In Charlotte 49ers football spring game, QB shines as team ready to ‘get back to work’

Saturday night marked the beginning of the Biff Poggi era in Charlotte, showing off a completely revamped roster in the 49ers’ annual Green vs. White spring game. The Green team pulled off a 17-15 victory, overcoming a 15-point deficit to conclude the program’s spring session.

All eyes were on the quarterbacks, and Jalon Jones shined in his first performance in front of the 49er faithful.

“I thought 4 (Jones) was outstanding, and I thought 7 (James Foster) played great, and that’s how I feel about it,” Poggi said. “I was very pleased with No. 4 today, very pleased with him. He’s dynamic. He was a showstopper today.”

The White team, led by Jones and Shadrick Byrd, jumped out to an early 15-0 lead with Byrd scoring the game’s first points from one yard out. Byrd was the game’s leading rusher with 107 yards on 5.4 yards per carry.

“It felt like football was gone for a while, and it was just fun seeing people out here enjoying themselves with a whole new brand of Charlotte football,” Byrd said. “Coach Osborne has those boys on defense ready. They’re professional about it, and it’s been rough at practice some days for sure. It’s great competition.”

It was a solid turnout for the 49ers on a picture-perfect evening for college football, and Poggi was pleased with the attendance

“Love it. I’m really happy about the turnout,” Poggi said. “I can’t wait for South Carolina State to come here and have it absolutely packed to the rafters.”

At QB, make no ‘Jones’ about it

Charlotte created a buzz this off-season with nearly 40 newcomers, but the biggest question loomed — who is going to play quarterback?

Jones seemed to answer that immediately. He completed six of his seven passes, including the best throw of the evening, a 22-yard dime on the sideline to wideout Jack Reynolds. It even got former Charlotte quarterback Chris Reynolds, Jack’s brother, out of his seat.

“I think that’s the part of my game that you can’t account for,” Jones said. “My legs, scrambling and getting out of the pocket. When everything breaks down, I’m easily able to get out on the edge and make things happen.”

Jack spoke about Jones’ throw and overall performance following the game.

“I’m going to be honest; I didn’t even see Jalon at all. I just saw a ball getting whipped over to me on the sideline. It was a great throw by him,” said Jack. “All three have been battling all spring and making our jobs easy.”

Jones played at St. Frances under Poggi in high school nearly five years ago. Following stops at Florida, Jackson State under Deion Sanders and most recently Bethune-Cookman, Jones and Poggi have reunited at Charlotte.

“I feel like being back with coach Biff has really revitalized my career,” Jones said. “He’s a great man. Somebody you really want to get behind. He’s giving me the confidence back in my game over these last four months and I’m just excited to see what more can happen going forward.”

Returning quarterback Xavier Williams struggled out of the gate with consistent pressure in the pocket but found his rhythm in the second quarter, when he found Roger “Fresh” Walters on a 12-yard strike to put the green team on the board. Williams finished the night completing just three of his five passes for 20 yards and a score.

Foster had a strong performance in the second half, completing seven of his 12 passes for 104 yards and the game-winning touchdown to Reggie Givhan. Foster, Steven Johnson, Trexler Ivey, and true freshman Carson Black all saw time at quarterback on the game.

Back to work

Charlotte won its spring game, according to Poggi. And with just over four months until the season opener, the 49ers are getting right back to work.

“I’m so happy with today. They’ve worked their tails off,” Poggi said. “We put them through the paces. Three-hour, physical practices. In the beginning, their tongues were out and now they’re asking for more.”

There were plenty of miscues, but that’s to be expected for a spring game with a brand-new staff and roster. The game plan was vanilla, with just a few coverages on defense and only 11 personnel on offense. Schematically, the defense showed a few different looks, including a 4-3 under, 4-2-5 and quite a bit of single-high safety.

“We’re getting right back in it. We’re getting back in the weight room, and we had great gains in the weight room this spring,” Poggi continued. “Then we’ll get to the player-led practices with the new NCAA rules. We’ve only had them for 15 practices, and we have so many more interesting things to do.”

Poggi said that Charlotte fans didn’t really see four-star running back Durell Robinson on Saturday, who had three carries for -8 yards. But Poggi expects Robinson to come into his own when the additional blockers come with 12-personnel, as Charlotte is going to be a run-heavy team come September.

“I made about 12 people miss, though,” Robinson added.

Charlotte’s spring session was productive. The transfer portal window has re-opened, and the 49ers are still planning to add more talent to this roster to prepare for the first season in the American Athletic Conference.

As Charlotte fans got a first glimpse of the team’s new playmakers, Jones had a message for the 49er faithful following the game.

“I felt like if there’s one thing we showed today, it’s that we have an explosive style offense. That’s who we are,” Jones said.

This story was originally published April 23, 2023 at 6:30 AM.