgia Tech. The Bears have wins over Abilene Christian, Presbyterian, Texas A&M-Commerce and Virginia Military Institute. Their losses came against Georgia Tech and Furman. Mercer’s other results include a 34-17 win at Abilene Christian, a 62-3 win over Presbyterian, a 23-15 win over Texas A&M-Commerce, a 44-11 loss at Georgia Tech and a 20-13 loss to Furman.

Western Carolina will next face Chattanooga at home, then visit Furman, host Wofford, visit Samford and host Citadel. Mercer will visit Samford, host Citadel, visit Chattanooga, visit Tennessee Tech and host East Tennessee State.

Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Mercer 55, Western Carolina 45. Interstat’s ELO system projects Mercer with an 81.7 percent probability to win. Western Carolina has been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of +6. The over/under for this game is 57.5.