Charlotte fades in second half, loses to UAB. Takeaways from 49ers’ loss to Blazers

The Charlotte 49ers went toe-to-toe with Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday.

After clinging to a four-point lead at the halftime break, Charlotte’s second-half struggles wiped out its defense’s best performance of the season, leading to a 34-20 road loss to the Blazers.

Charlotte (1-6, 0-3 Conference USA) entered the game a 21.5-point underdog and had multiple opportunities to score its second victory of the season, but the Blazers (4-2, 2-1) answered at every turn.

Tailback DeWayne McBride carried 29 times for the Blazers, posting his sixth-consecutive 100-yard game with 137 yards and two touchdowns in the victory. UAB dominated the time-of-possession battle, holding the ball for more than 36 minutes and accumulating 511 yards.

Quarterback Dylan Hopkins sealed the victory with his legs, scampering for 61 yards in the game’s final minutes to score the game’s final points, ending Charlotte’s hopes of an upset.

Quarterback Chris Reynolds and the 49ers had a chance to tie the score with six minutes to play, but a crucial delay-of-game penalty followed by an errant pass brought the punt team back out, giving the ball back to the Blazers.

Head coach Will Healy addressed the media after the game, touching on the rumors of his job being in jeopardy.

“When you’re one and six, and you’ve had two kind of heartbreakers here recently — you’re seeing strides, you’re seeing improvement in how they’re working — you’re just dying for success, and for a win,” Healy said. “I love them. I’m so freaking proud of them.

“I’m not looking for silver linings, and I’m not looking for moral victories. It’s an incredible group of young men to be able to coach. Everything that I could possibly ask for, and I apologized to them for being the head coach and not being able to get it done. I don’t take it lightly. I want them to win. I don’t really give a crap about what my record is or all the rumors. I don’t really care; I care about these guys having an unbelievable experience. And I apologized to them for not making that happen today. They’re a blessing to coach.”

The 49ers must now win out to achieve bowl eligibility, starting with homecoming against Florida International (2-4, 0-2 C-USA) next Saturday.

Here are two takeaways from Charlotte’s sixth loss of the season.

MISSED OPPORTUNITIES

There were multiple opportunities for a season-saving victory on the road.

After holding an early lead, Charlotte mustered just six points in the final three quarters. The 49ers held a four-point advantage and the ball late in the first half, with an opportunity to extend their lead and receive the opening kickoff of the second half.

Charlotte failed to take advantage, as the Blazers forced a punt to end the half and then intercepted Reynolds on the opening play of the third quarter.

“At the end of the day, I’ll take our offense in any situation to go win the football game,” Healy said. “We didn’t make it happen today, and we didn’t make it happen at the end of the game against Texas El-Paso. But it doesn’t sway my belief in our ability to go score points.”

Charlotte turned the ball over three times in the loss, including a turnover on downs in the first quarter. Reynolds tossed two second-half interceptions, and wideout Elijah Spencer put the ball on the turf in a crucial moment in the third quarter, ending Charlotte’s hopes of extending its lead.

Despite the fumble, Spencer was electric for the 49ers, reeling in four of his five targets for 103 yards and a touchdown, including the game’s first points on a 60-yard bomb from Reynolds. Spencer has 641 yards and four touchdowns on the year, including 14 plays of 20 yards or more, ranking second in the FBS.

“Elijah is special. He’s a dude,” Healy said. “He gave us opportunities to be able to win. I just can’t say enough about the kind of person he is and what kind of leader he is. He’s special.”

In a season that has been defined by the worst defense in the FBS, Charlotte’s offense let them down Saturday.

DEFENSE DID ENOUGH

Despite allowing more than 500 yards of total offense, Charlotte played one of its best games of the season on defense.

It’s tough to overcome multiple turnovers. It’s even tougher to maintain the same level of performance when an opponent runs 26 more plays.

“We haven’t performed well, and that’s an understatement. We still gave up 34 points, and we still had opportunities to make it an even bigger day, especially on third down. I don’t take those things for granted, those aren’t lost in the equation,” Healy said. “But we made some huge plays on defense. The pick, the fourth-down stop, holding them to field goals — our defense gave us opportunities to win the football game. I’m proud of the improvement there, even with guys going down left and right.”

This unit has been objectively bad through the first seven games — it’s ranked dead last in the FBS. But there was a ton of fight from the defense, starting with the first takeaway coming on the game’s first play when Geovante Howard recorded the first interception of his career.

If the 49ers are going to get in the win column again this season, it’s going to be because of the defense’s improvement.

“It has nothing to do with me,” Healy said of the team’s resiliency. “We have great leadership. We have amazing young men in that locker room. They fight; it has nothing to do with me. You just want those guys to have some success. They get the credit. I’ll take the blame. They get the credit.”

This story was originally published October 15, 2022 at 8:16 PM.