Goldrush: October 31 vs Marshall

OCT. 31 VS. MARSHALL CHARLOTTE VS. MARSHALL 路 OCT. 31, 2015

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49ers haunted by another ho-hum homecoming The Charlotte 49ers took one on the chin in a 44-10 loss against Southern Miss MATT CHAPMAN SPORTS EDITOR

The Charlotte 49ers welcomed the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles to the Queen City on a beautiful homecoming Saturday afternoon.

However, the fans didn’t show up and neither did the team as the 49ers were trounced 44-10 behind a comedy of errors in all three phases of the game.

“First off, I give Southern Miss a lot of credit, but the difference in this game really came down to third down,” said 49ers head coach Brad Lambert after the game.

“The other thing was special teams. We cut it to a 20-point game and had a little momentum but then the kickoff return busted us. We missed a couple field goals so the special teams was something that was really disappointing to me.”

The Golden Eagles dominated in all facets of the game, particularly on third down converting on 10-of-18 attempts. Charlotte on the other hand couldn’t buy a third down conversion and ultimately finished with a lackluster 25 percent conversion rate. Southern Mississippi racked up nearly 500 yards of total offense whereas the Niners struggled to top 250 and only managed 120 yards through the air.

The 49ers picked up where they left off a week ago against Old Dominion and lit up the scoreboard first with a 25-yard field goal from Blake Brewer midway through the first quarter.

Charlotte established the rushing attack and mixed in a couple of play-action passes, marching the ball down inside the 10-yard line before settling for an early 3-0 lead.

Southern Mississippi answered loud and clear on the ensuing possession with a 69-yard Nick Mullens touchdown pass and the Golden Eagles never looked back. Charlotte safety Devin Pearson was in position to make a play, but he lowered his shoulder instead of wrapping up and the receiver bounced right off and sprinted down the sideline for a 7-3 lead.

Charlotte (2-5, 0-4 Conference USA) trailed by a touchdown at the end of the opening quarter, but built a little confidence with over 100 yards of total offense until the wheels fell off in the second quarter. The Niners ran 18 plays for a total of 18 yards in the second quarter as Southern Mississippi tacked on two more touchdowns and built a commanding 23-3 halftime advantage.

Charlotte quarterback Lee McNeill’s struggles continued as the redshirt junior completed an abysmal 37 percent of his pass attempts and failed to surpass 100 yards through the air.

McNeill tossed two interceptions, bringing his season total to nine while he has yet to throw a

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touchdown pass in any of his four starts under center. The Niners as a team have gone without a passing touchdown since the first home game of the season against Presbyterian way back on Sept.12.

“As far as the passing game goes I feel like we just have to be more connected,” said Charlotte wide receiver Trent Bostick after the game.

“It’s not something that we’re not working on in practice or anything, it’s just the position Kalan Reed leaps and makes an incredible interception in the end zone over Austin Duke. that sometimes we Photo by Ben Robson put ourselves in in the game that sets us the fate for the home team on homecoming. up that way.”

Despite the lengthy scoring drive, the 49ers Lambert credited Southern Mississippi when responded with their most impressive offensive asked about Charlotte’s ineptitude throwing the showing of the day on the ensuing possession. football and responded with abrupt “yes sir” when Kalif Phillips and backup quarterback Matt asked if the plan at quarterback would remain Johnson exploited holes in the Southern the same moving forward.

Mississippi defense before McNeill finished The 49ers had a golden opportunity to build things off with a 20-yard quarterback keeper momentum heading into the locker room when for Charlotte’s lone touchdown of the afternoon, Chris Montgomery pounced on a muffed punt at cutting the deficit down to 30-10. the Southern Mississippi 34 yard-line. McNeill As was the case in the first half, Southern took a rare deep shot to the end zone on the first Mississippi promptly took the life out of the play of the drive, but his pass floated and Kalan building with a back-breaking 95-yard kickoff Reed of the Golden Eagles made a spectacular return touchdown that pushed the lead back to 27 grab for the first interception of the afternoon. points.

The Niners found themselves in plus territory “We’ve just got to keep grinding,” said Lambert moments later in the closing seconds of the at the conclusion of the press conference. half and failed to convert yet again as offensive “I’ve said it several times and they’ve done that coordinator Jeff Mullen dialed up back-to-back so far. They practiced hard last week and we have running plays and a shallow crossing route on to continue doing that and keep studying film. third-and-long.

We’ve got to understand that little mistakes add Southern Mississippi (5-3, 3-1 C-USA) received up and we have to continue to grow from that.” the ball to begin the second half and methodically The 49ers will be back inside Jerry Richardson picked apart the 49ers’ defense on a 14-play, Stadium next Saturday for a Halloween 72-yard possession that demoralized the crowd showdown with the Marshall Thundering Herd. and gave the Golden Eagles a 30-3 advantage.

Kickoff for that contest is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Mullens capped the drive with his fourth touchdown pass of the game that all but sealed

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49ERS’ OFFENSIVE OFFENSE The Charlotte 49ers offense ranks dead last in Conference USA

MATT CHAPMAN SPORTS EDITOR

The Charlotte 49ers’ offensive mishaps have been well documented throughout the entire 2015 season. An offseason quarterback competition spiraled into a monthlong carousel at the position that has completely derailed the highoctane, highlight reel offense of the past two years.

Matt Johnson, Brooks Barden and most recently Lee McNeill have all started under center for the Niners in the program’s first year at the Football Bowl Subdivision level.

The three signal callers have combined to complete barely 50

percent of their 221 pass attempts and have thrown a mere four touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions. Charlotte hasn’t recorded a single touchdown pass since the first home game of the season on Sept. 12.

Johnson won the offseason position battle and led Charlotte to the first FBS victory in school history in the season opener against Georgia State. However, that accomplishment earned the redshirt junior a spot on the bench as Barden surprisingly got the call in week two against Presbyterian.

49ers head coach Brad Lambert praised Barden’s work in the offseason program and justified the switch by saying he wanted to get a look at the redshirt freshman in live game action.

Barden was viewed as the quarterback of the future and he showed signs of promise against an overmatched Presbyterian squad.

The youngster earned a second start against Middle Tennessee, but suffered a facial laceration during the game that ultimately cost him the job although he is now completely healthy.

McNeill has started four consecutive games, but the 49ers still aren’t clicking in the passing attack.

Lambert commended McNeill’s demeanor and insisted that his ability to play smart and take care of the football would give Charlotte the best chance to win.

Fast forward a month and McNeill still hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass this season despite leading the team with 124 pass attempts. He also

Quarterback Lee McNeill has struggled in his four starts for the 49ers this season.

Photo by Chris Crews

hasn’t shown that knack for taking care of the football as his nine interceptions ranks among the top in the country.

The lone bright spot for Charlotte’s offense this season has been their superstar running back Kalif Phillips. Phillips rattled off over 200 yards last weekend on the road against Old Dominion and entered this week as the leading rusher in Conference USA with over 700 yards on the ground.

Offensive coordinator Jeff Mullen has come under fire in recent weeks thanks to some questionable play calling.

The 49ers had a chance to punch Southern Mississippi in the mouth early in the game, but Phillips didn’t touch the ball once inside the 10yard line and Charlotte had to settle for a chip-shot field goal.

Lambert acknowledged the significance of converting touchdowns when given the opportunity, but defended the

CHARLOTTE VS. MARSHALL · OCT. 31, 2015

personnel decision.

Mullen hasn’t taken many shots down the field on pass plays, something that was the staple of this offense in 2013 and 2014. McNeill’s lack of arm strength and Mullen’s conservative approach have almost completely eliminated Austin Duke from the game plan.

Duke was unstoppable in his first two seasons in green and white.

The junior wideout caught 79 balls a year ago, racking up 1,373 yards while hauling in nine touchdowns.

With McNeill at the helm of the offense Duke has been mostly relegated to bubble screens and shallow crossing routes and the frustration is beginning to show.

Things won’t get any easier for the 49ers next weekend against the Marshall Thundering Herd.

Marshall boasts the stingiest defense in C-USA, allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete just 47 percent of their pass attempts so far this season.

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PHOTOS IN SPREAD BY CHRIS CREWS AND BEN ROBSON

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CHARLOTTE VS. MARSHALL 路 OCT. 31, 2015

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CHARLOTTE PREPARES FOR MARSHALL The 49ers host Marshall for their second-to-last home game of the season

MATT SHOLTIS STAFF WRITER

Charlotte (0-4) hosts Conference USA foe Marshall (4-0) Saturday in a game featuring the conference’s first and last place teams. Charlotte has yet to win a conference game and Marshall is unblemished. The game may fall on Halloween, but 49er fans may not be in for a treat.

Charlotte will have their hands full this Saturday facing an explosive Marshall team that has scored at least 27 points in all seven of their wins. The early line has the Thundering Herd as almost a three touchdown favorite, and with the way Charlotte has been giving up points, that line has a good chance of going up.

The 49ers have given up an average of 41.6 points per game over their 5 losses this season and other than their close loss against Old Dominion, they have struggled to put up points offensively. Poor defense combined with poor offense usually isn’t the key to success in any sport.

The key for the Niners, as it has been all season, is to hand the ball off to Kalif Phillips. In what should have been their first conference win at Old Dominion, Phillips got the ball 35 times and rushed for over 200 yards. That willed the offense to tying their season high in points scored with 34. The rush attack also minimizes the chance of turnovers, which has plagued this Niner offense all season long. As we have come to find out, Charlotte’s quarterback situation is a disaster, and while they can play with the “nothing to lose mentality,” running the ball over 50 times a game quite

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The 49ers line up against Southern Miss on Oct. 24. Photo by Ben Robson honestly might be the best option.

Forcing turnovers on the defensive side of the ball is also a big key for this Charlotte team. The defense has had numerous missed opportunities at getting takeaways this season.

Winning the turnover battle is such a big part of the game and the Niners have to do that if they want to pick up their first conference win in front of their home crowd.

Marshall can take a much different approach to this game.

Quarterback Chase Litton needs to air the ball out as much as possible to exploit the poor 49er secondary.

Charlotte has shown its inability to stop the pass this season so there is no reason why Marshall won’t take advantage of that weakness.

If Marshall can punch the Niners in the mouth early and often, it

may be all but over. Charlotte has struggled on offense, as we know, but the chances of succeeding drop drastically after going down two or three scores. If Marshall can get out to an early lead, they can more than likely put the rest of the game on cruise control.

Yes, it’s been a frustrating season as a 49er football fan. Nobody said it would be easy making the quickest jump up to FBS football ever, but there comes a time when fans deserve more. Perhaps the Niners have already squandered their two best chances at conference wins, but the season goes on.

With four conference games remaining it may be hard to see Charlotte winning any C-USA games this season. Marshall provides probably the toughest task

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of the remaining conference games left.

The 49ers will need another stellar performance on the ground from Phillips and the defense will need to be stout in order to kep the Thundering Herd off the board.

Halloween will certainly be exciting this year with college football falling on the same day but the 49ers may not be pleased with the outcome.

Will Charlotte put it all on the line and at least keep it competitive into the fourth quarter? Or will Marshall send 49er students to their Halloween parties early? All of the answers will be known come Saturday as the 49ers kick off with the Thundering Herd at 3:30 p.m. at Jerry Richardson Stadium.

GAME-DAY TAILGATING

UNC CHARLOTTE FOOTBALL 2015 FRIDAY, SEPT. 4

Georgia State

EDEN CREAMER

at Atlanta, Ga.

GUEST WRITER

3:30 p.m.

With the launch of a new football program, the need for an official policy regarding tailgating at the university becomes necessary.

As the university revved up for football, a tailgating policy was created to make sure students and fans have the most fun possible while being safe. These rules and regulations are meant to maximize safety and comfort for all that attend.

Tailgating rules and regulations are completely broken down in University Policy 706, Alcoholic Beverages.

Any violation of this policy may cause students and campus guests revoked tailgating rights, criminal prosecution, disciplinary action through the Office of Student Conduct if the violator is a UNC Charlotte student and/or trespassing charges should the individual be a campus guest.

CAMPUS ENTRANCES AND LOT INFORMATION All entrances except the main entrance and the John Kirk Road entrance will be closed five hours prior to kickoff. Game-day entrances open four hours prior to kickoff.

Parking and tailgating will be available in lots 5, 5A, 6, 7, 7A, 14, 18, 19, 23, 25, 27 and CRI 2 and 3. Decks available for parking are Union Deck, Cone Deck 1 and 2, West Deck and CRI Deck. Oncampus residents not attending the game can park in East Deck 2 and 3 or North Deck.

Students who live on campus who normally park in lots designated for tailgating for football game-day parking will be required to move their vehicles to an alternative parking location the night before a home game. If there are any cars in the parking lots as of midnight on game day, the vehicle will be automatically towed.

Tailgating areas will open four hours prior to the game.

Tailgating at halftime and during the game time is prohibited, and tailgaters will be encouraged to vacate lots. Lots must also be evacuated no later than two hours after the end of the game.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 12

STAFF PICKS

Presbyterian at Charlotte, N.C.

Noon SATURDAY, SEPT. 19

Middle Tennessee at Murfreesboro, Tenn.

7 p.m.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 26

Florida Atlantic at Charlotte, N.C.

7 p.m.

FRIDAY, OCT. 2

Temple

at Charlotte, N.C.

7 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCT. 17

Old Dominion at Norfolk, Va.

3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, OCT. 24

Southern Miss

FINAL SCORE: CHAR 13, Marshall 34

“Charlotte has a lot of work to do on offense. The 49ers haven’t thrown a touchdown pass since Sept. 12 and that likely won’t change against a stingy Marshall defense.”

at Charlotte, N.C.

Noon SATURDAY, OCT. 31

Marshall

at Charlotte, N.C.

3:30 p.m.

SATURDAY, NOV. 7

LOT CONTRABAND

FIU

at Miami, Fla.

Kegs, glass containers, drinking games, devices used to accelerate the consumption of alcohol, grills in parking decks and on brick pavers, open pit fires, staked tents, household furniture and animals are prohibited.

Noon SATURDAY, NOV. 14

UTSA

at Charlotte, N.C.

2 p.m.

STADIUM CONTRABAND

SATURDAY, NOV. 21

Tobacco products, other drugs, alcohol of all kinds and weaponry are prohibited.

Football patrons will be permitted to bring empty, clear, plastic bottles into the stadium to fill with water at designated fill stations, but other beverages will be prohibited.

The complete University Policy 706 is available online. Tailgaters are encouraged to read this policy prior to game-day.

Kentucky

at Lexington, Ky.

TBA SATURDAY, NOV. 28

Rice

at Houston, Texas

3:30 p.m.

CHARLOTTE VS. MARSHALL · OCT. 31, 2015

FINAL SCORE: CHAR 10, Marshall 27

“The 49ers’ offense continues to struggle but the defense has shown some promise at times. Charlotte will fight but will come up short against the Thundering Herd.”

Tweet us your predictions to @NT_Sports using #CHARMARSHPicks 7

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