CHARLOTTE – After a surprising blowout win on the road at Rice last weekend, the Charlotte 49ers were hoping to build momentum going into their last three games of the season. The visiting Western Kentucky Hilltoppers had other ideas, and quarterback Austin Reed’s six-touchdown performance ensured that the Charlotte hope was short-lived as the visitors walked out of Charlotte’s Richardson Stadium with a 59-7 win on Saturday afternoon. 

Photo Credit: Ed Conway

Charlotte tried to get their offense moving in the second half, going seventy-five yards in ten plays, resulting in an acrobatic grab by Elijah Spencer in the end zone to get the 49ers on the board for the first time on the afternoon. WKU immediately responded, scoring in four plays, with Reed finding his sixth different touchdown target, Michael Mathison, to extend the lead again. The Hilltoppers added a field goal in the fourth quarter and put an exclamation point on the game with a forty-two-yard Anthony Brackenridge pick-six.

Western Kentucky’s quarterback Austin Reed finished with 409 yards and six touchdowns on the day. Backup quarterback Darius Ocean added a late score to make up the final margin.

Next Week

Charlotte (2-8, 1-5 CUSA) is on the road at Middle Tennessee next Saturday before returning home for the final game of the 49ers’ season on November 19th against Louisiana Tech. Western Kentucky hosts Rice in their home finale before hitting the road for the final two weeks of the season.

BIRMINGHAM, AL – Charlotte pushed host UAB to the limit, taking a 20-19 lead early in the fourth quarter, but the Blazers (4-2; C-USA: 2-1) scored the final two touchdowns to claim a 34-20 Conference USA victory Saturday.

"We can't shoot ourselves in the foot," said head coach Will Healy, alluding to three 49ers' turnovers. "I know it's frustrating for our team, frustrating for our fans, and frustrating for our staff. We're getting better on (the defensive) side of the ball. We gave up a couple big plays and weren't great on third down but we had some major stops in the red zone – a  kind of bend but don't break mentality. Us eliminating three and outs on offense was so important. We needed to keep our defense off the field to make sure we had some gas left in the fourth quarter.  Credit to (UAB) being able to put the thing away."

Charlotte's Geo Howard intercepted UAB on the second play of the game to help Charlotte (1-6; C-USA: 0-3) to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter. 

Chris Reynolds was 8-of-11 in the first quarter for 127 yards, including a season-best 60-yard TD pass to Elijah Spencer.  It was Spencer's 10th career TD – the seventh player in 49ers history to reach double figures and marked the 21st straight game in which Reynolds has played and thrown a TD pass.

Reynolds connected with Spencer again for a 28-yard pass on second-and-19 to set up a two-yard TD run by Shadrick Byrd to send the 49ers ahead 14-7.

In the second quarter, the 49ers defense held strong on a pair of goal-to-go possessions.  On a first-and-goal from the five, Charlotte held the line and Tank Robinson added a 10-yard TFL that gave Charlotte the ball on downs.  Another Blazer drive late in the quarter gave UAB a first-and-goal from the two.  Again, the defense stepped up and forced a 20-yard field goal that made it 14-10 heading into the half.

A pair of second-half turnovers led to nine Blazer points as UAB took a 19-14 lead with 2:15 left in the third quarter.

After a Reynolds interception to open the second half, UAB drove to the 12 but settled for a 29-yard field goal to cut the lead to one, 14-13. A fumble on a promising drive at the UAB 27 led to the Blazers' second TD of the game.  A stop on the two-point conversion left the Blazers with that five-point lead, 19-14.

On Charlotte's ensuing possession, Reynolds hit Henry Rutledge for 19 yards, Grant DuBose for 18, and Taylor Thompson for 24 to set the 49ers up at the one-yard line. Shadrick Byrd cashed in for his second TD of the game to put Charlotte ahead, 20-19 early in the fourth quarter.

UAB retook the lead, 27-20, on its next possession and added a breakaway run in the closing minutes to ice the game, 34-20.

"What stings is all I want them to do is have a great experience here and ultimately winning is part of that experience," Healy said. "You're seeing strides.  You're just dying for success."

NEXT:  

Charlotte hosts FIU, Saturday at 3:30 in another C-USA game.  It will be the 49ers' annual Homecoming Game. 

CHARLOTTE – Charlotte's late drive for the go-ahead/possible game-winning TD ended quickly when Chris Reynolds' long pass towards Elijah Spencer was picked off at the UTEP 22-yard line with 1:19 left to play, securing the Miners' 41-35 Conference USA victory over the 49ers, Saturday night.

Charlotte (1-5; C-USA: 0-2) trailed by 17 at the half, and rallied to within three early in the second half before the Miners (3-3; C-USA: 1-1) stormed ahead by 20 late in the third quarter.  Again, Charlotte rallied – and despite the two large deficits, had a chance to take the lead in the closing minutes after a pair of fourth-quarter TDs.

Charlotte WR Grant DuBose hauls in a TD Photo Credit: Ed Conway

“We shot ourselves in the foot way too many times, whether it be penalties, turnovers, or whatever else,” said 49ers head coach Will Healy.  ”I am always amazed at the fight of this football team. I am always impressed by the character of the young men that are in our locker room. We got the ball back with a (1:26) on the 36-yard-line with no timeouts down six and there wasn't a more confident group in the country but us. We shouldn't have left it up to that. I don't want to make life hard on ourselves and have to fight back from so much.”

Trailing 34-21 late in the third quarter, Charlotte was driving deep into UTEP territory with a chance to close to within one score. The 49ers fumbled at the goal line, however, and Jadrian Taylor returned it 100 yards to push UTEP ahead, 41-21. It was the Miners' second defensive touchdown of the game.

Down 20, Reynolds engineered a 12-play, 75-yard scoring drive to bring the 49ers within 13, 41-28 with 9:27 to play. He hit a diving Tucker on a fourth-down conversion to keep the drive alive and then connected again with his longtime target for a six-yard TD.  It was Tucker's fourth straight game with a touchdown.

“Just the fight of this team,” Healy said. “There were some incredible performances from our players. Chris Reynolds kept getting back up. Markees (Watts) and Amir (Siddiq) were huge to our football team. Grant (DuBose), Vic (Tucker), Elijah, and so many guys played hard and put their heart on the line tonight.”

Charlotte's defense held the Miners to a short, four-play drive that gained just 18 yards and one first down before punting. Again, Reynolds went to work – A 14-yard pass to DuBose.  A 16-yarder to Spencer. A 14-yarder to Shadrick Byrd. Byrd's 13-yard run to the left side found the endzone and suddenly Charlotte was within six, 41-35 with 3:07 to play.

The defense forced its second three-and-out of the game, forcing a punt with 1:26 left to play.

With the ball at its own 36 and nearly a minute-and-a-half left to play, thoughts of Reynolds' six career game-winning drives sprung to mind, including his last-minute heroics in the 49ers' 42-41 win at Georgia State earlier this year.

On the first play, however, his long pass attempt was intercepted to seal the win for the Miners.

“Hard fought football game and congrats to UTEP coming on the road and finding a way to get the win,” Healy said. “When we play well we are capable of beating anyone that is on our schedule. I know our guys will continue to fight hard and give us chances to win football games.”

Notable North Carolinians

Chris Reynolds (Davie) – the senior quarterback was 22 of 38 for 335 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Aidan Laros (Northwood) – the redshirt freshman kickoff specialist boomed kickoffs throughout the evening, landing three touchbacks.

Up Next

The 49ers (1-5, 0-2) head into a bye week before hitting the road for a Conference USA road game at UAB, Saturday, October 15.

Charlotte WR Grant DuBose hauls in a TD. Photo Credit: Ed Conway

Tagovailoa was every bit as special as anticipated going into the game. The redshirt junior was 27 of 31 on the day, tallying nearly four hundred yards along with four passing touchdowns. He added a short rushing touchdown in the third quarter. Defensively, Maryland stifled Charlotte, holding the 49ers to ninety-six yards on twenty-seven attempts.

Maryland, whose average scoring drive was less than three minutes, scored touchdowns on eight of their nine drives before kneeling out the clock to end the game. The only drive to not score a touchdown was at the end of the first half when Tagovailoa was picked in the end zone by Comanche Francisco, a lone bright spot for the 49ers defensively.

Next Week

Charlotte (0-3) goes on the road to face Georgia State in Atlanta for the second year in a row while Maryland (2-0) hosts SMU.

CHARLOTTE – After backup quarterback Xavier Williams’s 67-yard rush gave the 49ers a 24-20 lead, William and Mary scored the final 21 points to overtake Charlotte, 41-24, in non-conference action, Friday night.

“Obviously disappointed in the result, I don’t think there’s any question about that,” said head coach Will Healy. “Credit to William & Mary, I thought they played really well and made big plays down the stretch. We made life hard on ourselves. When we were up 24-20 we looked like we were in good shape. It didn’t seem like we were able to put drives together. You have to create a little bit of separation in that football game and we were never able to do it.” 

Charlotte rallied from a 17-3 deficit to tie the game on Williams’ two-yard rush with 00:13 seconds left in the half and then grabbed its first outright lead, 24-20, on Williams’ burst through the middle.  That 67-yard run was the longest play for the 49ers this year.

William and Mary, however, scored three times in the fourth quarter to pull away for the victory.

Williams, who began the season third on the 49ers’ depth chart, moved up when all-time record-holder Chris Reynolds was injured in the season-opener at FAU.  He came on in relief of James Foster, who was making his second start for the 49ers.

William and Mary rushed for 303 yards on their way to 559 yards of total offense while Charlotte totaled 379.

“I know it’s frustrating. We’ve got a lot of work to do to get better, but a short time to get there because no one is going to feel sorry for us,” Healy added. “I know we have a group of fighters, whether it be players or staff and we will respond. I know the type of character and leadership that’s on this football team. A response from this team, a bunch of fighters, and a team that’s going to get better.” 

Notable Notes

Sophomore Elijah Spencer, the 2021 C-USA Freshman of the Year, posted his first career 100-yard outing with 107 receiving yards. Running mates Grant DuBose (67 yards) and Victor Tucker (58) both pulled in over 50 receiving yards as the trio accounted for 232 of the 49ers' 248 receiving yards.

S Wayne Jones had a team-high 11 tackles for the 49ers.

With 67 receiving yards, DuBose became the sixth 49er to surpass 1,000 receiving yards in his career.  He now has 1048 receiving yards in just over one year of action.

Next Week

Charlotte's (0-2) path only gets more difficult as the 49ers host Maryland (1-0) from the Big Ten while William and Mary (1-0) plays Campbell (1-0) in a preview of a future CAA matchup.