5 takeaways from Charlotte 49ers’ loss to Middle Tennessee

Five takeaways from the Charlotte 49ers’ 21-13 loss against Middle Tennessee on Saturday:

Dealing with turnovers, or not

The 49ers (3-4, 2-2 Conference USA) dropped to 0-3 on the road, but the method as different. Charlotte fell behind early and couldn’t recover in lopsided losses against Massachusetts and UAB. But against the Blue Raiders (4-3, 3-1), the 49ers started fast, getting a 57-yard touchdown run from Benny LeMay on their third offensive play.

This time, turnovers were the issue. The 49ers forced two by Middle Tennessee but converted neither into points; the Blue Raiders intercepted two passes by Charlotte quarterback Evan Shirreffs and scored touchdowns off both of them.

Although the 49ers outgained the Blue Raiders 359-144 in total yardage and had a possession-time edge of 37 minutes, 5 seconds to 22:55, turnovers were the difference in what turned out to be a one-possession game.

Mixed bag for Shirreffs

This game served as a reality check for Shirreffs, a grad transfer who took over as Charlotte’s starter when Chris Reynolds was lost for the season after injuring his ankle last week against Western Kentucky.

Shirreffs was surgical against WKU, leading the 49ers to five scores in six possessions. But whatever rust Shirreffs has — he hasn’t played a full game since his senior season of high school in 2014 — was apparent against Middle Tennessee.

Shirreffs was 20-of-40 for 209 yards, threw for one touchdown and those two interceptions (he had another touchdown called back because of an offensive pass interference call).

His arm strength is apparent, and he took more down-field shots than Reynolds likely would have. He hit LeMay for 49 yards and Mark Quattlebaum for 23, but mostly his timing appeared to be (understandably) off.

A kicking slump

Freshman Jonathan Cruz was one of the team’s best assets through the first five games, but he’s hit a slump that’s been costly. After making seven consecutive field goals during one stretch, Cruz has now missed four of his past five attempts. He missed both of his of his tries against the Blue Raiders, from 48 and 52 yards. The 52-yarder came with 12 seconds left in the second quarter after the 49ers had recovered a Middle Tennessee fumble.

LeMay, run defense shine again

Although it didn’t produce a victory against the Blue Raiders, the 49ers continued to do what they do best. Led again by LeMay (129 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown), Charlotte rushed for 150 yards on 30 carries and limited Middle Tennessee to 33 rushing yards on 32 attempts. LeMay’s 94.9 yards average (664 for the season) is second in the league. The 49ers continue to lead C-USA in run defense (84.1 yards per game).

Wasting chances

Charlotte’s offense is doing a good job of staying on the field. The 49ers’ 36:54 average time of possession (leading C-USA) is a direct result of a 45.5 third-down conversion rate (ranked second in the league and a huge improvement from 2017. Here’s the problem: the 49ers are scoring touchdowns in the red zone just 54 percent of the time (15 of 28). So, all that time with the ball isn’t paying many dividends.

The 49ers will hope to be more productive at the end of those drives on Saturday against Southern Mississippi (3-3, 2-1) at Richardson Stadium.