How Charlotte 49ers’ football team plans to approach games down season’s final stretch
With a chance to make a statement in the American Athletic Conference, Biff Poggi’s Charlotte 49ers are treating the final three contests of the season like the playoffs, starting with Memphis on Saturday at Richardson Stadium.
Following last weekend’s late-game heroics against Tulsa, posting the second-biggest comeback in program history, the 49ers (3-6, 2-3 AAC) are aiming for bowl eligibility and will need to end the season on a four-game win streak to achieve the feat for the first time since 2019.
Led by walk-on quarterback Trexler Ivey and one of the top defenses in the conference, Charlotte is tasked with slowing down the Tigers’ 11th-best scoring offense in the nation. Memphis (7-2, 4-1 AAC) is averaging 39.4 points per game and has scored 45 or more in their past three games, including winning college football’s highest-scoring game of the season last Saturday — a 59-50 victory against South Florida.
With key defenders Eyabi Okie-Anoma, Stone Handy and Ma’hi Ali reinstated following one-game suspensions, as well as the probable return of Charlotte’s most dynamic offensive player, Jalon Jones, a confident Poggi believes the 49ers are up to the challenge.
“We’re getting good now. We fear no man, and we fear no team . Everybody is talking about Memphis, and Memphis is great. They’re a really good football team. But we’re getting pretty good, too. So, we’ll see,” Poggi said. “I think that (last Saturday’s victory against Tulsa) is really important for the building of our program and the culture of our program to have a win like that on the road in our conference. I’m very proud of our players, coaches and everybody involved in our program.”
Charlotte’s “next man up” mentality was good enough to steal a victory in Oklahoma, and Saturday presents a different type of challenge.
Memphis Tigers present ‘such a huge test’
Defensive coordinator Ryan Osborn stated that Charlotte aspires to emulate Memphis’ level of success, with a litany of current NFL players, frequent appearances in bowl games and multiple American conference titles.
“They’re a really good team. Memphis, in our conference, is really a team that we aspire to be,” Osborn said. “Think about where they’ve been in the last eight to ten years. They’ve really built that place up to be one of the top Group of Five schools in the country. Year in and year out, playing in New Year’s Six bowls ... They’ve done a really good job building the program, and it’s going to be such a huge test.”
It’s important to remember that the Tigers’ program is 100 years older than Charlotte’s. But all of that goes out the window at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“We know what’s at stake. We all want to go to a bowl game, so it’s kind of like we’re in the playoffs,” Hill-Green said. “We’re just taking every game like that, and we had some players down, but it’s a next man up mentality.”
To win this game, Charlotte must turn it into a rock fight — meaning getting the run game going (averaging 186 rushing yards per game in wins this season), dominating the time of possession battle (ranked eighth in the nation at more than 32 minutes per game), and creating timely turnovers and short fields for the offense (-5 turnover margin, 111th in the nation).
Thirty-three points against Tulsa was Charlotte’s highest offensive output of the season, which saw career highs for Jairus Mack (7 catches for 124 yards) and Henry Rutledge (104 combined yards). The 49ers will need more of that to keep bowl hopes alive, and offensive coordinator Mike Miller is looking to raise his offense’s standard.
“What has not shown is explosive plays and points. We challenged our kids; we have to play to our standard, but we also have to raise our standard,” Miller told the media on Tuesday. “Right now, our standard is not good enough — we’re not scoring enough points to win. It takes time, and while that’s not very popular in college football, we’re trying to expedite that process. ... We’re trying to lay the foundation for a very successful future here.”
While improvement is clear, going score for score in a shootout is not Charlotte’s game. And again, the weight will fall on Osborn’s defense to deliver in their most important game of the season.
Memphis quarterback, tailback day-to-day
Memphis’ starting quarterback Seth Henigan and work-horse tailback Blake Watson are considered day-to-day ahead of Saturday’s matchup, both nursing injuries from last week’s game against South Florida.
Despite the injury designations from Tigers head coach Ryan Silverfield, Charlotte’s preparation remains the same. “It’s status quo for me,” Osborn added.
Henigan has tossed two interceptions in both of Memphis’ losses this year, and edges Okie-Anoma and Handy will be relied on to get after the junior signal-caller all game.
Henigan leads the AAC in passing attempts (34.88 per game) and yards (2,535) but has also thrown the second-most interceptions in the conference with 8. Boding well for the 49ers, Charlotte boasts the second-best passing defense in the AAC, allowing just 196.4 yards per game through the air.
Charlotte’s defense has made game-winning plays in their two FBS victories of the season, and the 49ers must play up to the Tigers’ level of competition to extend their hopes of a late-season surge on Saturday.
“For whatever reason, specifically defensively, we play up and down to our opponents,” Osborn said. “We’ve done it all year for nine games. It’s a good offense. Hopefully, we’re ready for the challenge on Saturday.”
