Why the statistics don’t do justice to Charlotte 49ers’ run defense

Ask Charlotte defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer about how well his unit has played against the run this season and he points immediately to the 49ers’ offense.

“It’s tremendous clock management by the head coach,” Spencer said, referring to 49ers coach Brad Lambert. “You didn’t think I was going to say that, did you?”

Well, no, but only in the sense that a more conventional answer to that question usually points to how a defensive unit comes together against an opponent’s run game, swarming to the ball, tackling with assurance and other fundamentally sound principles. And Spencer will get to that.

But first ...

The 49ers (3-4, 2-2 Conference USA), who play Southern Mississippi (3-3, 2-1) Saturday at Richardson Stadium, allow opponents 84.1 yards rushing per game, the best mark in C-USA and sixth nationally. In a 21-13 loss at Middle Tennessee last Saturday, Charlotte held the Blue Raiders to 33 yards on the ground and forced 10 “three-and-outs.” A week earlier, Western Kentucky was only able to manage 42 yards on the ground in a 40-14 loss against Charlotte.

The 49ers will get a test from Southern Miss, which rushed for 218 yards in a 27-17 victory against Texas-San Antonio last week.

“Stats are so deceiving,” said Spencer, in his first season at Charlotte after 10 seasons at Oklahoma State, the past five as defensive coordinator. “All of of a sudden we’re this great rush defense, which is great, and I think we are. But it comes from time management, plays per game, being able to rest your defense and the amount of snaps you play.”

Spencer says those low rushing numbers are directly tied to the 49ers’ offense, which leads the conference and is second nationally in time of possession (36 minutes, 54 seconds) and ranks second in the league in third-down conversion rate (45.5 percent). The 49ers’ offense averages 72.3 plays a game; the defense is on the field for 54.9 plays per game.

“I’ve been at places where we’ve been in the 70s or 80s (defensive plays) and we’ve been criticized for high (yardage) numbers; it just doesn’t always make sense,” Spencer said.

Spencer brought a new scheme to Charlotte, focusing primarily (but not solely) on a 4-3 formation. Some players — notably linebackers Jeff Gemmell (49 tackles, 14 for a loss), Juwan Foggie (34 tackles, 10 for a loss) and defensive end Tyriq Harris (24 tackles, 19 for a loss) — have really taken to it.

“Don’t ask me to individualize somebody,” Spencer said. “I like to speak of them as a group, so it’s hard for me to get into that. I mean, we’ve got as much potential to lay a big egg this week as we do to shut them out. But it’s been a really good group effort so far.

“There’s only so many ways to do it. Get off the block, be gap sound and these days you have to do a great job of adjusting off formation shifts and motions. The kids have done a good job of that.”

Free safety Ben DeLuca, who is second on the team with 45 tackles, said the players immediately bought in to Spencer’s vision.

“It’s something we didn’t feel we did well last season,” said DeLuca. “Coach Spencer said one of the things we want to be known for is stopping the run. We want to be put in a scenario where it’s third-and-long and we have an idea of what they’re going to do and to get them off the field.”

Shirreffs’ game

Quarterback Evan Shirreffs, making his first start of the season in place of injured Chris Reynolds, had a so-so day against Middle Tennessee, Lambert said.

A week after going 5-of-7 for 118 yards and a touchdown in less than a half of play against Western Kentucky, Shirreffs was 20-of-40 for 209 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions against the Blue Raiders.

“I thought he played like we hadn’t played (in a while) before,” Lambert said of Shirreffs, a grad transfer whose last start came in high school. “He did some good things and I thought he hesitated on some things. He made some good throws, but we probably had to put it in the air more than we wanted to at the end.”

No kicker worries

Lambert said he isn’t concerned about the slump freshman kicker Jonathan Cruz is in. Cruz has missed four of his past five field goal attempts, including two against Middle Tennessee. He had made seven in a row at one point, including a 54-yarder against Appalachian State.

Lambert said not having quarterback and holder Chris Reynolds, out for the season with an ankle injury, has had an impact. Punter Kyle Corbett has taken Reynolds’ place as holder.

“That’s a big deal to a kicker,” Lambert said. “He’s got to get used to Kyle. But I don’t even think about that any more, calling for a field goal, whether it’s 49 or 52 yards. I have 100 percent confidence in that guy.”

2-point attempt trend

Lambert said he was trying to make an early statement against Middle Tennessee by going for a two-point conversion after Benny LeMay’s 57-yard touchdown run had give the 49ers an early lead.

A pass by backup quarterback Hasaan Klugh fell incomplete on the play, just like one by Reynolds did in similar circumstances the week before against WKU. Lambert said he’s going on feel in making those two-point calls, not analytics or statistical probability.

Scouting Southern Miss

▪ The Golden Eagles are also stout defensively, ranking third in the league in scoring defense (20.2 points per game), second in total defense (301.2 yards per game) and fourth in rushing defense (119.2 yards per game).

▪ Sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham has thrown for at least 200 yards and a touchdown in every game this season, including going 28-for-33 for 269 yards and a touchdown aginst UTSA.

▪ The Golden Eagles had six sacks against UTSA - they only had five for the season entering the game.