‘I was very disappointed’: Charlotte 49ers football falls to Rice in home finale

Biff Poggi knew it would be a challenge to keep Charlotte’s locker room together following last week’s overtime loss to Memphis, which ended any hope of reaching a bowl game in his first year as head coach. Charlotte’s performance Saturday proved he was right.

The 49ers recorded just 158 yards of total offense, a program-worst, in a 28-7 blowout loss against Rice.

The last time these teams met, Charlotte found the end zone eight times in a dominant 56-23 road victory in the first game of the post-Will Healy era. Saturday evening at Richardson Stadium was much different. Owls tailback Dean Connors outgained Charlotte’s team as a whole, rushing for a career-best 184 yards on 19 carries.

“It’s not like we’re threatening anyone on offense. It’s a real factor, and it has been all season. This is not even close to what I wanted. No one is more disappointed and surprised than me,” Poggi said of Charlotte’s season as a whole. “There’s something that we haven’t mastered yet in the program. It’s a sense of toughness, believing in yourself, and playing for each other. We just aren’t mentally that tough. You see it in games like (Memphis) when we should’ve won. This week, when we were down 13, it was like a morgue on our sideline. I think we took a step back, quite frankly. We got worse today.”

After scoring a season-best 38 points just seven days ago, the Charlotte 49ers’ offense came back to earth, reaching the red zone just twice and scoring one touchdown against the Owls’ defense, which surrenders nearly 28 points a game.

Rice was in complete control from the game’s opening possession, on which they scored an opening drive touchdown despite missing their starting quarterback, JT Daniels, for the second-consecutive week with a concussion. Charlotte was held scoreless in the first half for the second time this season and didn’t find the endzone until their penultimate drive of the game, when Trexler Ivey scrambled for a 13-yard touchdown to capitalize on linebacker Demetrius Knight’s interception.

Charlotte forced three turnovers on the game, resulting in just seven total points. Poggi said that the offense was “totally inept” following the game.

“I told the offensive staff at halftime that this was one of the worst offensive performances that I’ve ever seen in a college football game. We have a lot of work to do,” said Poggi. “When you have a really tough football team, you use those (turnovers) as catalysts. Offensively, we were just totally inept today. And we’ve been inept a lot this year. Coming in, we didn’t think Rice was a powerhouse on defense, but we certainly did that today.”

Charlotte’s leading receiver was Randy Fields, who had two catches for 18 yards. The 49ers converted 4 of their 13 third-down attempts, which actually improved their season average of 24.5%.

Offensive coordinator Mike Miller added: “The defensive gave us plenty of opportunities to go flip the scoreboard, and we didn’t capitalize. Third downs are still an issue.”

‘We desperately need an upgrade at (quarterback)‘

It’s been clear since the first drive of the season that Charlotte’s offense was not going to win them many games. And despite scoring a combined 71 points in the past two contests, Saturday night was a reminder that this program has a long way to go.

Charlotte played three quarterbacks in the loss, combining for 74 total yards through the air on a 44% completion percentage, including a garbage-time interception. Poggi was blunt about the struggles after the loss.

“Our quarterback position is our quarterback position. We desperately need an upgrade at that position. And that’s just the truth.”

Charlotte sent two quarterbacks to the transfer portal prior to the season, with James Foster and Xavier Williams moving on from the program. Williams reunited with Healy at Central Florida and would have had a shot to take the reins in Charlotte with so many struggles this season.

Ivey saw the majority of the snaps with Jones exiting with a concussion late in the second quarter, following a targeting call and ejection on the Owls’ leading pass-rusher Coleman Coco. Poggi said that he doesn’t expect Jones to play in the season finale against South Florida next week.

Last game of the season

Charlotte has a chance to play spoiler next week, with the Bulls (5-6, 3-4 AAC) vying for bowl eligibility in their final game of the season.

Poggi stated that “personal pride” would be Charlotte’s rallying cry in their last game, which will also serve as the final game in a 49ers uniform for many on the roster — for multiple reasons.

“I told them in the locker room that I was very disappointed,” Poggi said. “And I told them that there will be a number of them that won’t be back next year, whether it’s graduation or my decision to move on. It doesn’t mean that I don’t love you and care about you because I do. But I’ve been hired to do a job, and I’m going to do that job. And that goes for everybody in the building, including me.”

Charlotte (3-8, 2-5 AAC) has now lost five consecutive games at home and failed to beat an FBS program at Richardson Stadium this season. Searching for their fourth win and third road conference victory of the season, Poggi is unsure of how his team will respond.

“I said to the team on Thursday before practice that I didn’t feel the same intensity, attitude and spirit that I had felt the week before. Maybe that was true. And if that was true then, what’s it going to be like now?”