5 takeaways from Charlotte 49ers loss at Tennessee: Dominant defense, red-zone struggles
The Charlotte 49ers couldn’t take advantage of a dominant defensive performance in a 14-3 loss Saturday at Tennessee. Here are five takeaways from the game for the 49ers (4-5, 3-2 Conference USA), who step back into league play this Saturday at Marshall:
Still stuffing the run
The 49ers have become one of the nation’s top teams at defending the run, and that was apparent against the SEC’s Volunteers (4-5). Charlotte held the Volunteers to zero yards rushing in the first half, and that total was actually at minus-7 yards until Tennessee picked up 27 yards on the ground during a late-game drive.
Defensive coordinator Glenn Spencer has cautioned that Charlotte’s gaudy run-defense number (a C-USA-leading 82.0 yards per game) is largely because of the 49ers offense’s ability to keep the ball (Charlotte had a time of possession of 33 minutes, 13 seconds against Tennessee), which limits the opposition’s number of offensive plays (Tennessee had just 47) as anything.
That might be true, but the 49ers defensive line, led by end Alex Highsmith (seven tackles, including 4.5 for a loss and 1.5 sacks) downright dominated the Volunteers offensive line.
Not taking advantage
Those ball-control numbers by Charlotte’s offense look good, but they’re of no use unless they produce points. That was a problem Saturday, when the 49ers only advanced into the red zone just once (resulting in a 20-yard field goal by Jonathan Cruz).
The 49ers continue to lead C-USA in time of possession (35:42) and convert their third downs a respectable 43.5 percent of the time. But they score touchdowns just 52 percent of the time in the red zone. And the 49ers couldn’t crack the end zone, despite outgaining Tennessee 244-192.
Return coverage woes
The 49ers’ return coverage has been a problem spot all season. Tennessee scored its first touchdown on an 80-yard punt return by Marquez Callaway in the first quarter. It’s the third time this season the 49ers have allowed a touchdown on a return (Appalachian State on a punt return; Massachusetts on a kickoff).
Making Callaway’s return tougher to swallow was that it came after an illegal formation penalty against Charlotte nullified a 43-yard punt by Kyle Corbett that had gone out of bounds at the Vols 6. Corbett, incidentally, uncorked a 75-yard punt, the longest in program history, in the fourth quarter.
Tucker’s absence
Did the 49ers miss redshirt freshman Victor Tucker, the team’s leading receiver, who was out with a hamstring injury?
Quarterback Evan Shirreffs made the best of things, completing 13-of-25 passes for 152 yards and an interception. He completed passes to seven different receivers, led by freshman Rico Arnold’s five receptions for 55 yards. But the 49ers lose a significant dimension to their offense with Tucker not out there.
Looking ahead
The 49ers came out of the Tennessee game feeling a somewhat defiant.
“You come on the road in a tough environment and play against a good team and do some good things but we don’t play the game to come close,” said 49ers coach Brad Lambert. “I told the guys in the locker room — you play to come in here and win. There were some situations in there that we could have had an opportunity to win the game and that’s what you want to do.”
With first-place Florida International losing 49-14 to Florida Atlantic on Saturday, the 49ers are still in contention in the C-USA East. Charlotte is tied for third with Saturday’s opponent, Marshall’s Thundering Herd, and has games after that at home against FIU (6-3, 4-1) and at FAU (4-5, 2-3). The 49ers (and others) will need first-place Middle Tennessee (6-3, 5-1) to lose at least one of its final two league games, against Texas-El Paso and West leader UAB.