One week after apparent resurgence, Charlotte 49ers football struggles against WKU

The Charlotte 49ers came back to earth Saturday, suffering yet another blowout home loss, this time against Western Kentucky, 59-7.

Hilltoppers’ quarterback Austin Reed threw for 409 yards and tossed six touchdowns to six different receivers in the victory, needing just two plays to light up the scoreboard and set the tone at Richardson Stadium. With the victory, Western Kentucky (6-4, 4-2 C-USA) clinched bowl eligibility for the fourth consecutive year, making it 11 of the past 12 seasons.

After looking like a completely different team in last week’s 56-23 victory against Rice in Pete Rossomando’s first game as interim head coach, Charlotte’s struggles from the first eight games — poor tackling and stale offense — returned.

Western Kentucky held the ball for just 20 minutes, had scoring drives of 98 and 92 yards, needed fewer than 35 seconds to find the end zone on four possessions, and generated 12 plays of 20-yards or more. It was an absolute clinic.

“Once everybody walks in the building with the same mentality, Charlotte football will be perfectly fine,” running back Shadrick Byrd said.

Saturday was a different story.

The Hilltoppers started the onslaught on the game’s first possession, opened by a 29-yard reverse by Malachi Corley and capped off by Reed finding Jaylen Hall for a 46-yard touchdown. Just three plays later, Chris Reynolds was picked off by Upton Stout and returned to the Charlotte seven-yard line, where Reed would toss his second touchdown on the very next play, finding Daewood Davis for the score.

Reed’s third touchdown of the first quarter capped off a 98-yard drive, finding Corley yet again for a 64-yard catch and run on a screen pass. Reynolds’ second turnover of the opening quarter would put the nail in the coffin, fumbling on Charlotte’s best drive to that point.

The 49ers failed to score a touchdown in the first half for the second time in three games, despite holding the ball for twice as long as the Hilltoppers (19:58).

Charlotte (2-8, 1-5 C-USA) would find the end zone for their lone touchdown on the opening possession of the second half, as Reynolds found Elijah Spencer in the corner of the end zone from 14-yards out. Spencer now has 831 yards and nine touchdowns on the season and has found the end zone in six of the last seven games.

The Hilltoppers outgained Charlotte 594 to 384. Tackling seemed optional, and a depleted 49ers’ defense was exposed yet again, allowing over 500 yards of total offense for the sixth time this season.

It has been 364 days since Charlotte won a game at Richardson Stadium, and they’ve lost by an average of 25 points during that span. The crowd thinned out following the scoreless first half, leaving just a fraction of the 10,857 in attendance on military appreciation and family day.

BACK TO EARTH

Western Kentucky’s tempo was far too much for the 49ers, catching them out of alignment with regularity. The Hilltoppers averaged 10.4 yards a play.

After scoring touchdowns on seven-consecutive possessions last week against the Owls, Charlotte turned the ball over on three of their first six drives and never found a rhythm. Redshirt freshman Xavier Williams replaced Reynolds late in the third quarter, giving the 49ers a glimpse at the future of the quarterback position with just two games remaining in Reynolds’ collegiate career. Williams’ third pass went right to defensive back Anthony Brackenridge, who returned it 42-yards for the game’s penultimate touchdown.

Charlotte’s search for its next head coach is still ongoing with the move to the American Athletic Conference on the horizon. The 49ers have two more opportunities this season with a trip to Murfreesboro to take on Middle Tennessee and then senior day at home against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 19.

NOTES

▪ Defensive end Markees Watts broke Alex Highsmith’s program-sack record with 20.5 sacks in his career.

▪ Wideout Victor Tucker has started 47 games for the 49ers, the most in school history.

▪ Kicker Antonio Zita broke the program record for consecutive successful PATs with his 31st.

▪ Western Kentucky’s Malachi Corley caught six of his seven targets for 162 yards and a touchdown. 151 of Corley’s yards were after the catch, exceeding the 49ers’ entire receiving corps.

▪ Chris Reynolds completed 17 of his 27 passes for 196 yards, a touchdown, interception and fumble.

▪ Running back Johnny Martin III had career highs of 16 carries for 85 yards in the loss.