Loss to Duke another step in Charlotte 49ers’ learning process
Charlotte 49ers coach Will Healy thought his team was ready to face Duke in their nonconference game Saturday in Wallace Wade Stadium.
The 49ers, while underdogs, had won two consecutive games. The Blue Devils were entering with just one victory. There weren’t even going to be any fans in the stadium, due to coronavirus concerns. And Healy believed the 49ers looked sharp in pregame warm-ups.
But then the game began.
“I thought we were great in pregame; I thought they had really good energy,” Healy said. “But I thought our eyes got big once we got out there. And we just kind of held on for dear life.”
The 49ers lost 53-19, allowing the Blue Devils to score the first 24 points of the game. Although Charlotte had two chances in the second half to potentially make it a two-possession game, the 49ers were never really in this one.
“We played passive,” Healy said.
The 49ers (2-3) were outclassed in every facet by the Blue Devils (2-5), who were coming off a bye week. Duke had two 100-plus yard rushers (Mataeo Durant with 104 yards and two touchdowns; Deon Jackson with 101 and two scores). The Blue Devils sacked 49ers quarterback Chris Reynolds five times (three by defensive end Chris Rumph II).
Special teams, which had been an early-season success story for Charlotte, fell apart: Duke’s Isaiah Fisher-Smith blocked two punts, both leading to touchdowns. A 21-yard punt return by Jontavis Robertson set up a Duke field goal in the second quarter. Kicker Jonathan Cruz missed a 45-yard field goal attempt.
The 49ers return to Conference USA play next week at Middle Tennessee State. Lessons from Saturday will need to be learned.
“There’s definitely a frustration level because we didn’t win the game, so nobody’s happy about losing,” said sophomore receiver Micaleous Elder. “But there can be good about losing because that’s going to put a chip on our shoulder for next week.”
The news wasn’t all bad for Charlotte. Elder had six receptions for 86 yards and continues to be worked more into the 49ers offense. Senior safety Ben DeLuca had six tackles, tying him for the 49ers career record of 306 set by former linebacker Jeff Gemmell.
Duke was the third ACC team the 49ers have played in their eight-year history (losing to Clemson in 2019 and Louisville in 2016). Except for a 14-3 loss against Tennessee in 2018, Charlotte hasn’t come close to winning those or other games against Power 5 opponents. Nor have they been in contention for a C-USA championship, although at 2-1 they’re tied for second in the East Division with Florida Atlantic behind Marshall).
“Any time you haven’t done it before, if the situation catches you by surprise, then you need to play in more meaningful football games in November,” said Healy. “As we do that and as we win those games, as we go play ACC games and expect to win instead of just going out and putting our tail between our legs and and driving home, then we’ll get better at it.”
Duke and Charlotte open the 2021 season against each other in Richardson Stadium.
“But we’ve never done it before, so we need to continue to put them into pressure situations and then understand why this game got away from us like it did,” Healy said. “We’re going to turn around and open up with this group next year. We need to learn what happened today and fix those and continue to mature.”