Charlotte 49ers spring football game: What to watch for

The Charlotte 49ers wrap up spring football practice with the Green-White game, set for 4 p.m. Saturday at Richardson Stadium.

The game will pit the first-team offense against the first-team defense, with the second-team offense going against the second-team defense. Two 15-minute quarters will be played as if it’s a real game, with some red-zone and two-minute situations possibly thrown in after time expires.

Here are five things to watch for as the 49ers continue to prepare for their season opener against Gardner-Webb on Aug. 31:

1. QB situation: Shirreffs out

First-year coach Will Healy said sophomore Chris Reynolds and senior Evan Shirreffs are still the top two candidates for the starting quarterback job. Shirreffs, however, won’t play Saturday as he continues to recover from a concussion. Redshirt freshman Brady Pope, a highly regarded recruit out of South Iredell High a year ago, will be the second team’s starting quarterback. And another player to figure in the quarterback competition – grad transfer Brett Kean – won’t arrive until August.

(Benny LeMay will be the first-team tailback; Aaron McAllister will start for the second team.)

2. Strong O line

Healy feels good about the offensive line, although three starters are gone from a unit that helped the 49ers finish fourth in Conference USA in rushing (159.9 yards per game) last season. All-conference tackle Cameron Clark has missed all of spring practice with a hip injury. But returning starter center Jaelin Fisher will be in the first-team lineup Saturday, along with guards D’Mitri Emmanuel and Jalen Allen, both coming off strong springs. Healy said the tackle spot opposite Clark is still up in the air, although senior Dominic Taylor has been impressive.

3. Young wideouts

Healy also feels good about the 49ers’ wide receiver spots, although two starters (Workpeh Kofa and Mark Quattlebaum) graduated. Sophomore Victor Tucker has been everything Healy says he hoped for this spring. A new face to watch is true freshman Tre Goode, who enrolled in January and has been impressive. Sophomore Rico Arnold, who figures to start alongside Tucker, is out with an injury.

4. Defense still stout

There are plenty of familiar faces on defense, which ranked 11th nationally against the run and 25th in total defense. Healy said he has especially liked how the linebackers and defensive backs have played this spring. He singled out senior linebacker Jeff Gemmell as being “ultra consistent” and safety Ben DeLuca as adapting well to the Healy’s new 4-2-5 defense.

A few new players to watch Saturday are freshmen linebackers Prince Wallace-Bemah (Gastonia Huss) and Jaylon Sharpe (Rocky River).

5. Who’s the punter?

Healy said Kyle Corbett, who handled the duties last season (and uncorked a program-record 75-yarder), still hasn’t shown enough consistency to have nailed down the starting job. Problem is, there isn’t a successor on the roster right now. Healy hinted the 49ers might use kicker Jonathan Cruz as a rugby-style punter, if necessary.