The Charlotte 49ers, who rode a five-game win streak to bowl eligibility, have announced that they have accepted an invitation to compete in the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl in the program's first-ever bowl appearance.
   
"We are extremely excited for our university, our team and our fans to accept an invitation to the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl," said 49ers Director of Athletics Mike Hill. "We couldn't imagine a better setting for our first-ever bowl game. This team has demonstrated incredible resilience and earned this opportunity. Niner Nation can't wait to head to the Bahamas!"
   
The 2019 Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl will be held Dec. 20 at 2:00 p.m. at 15,000-seat Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas. Charlotte (7-5) will face Buffalo, which went 7-5, this season, with a 5-3 mark in the Mid-American Conference. The Bulls have won five of their last six games.

Thomas A. Robinson National Stadium (Photo Credit: Ben Solomon/ESPN Images)

Charlotte's school-record five-game win streak to close the regular season came in Conference USA play as Charlotte finished a school-best 5-3 in the league.
   
"We are ecstatic to accept an invitation to play in the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl," said 49ers head coach Will Healy. "It means so much to me that this group, especially our outstanding seniors — our Gold Standard — will have a chance to play together one more time. To do it in paradise? We couldn't ask for anything more. Nothing will ever change the fact that this team was the first to go to a bowl game in Charlotte Football history. That's incredible, and I am so proud of everyone who worked so hard to make this a reality."
   
The 49ers powerful offense is led by versatile quarterback Chris Reynolds and 1,000-yard rusher Benny LeMay.  The 49ers defense is headlined by defensive end Alex Highsmith, the 49ers all-time sack king, and linebacker Jeff Gemmell, who recently recorded his program-best 300th career tackle.
   
"As proud as we are to be in this position after five consecutive wins, we aren't satisfied," Healy added. "We've been saying for weeks that our goal is to win a bowl game, not just to qualify for one. So we'll have to work hard in the coming weeks to prepare for an excellent Buffalo team. But we are so excited to have this challenge and an opportunity to share a bowl experience together."
   
Ticket information is available at the 49ers Bowl Central web page at Charlotte49ers.com. For those who placed deposits, the ticket office will send out communications with instructions to finalize payment. UNC Charlotte students can purchase bowl tickets online or by coming to the Halton Arena Ticket Office during regular office hours. Fans wishing to purchase rooms at the host resort for the Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl, the Atlantis Bahamas, can do so by clicking the Bowl Travel tab at MakersWantedBahamasBowl.com.
   
A reminder that all U.S. citizens who wish to attend the game must have a valid U.S. Passport to enter the Bahamas.

CHARLOTTE – It was an emotional week for the Charlotte 49ers. Twenty-one seniors were graduating, and bowl eligibility was on the line. The fact that former head coach Brad Lambert was on the opposing coaching staff for the night made it even more meaningful. A steady rain tempered the size of the crowd in the stands, but not the energy in the stadium. The Charlotte 49ers fed off this energy throughout the entire night on their way to a 24-13 win over the visiting Marshall Thundering Herd.

With both offenses sputtering and trading turnovers to start the game, it was the Marshall special teams who stepped up first to get points on the board. Charlotte was backed towards its own end zone on a fourth-down when Darius Hodge got a hand on the punt attempt. The ball was picked up by Joseph Early who ran sixteen yards to give Marshall a 7-0 lead.

Marshall added a field goal in the second quarter to take what seemed like a commanding ten-point advantage, but Charlotte’s offense finally sparked to life two drives later, going eighty-six yards on eight plays and culminating in a fifteen-yard Chris Reynolds rushing touchdown. Charlotte had a chance to tie the game at the half, but a last-second field goal went wide and the visitors took a 10-7 lead into the locker room.

Much as how the two teams mirrored each other to start the first half, both squads did the same to begin the second half. After Charlotte marched sixty-nine yards in a little over five minutes and eventually settled for a 23-yard Jonathan Cruz field goal, Marshall went sixty yards in almost six minutes before regaining the lead with a Justin Rohrwasser 31-yard field goal.

If the Forty-Niners were going to try and win to become bowl eligible for the first time, it was going to have to happen in the final fifteen minutes of the game. And the Charlotte offense made good on this opportunity, driving down the field with a series of Chris Reynolds and Benny LeMay runs. When Victor Tucker, who had attracted four defensive pass interference penalties on the day, ran around the left side for five yards and hit pay dirt, the home team had the lead for the first time on the day.

It was now time for the Charlotte defense to step up once again to seal the deal. Nafees Lyon’s interception with six minutes left in the game was the defensive play the 49ers needed and one highlight on a night for a defense that did not give up a touchdown. The Charlotte offense marched back on the field with a mission – kill the last six minutes on the clock, score, and put the game out of reach. An amazing grab by Victor Tucker in the end zone on a fourth down with less than a minute remaining was the final nail in the coffin and Charlotte fans stormed the field as the clock hit 0:00.



Notable North Carolinians
Chris Reynolds (Davie) – The sophomore quarterback ran for over 100 yards and a score while also throwing for a score.
Jeff Gemmell (Heritage) – The senior linebacker led the team with ten tackles, the third time in the last four games he has recorded double-digit tackles.
Darius Hodge (Wake Forest) – The sophomore defensive lineman’s blocked punt in the first quarter led to the only touchdown of the night for Marshall.

Noteworthy Notes
With a staggering defense, Charlotte held Marshall to only 230 yards of total offense, the second-fewest Marshall has amassed in a game this season. Only G5 powerhouse Boise State held the Herd to less.
Charlotte quarterback Chris Reynolds outrushed the Marshall offense by himself, 145 to 144.
Running back Benny LeMay went over 100 yards rushing for the sixth time this season and crossed the 3000 yard mark for his career.

Charlotte's "ClubLIT" was ecstatic when head coach Will Healy decided to celebrate "Lee Corso" style

Next Week
Charlotte (6-5) closes out the regular season on the road at Old Dominion (1-10) while Marshall (7-4) hosts FIU (6-5).

CHARLOTTE – In a series where the home teams has never won, scheduling Florida Atlantic for Homecoming may not have been the best decision for the Charlotte 49ers. In each of the previous four meetings, the road team won, including Charlotte ending Florida Atlantic’s bowl hopes in 2018, defeating the Owls in Boca Raton in the final week of the season. The trend held true, as the visiting Owls defeated the 49ers 45-21 in their Conference USA opener.

Photo Credit: Ed Conway

The game started out fast for Florida Atlantic as Deangelo Antoine’s 66-yard run on the first play from scrimmage set up on a three-yard scoring run by Larry McCammon to give the Owls an early 6-0 lead. Before the 49ers could even get an offensive first down, FAU added a Malcolm Davidson scoring run to make it 14-0. The 49ers responded this time, marching eighty yards down the field, and got on the scoreboard with Chris Reynold’s twenty-four-yard pass to Victor Tucker.

Charlotte tried to make it a game in the second quarter after holding FAU to a field goal and using a little trickeration to catch the Owls defense off guard. The reverse to Dollar and subsequent pass to Reynolds set up a one-yard pass from Reynolds to Jacob Hunt to make a three-point game. The Owls were having none of this, though, and responded with a nine-play, seventy-five-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown with only thirty seconds left in the half, making it a ten-point game going into the locker room.

The 49ers brought the game within three again in the third quarter, this time on a sixteen-yard pass from Reynolds to Aaron McAllister, but this was the last time the 49ers had any meaningful offense on the afternoon. The rest of the day belonged to the visitor who railed off twenty-one straight points en route to a 45-21 win.

Charlotte Head Coach Will Healy Photo Credit: Ed Conway

Charlotte head coach Will Healy did appreciate the fight in his team, though. “There was a point in time in that game where it’s 45-21 and your will is being tested. Do you continue to compete, or do you lay it down? I never think this team has ever laid it down, but they did do a good job of wearing us down. I don’t ever want to throw the ball 31 times. Benny LeMay is a guy who deserves more than 11 carries. In the second half, they wore us down, we weren’t able to create as many running lanes.”

There were a few bright spots for the 49ers, though, as it was the third game in a row where the 49ers defense had at least three sacks. Victor Tucker also broke the 100-yard mark as a receiver for the fourth time in his career.

Even with the loss, Coach Healy still has high expectations for his team and how they’ll respond. “I don’t expect any different from when adversity has hit them the last ten months. I have zero question that we’ll respond in a very high level. This is not the end of what we’re trying to do here. This is a roadblock. This is a bump in the road. We’re excited that we still have seven more opportunities.”

Up Next
Charlotte (2-3, 0-1) has a bye week before traveling to south Florida to take on Florida International while FAU (3-2, 1-0) is also on bye before hosting Middle Tennessee.

Notable North Carolinians
Alex Highsmith (Ashley) – the senior defensive lineman had another sack on the day, his sixth of the season, breaking Larry Ogunjobi’s program record in just five games.
Chris Reynolds (Davie) – the sophomore signal-caller threw for three scores, giving him ten on the season, matching what the 49ers offense did as a whole last season.

"Everything you do, do it with passion, energy, and enthusiasm."
   
Will Healy, the new head football coach of the Charlotte 49ers, is driven by those 10 words. His teams are driven by the same philosophy, which leans heavily on character, relationships, and positivity.
   
In hiring Healy, Charlotte Director of Athletics Mike Hill saw those characteristics and knew they meshed with the very culture he is building for the 49ers athletic program.

Charlotte AD Mike Hill and new Head Coach Will Healy Photo Credit: Charlotte Sports Information

   
"Will Healy reflects our program and institution," Hill said. "He is a young, hungry, up and comer. He is a force to be reckoned with."
   
Healy, an Eddie Robinson Award winner as the National FCS Coach of the Year, is known for infusing energy and enthusiasm into his program. During his three-year stint as head coach at Austin Peay he engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history. Now he brings that attitude to Charlotte, which set school records for FBS wins and Conference USA, this past season.
   
"We're delighted to attract a coach of Will Healy's caliber and character," UNC Charlotte Chancellor Philip Dubois said.
   
"We've got a gold mine here. I love what we're going to do here together. Let's build something special," Healy told the standing room only crowd. "The people in the city of Charlotte need to come see what this place is about. People are going to come here because they know us and because of the relationships that our players and our coaches and our athletic department have with them. We are going to build a family atmosphere. We believe in who we are, we believe in how we are raising a culture and how we are raising these men to be great husbands and fathers. We believe in the opportunity that comes with being a student-athlete here at Charlotte and I can't wait to go along this journey with all of you in this room."
   
To say his enthusiasm is contagious is an understatement.
   
When he said he told Hill "I would walk to Charlotte from Chattanooga to have an opportunity to talk about this job", you believed he would.
   
That attitude helped him land top-five FCS recruiting classes at two schools in four of the last five years, including the top recruiting class in the FCS following a 0-11 season.
   
That attitude helped him produce back-to-back five-win seasons at a place that had two five-win seasons in the previous 24 years.
   
That attitude helped him win 13 games in the last two years after the Govs had won one game in the previous four years.
   
"We used ... multiple conversations with fellow colleagues across the country, administrators, coaches, and others," Hill said "Will Healy's name continued to pop up over and over. There is high praise for this man, not only as a football coach but as a human being. He made an impact obviously recruiting and as a coordinator. He's clearly a rising star as we talked to everyone around the country. There were four characteristics we were looking for in our new head coach. High character and integrity, proven recruiter, teacher and developer of talent, and who values culture."
   
Healy checks every box.
   
And now he's the coach charged with lifting Charlotte's young, energetic and enthusiastic football program to greater heights.
   
"This place is special. We get the chance to build our own history, our own story," Healy remarked. "We want fans screaming about Charlotte Athletics, that's my vision for this place. I feel like I'm living a dream. I always felt this job can be one of the top programs in college football. I think when you drive on this campus for the first time you get a chance to see the facilities and the resources this place has to offer - this place is really special. My family and I are really living a dream being here."