49ers football has had 3 games called off due to coronavirus. Will they play against UTEP?

Few college football teams’ schedules have been affected as heavily by COVID-19 this season as the Charlotte 49ers’ has.

Three times now the 49ers have learned within 48 hours of kickoff that their Saturday game has been postponed or canceled — against North Carolina, Georgia State and — Florida International. Heading into its Saturday home game against Texas-El Paso, the 49ers team is holding its breath and hoping the matchup will go on. .

But as frustrating as things have become, there are no excuses coming from the 49ers.

“It’s 2020,” 49ers junior quarterback Chris Reynolds said Tuesday. “Everybody’s dealing with this right now. You’re seeing it all across the country. The people who handle it the best are the ones who are going to come out the best. I think the whole team understands that right now.”

Reynolds was one of the 49ers’ four captains who met with coach Will Healy on Oct. 16, hours after Charlotte had been informed that an increased number of positive COVID-19 tests in the FIU program would force the game to be postponed.

It was tough news to take, if not something they weren’t already used to. The 49ers (1-2, 1-1 Conference USA) were coming off their first victory of the season, a 49-21 win at North Texas, and were eager to build on that.

“You go through the whole week prepping,” Reynolds said. “You put so much into it, expecting to go out there and perform. You want to play after a good week of practice and keep this ball rolling. It just takes the air out of it a little bit.”

Will Healy wants his players to smile

The 49ers practiced on Friday, and Healy gave the team the weekend off.

“For the mental aspect of the things going on, (we wanted) to decompress a little bit,” Reynolds said. “So we came back down here on Monday with a fresh start, to start the process over again.”

Keeping the team’s spirits up has been a challenge for Healy, who said a goal for Monday’s practice was for everyone to keep smiling.

“It makes me happy when I see our guys smile, because it’s a way to show that we’re enjoying this experience,” Healy said. “That’s what I worry about when you’re disappointed over and over and over again. What’s their experience like? Winning (at North Texas) obviously helped that, such a big emotional win and starting to build some momentum, I would probably worry about it a little bit more. But it’s been frustrating as all get out.”

If there’s been anything good that’s come from the on-and-off again nature of the season, it’s that the 49ers will be relatively healthy for the Miners (3-2, 0-1). Healy said he expects receiver Rico Arnold (back), linebacker Luke Martin (knee) and defensive end Markees Watts (lower body) to play against UTEP. Also, tight end Ryan Carriere (quarantine) is expected to return. Healy said defensive tackle Mikel Horton (elbow) is questionable for the game.

Scouting UTEP

▪ The Miners went through the first five weeks of the season before having a game called off due to the coronavirus. Their Oct. 17 home game against Southern Miss was postponed. . UTEP has played one C-USA game, a 21-17 loss against Louisiana Tech. Two of UTEP’s victories have come against Southland Conference opponents — a 24-14 win against Stephen F. Austin and a 17-13 win against Abilene Christian — in the Football Championship Subdivision.

▪ Third-year coach Dana Dimel is in rebuilding mode at UTEP. After going winless in 2017, the Miners were 1-11 in each of Dimel’s first seasons and are above .500 so far this year.

▪ Redshirt freshman running back Deion Hankins averages 75.0 yards per game and has scored five touchdowns. He’s cracked the 100-yard barrier twice — he had 113 yards against Stephen F. Austin and 118 against La.-Monroe.

▪ Senior Jacob Cowing averages 5.2 receptions per game and his 88.0 yards per game ranks second in the league. One of his three receptions against ULM went for 82 yards.

▪ The Miners rank 16th nationally in total defense with 326.0 yards per game, and sophomore defensive end Praise Amaewhule already has six sacks, including five solo and two assists, which leads C-USA.