Frustrated Charlotte 49ers coach Brad Lambert says changes to starting lineup possible
Charlotte 49ers football coach Brad Lambert had little to say after his team’s Conference USA opener against Old Dominion Saturday night.
But one thing was clear: Lambert wasn’t happy with the 49ers’ performance in their 52-17 loss to the Monarchs at Richardson Stadium.
“It was frustrating, frustrating,” Lambert said at his news conference. “Nothing went very well tonight. We’re going to have to go back and look at everything we’re doing and have them ready to play. That’s my responsibility.”
One more thing: Lambert said there might be changes to the starting lineup for next week’s C-USA game against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Fla.
“Yeah, everywhere,” Lambert said. “We’re going to look at everybody. We’re going to look at every position. ...Nobody was very good.”
Charlotte (1-4, 0-1 C-USA) lost its third straight game and the third by at least four or more touchdowns.
The 49ers again had problems getting their offense going in the first quarter, with their only points on Stephen Muscarello’s 23-yard field goal, which was set up by an Old Dominion fumble in Charlotte’s red zone.
Third-down situations were especially problematic. The 49ers were 0-for-5 in third-down conversions in the first quarter, 5-for-17 for the game. Charlotte is 24 of 81 (29.6 percent) on third-down conversions this season.
“Part of that’s a function of being in third-and-long,” Lambert said. “But we’ve got to do better on third downs, no question.”
The 49ers’ defense also didn’t do much to slow the Monarchs.
Charlotte did force two turnovers: the first-quarter fumble and Kedrick Davis’ third-quarter interception. But Old Dominion finished with 481 yards total offense and scored on eight of its 16 possessions.
The end result was the Monarchs posting their biggest margin of victory in a C-USA game since joining the league in 2014.
“We just didn’t do a very good job of containing them,” said 49ers linebacker Nick Cook, who had nine tackles. “We had the chances to make a play in the backfield and we didn’t do it.
“But it’s just as much our job to get everybody ready to go as it is the coaches. We’re the seniors, so we’ve got to get everybody’s minds focused, get everybody to respect the opponent we’re playing, and to come out to let them know we can play.”
Old Dominion | 21 | 10 | 21 | 0 | — | 52 |
Charlotte | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | — | 17 |
First Quarter
ODU—Cox 1 run (Davis kick), 9:57.
ODU—Cox 1 run (Davis kick), 6:54.
CHA—FG Muscarello 23, 2:12.
ODU—Pascal 25 pass from Washington (Davis kick), :30.
Second Quarter
ODU—Fuglham 55 pass from Washington (Davis kick), 12:29.
ODU—FG Davis 35, 4:56.
CHA—Phillips 42 pass from Olsen (Muscarello kick), :02.
Third Quarter
ODU—Cox 1 run (Davis kick), 10:24.
ODU—Harper 9 pass from Washington (Davis kick), 4:15.
ODU—Jackson 37 run (Davis kick), :15.
Fourth Quarter
CHA—Klugh 3 run (Muscarello kick), 2:57.
A—12,589.
ODU | CHA | |
First downs | 22 | 22 |
Rushes-yards | 40-207 | 49-178 |
Passing | 274 | 176 |
Comp-Att-Int | 17-29-1 | 18-36-1 |
Return Yards | 58 | 155 |
Punts-Avg. | 3-33.0 | 5-36.4 |
Fumbles-Lost | 2-1 | 2-2 |
Penalties-Yards | 10-85 | 5-25 |
Time of Possession | 29:52 | 30:08 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Old Dominion, Jackson 9-55, Simmons 10-38, J.Cox 10-36, D.Washington 5-29, Marriner 2-25, Pascal 3-25, LaRussa 1-(minus 1). Charlotte, Johnson 10-61, Phillips 16-57, Klugh 6-40, R.Washington 7-34, B.LeMay 5-22, (Team) 1-(minus 17), Olsen 4-(minus 19).
PASSING—Old Dominion, D.Washington 14-25-1-256, LaRussa 3-4-0-18. Charlotte, Olsen 14-31-1-145, Klugh 4-5-0-31.
RECEIVING—Old Dominion, Pascal 5-68, Fulgham 2-64, Harper 2-54, Vaughn 2-19, Strong 1-40, Jackson 1-12, Duhart 1-7, Hayes 1-5, Simmons 1-4, J.Cox 1-1. Charlotte, Duke 4-30, Ford 4-18, Phillips 2-52, Kofa 2-27, Hoffman 1-15, R.Washington 1-8, Mullen 1-8, Quattlebaum 1-7, Montgomery 1-7, Foggie 1-4.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.
This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Frustrated Charlotte 49ers coach Brad Lambert says changes to starting lineup possible."