Charlotte 49ers welcome prime-time game and national spotlight: ‘A great night for football’
Sean Brown feels he has seen Charlotte football grow up.
The Charlotte 49ers’ graduate student wide receiver attended games at Jerry Richardson Stadium while he was in high school at Marvin Ridge. A native of Waxhaw, Brown has seen the school in University City establish its football team and rise to the FBS level.
Another big day is coming up for the growing American Athletic Conference program: Charlotte’s prime-time game on Halloween that’ll be nationally televised on ESPN.
Head coach Biff Poggi is set to appear on SportsCenter, which will air live from campus at 2 p.m. Thursday. Students, fans and guests are encouraged to wear Niner gear and be featured in the background of the show alongside the school’s cheer squads, band and mascot. Pizza will be provided as well.
“It’s pretty cool to see it continue to grow,” Brown, who’s racked up 242 receiving yards on a team-best 22 catches, said Tuesday during Charlotte’s weekly news conference. “And that’s what I’m trying to do before my last year: Grow it as much as I can. So, when I come back in 10-20 years, we have a bigger stadium outside, bigger everything, and just keep seeing it grow.
“You want it to be like ‘Bama and Georgia, but you’ve gotta take it day-by-day. You can’t just take that jump in one day. You’ve gotta put in work, day-by-day, week-by-week, month-by-month.”
Deshawn Purdie or Max Brown at QB? Poggi doesn’t name starter
Poggi said he’ll know who will start for Charlotte (3-5, 2-2 American) following practice on Wednesday.
Max Brown, the 6-foot-3 redshirt sophomore who grew up playing football and baseball in Oklahoma and transferred after starting at Florida, took the reins again last game and completed just four passes for 38 yards before being replaced by Deshawn Purdie.
It was Purdie, the 18-year-old true freshman, who ended up leading Charlotte in another near-upset of Memphis. While he had a strong connection with O’Mega Blake and totaled 152 yards through the air, Purdie only completed five passes himself.
“I won’t know until (Wednesday) after practice,” Poggi said. “I will know (Wednesday) after practice. They’ve both had really good weeks.”
‘A great night for football in Charlotte’
Charlotte ramped up the intensity at its practice on Tuesday.
Practicing on the fields adjacent to Jerry Richardson Stadium during their short week, the 49ers wore pads and had a lot of energy. While they didn’t get back from Memphis until late in the weekend, they still had a lengthy practice on Monday.
Thursday night’s conference showdown with Tulane (6-2, 4-0 American) kicks off at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. The Green Wave have won their past five games since falling to nationally-ranked Kansas State and Oklahoma and are among the best teams in the AAC.
“It’s the same for both teams,” Poggi said. “It’s hard for Tulane. It’s hard for us. But then it’s a 7:30 game. We’re excited about it; We’re gonna be on TV. SportsCenter’s gonna be on campus. I can’t wait for our students to come out. It’s Halloween, I can’t wait to see what they look like and how many of them show up.
“It’s gonna be a great night for football in Charlotte.”
