SEC’s conference-only decision means Charlotte 49ers won’t play at Tennessee

Another game has disappeared from the Charlotte 49ers’ football schedule after the SEC announced Thursday it will play a conference-only schedule this season due to the coronavirus.

That means Charlotte’s season opener at Tennessee on Sept. 5 has been canceled. The 49ers had already lost the next game (on Sept. 12) from their schedule earlier this month when Norfolk State’s Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference announced it was canceling football this fall.

“This isn’t a huge shock,” Charlotte athletics director Mike Hill told the Observer. “We’ve been well aware of the dialogues within conferences so we had a sense of where this all was headed.

“But now we know. We’ll get past the disappointment because we have work to do. We’ll pivot to what’s next.”

The ACC announced Wednesday it is moving to a 10-conference games, one-nonconference game format. If Duke elects to keep Charlotte as its nonconference opponent (the Blue Devils also have Middle Tennessee State and Elon as nonleague foes), the game could be played the week of Sept. 7-12.

There also remains a chance the ACC could drop the nonconference game after the SEC’s announcement, since the extra game was primarily to allow ACC-SEC rivalry games to be played.

The 49ers now have two potential openings to fill in their schedule, something Hill had already been working after the Norfolk State cancellation. Hill had been looking for a Football Championship Subdivision opponent to replace the Spartans, but now is open to potentially looking for two Football Bowl Subdivision opponents.

“The fishing lines are out there,” he said. “There have been an amazing exchange of calls and text messages. College football schedules go so far out, several years, and now everybody is scrambling to find games in a matter of a few weeks. It’s really different.”

Hill said he has had “preliminary” discussions with Appalachian State athletics director Doug Gillin. The Mountaineers, a natural rival for the 49ers who aren’t on Charlotte’s schedule again until 2026, have lost two games from their schedule (Wisconsin and Morgan State), as well as potentially another if Wake Forest elects to not play them in a nonconference game.

“It’s a rivalry we’ve wanted to continue and we’re certainly open to that,” Hill said. “It’s a matter of what dates are available and what will work. We do know both fan bases have a high level of interest in the game. The tough part is it would be in a year we couldn’t maximize the crowd (due to social distancing).”

Charlotte’s other nonconference game is against the Sun Belt’s Georgia State on Sept. 26 in Richardson Stadium.

The 49ers are losing more than a game by not playing Tennessee. The Volunteers were to pay Charlotte a $1.3 million guarantee, which could be voided by a “force majeur” (uncontrollable act) provision in the game contract.

Hill said he hopes to talk to Volunteers officials about whether this is a true “force majeur,” since Tennessee is playing other games during what could still be a pandemic.

“We’ll reconvene and reconnect with them, let a little time pass,” Hill said. “I don’t know what the end result might be.”

Conference USA, no doubt waiting on what the rest of the Power 5 conferences will do, has yet to make an announcement on its football and fall sports schedules. Every C-USA football program except for Florida International has at least one game scheduled against a Power 5 team, with financial guarantees usually in excess of $1 million for the C-USA teams.

The 49ers’ C-USA opener is scheduled for Oct. 3 at Florida Atlantic.

“Right now, I haven’t heard anything about C-USA changing their approach to their scheduling,” Hill said. “It remains at eight games as far as I know.”

49ers’ Reynolds on Manning watch list

▪ Charlotte junior Chris Reynolds is on the Manning Trophy preseason watch list for the country’s top quarterback. He is also on the Maxwell Trophy’s watch list for the top player in the country. Reynolds threw for 2,564 yards and 22 touchdowns while leading C-USA in passing efficiency (153.6) last season.

Three other 49ers have made preseason watch lists: Receiver Victor Tucker (Biletnikoff), center Jaelin Fisher (Outland) and defensive end Tyriq Harris (Wuerffel).

▪ The 49ers got a commitment this week from three-star running back Chavion Smith of Statesville High. Smith also had offers from Tennessee, Kentucky and Southern Mississippi.

This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 4:03 PM.