Charlotte football’s introduction to new conference: A road game at SMU on national TV

Nobody remembers what you do in September; they remember what you do in November.

That was Charlotte head coach Biff Poggi’s message to his team as nonconference play concluded in Gainesville last Saturday. Nearly two years after the announcement that Charlotte would join the American Athletic Conference, the 49ers play their first game against an AAC opponent on Saturday night, starting with a nationally televised trip to Dallas to take on SMU (2-2) on ESPNU at 7:30 p.m.

Following a hard-fought 22-7 loss in The Swamp against Florida, Charlotte’s looking to build on the positives against a future Power Five program in the Mustangs, who accepted a bid to join the ACC starting in 2024.

“We know what we’re getting into. We’re playing in Dallas. SMU is a really good football team. So good that the Atlantic Coast Conference picked them to join them. They’re really another Power Five school that we’re going to go play,” Poggi said with a wink to athletic director Mike Hill. “It’s going to be a very tough contest for us, but we’re excited.”

Charlotte is a three-plus touchdown underdog for its third consecutive road game, but Ole Miss transfer Demon Clowney is looking to dominate on Saturday. Poggi said that Clowney played the “Game of his life” against Florida, and the redshirt sophomore defensive end is hungry for more.

“We want to win. We’re going into our conference play, and our record isn’t what we want it to be. I feel like we’ve got something to prove as a team. I want us to go in and dominate this next game,” Clowney said. “I feel like with (Ryan) Osborn as our defensive coordinator — he’s so hungry (to win) that it makes us hungry. On defense, we still have a lot to improve, and we’re only going to get better. Our defense is going to be a lot better than it has been.”

After playing its most complete game of the season against an FBS team, holding the Gators to five field goals and one touchdown, forcing two takeaways and battling for four quarters against an SEC program, Charlotte is preparing to enter a “hornet’s nest” against SMU, according to Poggi.

“You’re going to play 150 snaps. They’re not all going to be pretty. It’s not what you did on the last one; it’s what you’re going to do on the next one,” Poggi said. “We’re going into an absolute hornet’s nest on Saturday. They’re used to winning. We know that they are waiting for us. So, we have a lot of work to do this week, and what we did at Florida is something to build on — but that’s over.”

Mustang speed

Coach Rhett Lashlee’s Mustangs have a high-tempo, high-flying offense with the ability to take the top off of any defense with their weapons on the perimeter. SMU runs nearly 79 plays a game, which ranks 11th in the nation. For reference, Charlotte is running just over 60 per game, ranking 121st.

After starting just one game as a redshirt freshman, Preston Stone has stepped into the Mustangs’ full-time starting quarterback role in 2023, where he’s accounted for 1,056 yards, 10 total touchdowns and four interceptions on a 58.4% completion percentage.

Without a clear-cut No. 1 target, Stone has spread the wealth through four games, with six Mustangs’ receivers recording over 120 receiving yards, and nine different players have scored touchdowns, including offensive lineman Stone Eby, who scored his first collegiate touchdown against Oklahoma on a trick play.

The Mustangs lost two close games against Oklahoma and TCU — the national championship runner-up in 2022 —- and Lashlee isn’t taking Charlotte lightly, stating that the 49ers’ defensive front has the talent to wreck games, led by Eyabi Okie-Anoma and Clowney.

“(Jadeveon) Clowney’s brother is playing really, really good. And then (Okie-Anoma) on the other side of the field — those guys have juice. I think eight of their 11 starters are P5 transfers. They’re playing with a lot of confidence on defense. You go to The Swamp and hold Florida to that one touchdown. They were, obviously, beating Maryland at the half,” Lashlee said at SMU’s Tuesday press conference. “Just a really good unit playing with a lot of confidence, but the main thing that really concerns us are those two defensive ends. Two defensive ends like that can change a game.”

Game wreckers

Okie-Anoma and Clowney played together on Poggi’s 2017-18 Saint Francis Academy high school team, which went 13-0 and allowed just 61 total points all season. Following five years apart and multiple stops across the SEC, Big Ten and AAC, the edge duo is back together wreaking havoc for opposing quarterbacks.

“Just being on the other side of Eyabi — he’s got that fire,” Clowney said. “Coach Osborn expects a lot out of us, me and Eyabi both. We’re both always fired up going into the game. We want to win. Of course, we have our individual things that we want to accomplish, but the winning comes first.”

The duo has combined for 32 total tackles, six quarterback hits, 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery through four games.

Okie-Anoma’s strip-sack of Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, which was recovered by Clowney, kept Charlotte within striking distance against the Gators early in the second half. Following the first three games of the season, which weren’t up to his standards, Okie-Anoma insisted that Osborn coach him as hard as possible leading into The Swamp.

It paid off with his best collegiate game to date, according to Poggi.

“Eyabi went to Coach Osborn and said, ‘I want you to coach me as absolutely hard as you can.’ And Osborn just lit him up and held him to a very high standard. And he played probably the best game of his career. And I thought (Demon) played the best game of his career, too.”

After being held out of the first half of Charlotte’s loss against Georgia State due to “personal reasons,” Okie-Anoma has totaled 13 tackles over six quarters and has solidified himself as Charlotte’s best defensive player. His snap count against the Gators reflected that, playing the most snaps (49) of any defensive lineman for the first time this season.

With eight games left on the schedule, Okie-Anoma believes that Charlotte’s defense will only improve.

“I don’t want to over-promise things, but as the year goes on, we’re going to keep getting better and better. Y’all see what happens when the defense plays lights out all four quarters,” Okie-Anoma said. “That’s what y’all can look forward to seeing.”