Charlotte football blistered by Tulane: 3 takeaways as 49ers return home on Halloween
Charlotte football was outmatched at home Thursday night.
The 49ers fell behind early in their 34-3 loss to Tulane in an American Athletic Conference meeting on Halloween at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
While Charlotte — which saw thousands of students pack the ESPN set on campus during the live edition of SportsCenter Thursday afternoon — got on the board with an early field goal, it struggled to keep itself in the game. The Green Wave built a three-score lead early in the second half, and that proved to have more than enough to hold off the Niners.
Charlotte (3-6, 2-3 American), which enters a bye following this short week, returns to action on Nov. 16, hosting South Florida in its penultimate home game. The Niners have three games remaining in their regular season, the other two being at Florida Atlantic on Nov. 23; and at home against Alabama Birmingham on Nov. 29. They will need to win out to have a shot at bowl eligibility.
“It’s amazing to me that this is a 3-6 football team,” head coach Biff Poggi said postgame. “We have played a tough schedule, but I don’t know if this team is a 3-6 team. It is what it is.
“When I addressed them in the locker room, I told them: ‘Look, we just didn’t play well.’ But we have a fork in the road. We can toss it in, or we could go out and try to win our next game. And see if we can put together something to get to a bowl game, and I think this team is good enough to be a bowl team.”
Tulane capitalized on third down
Charlotte moved the football early, but it struggled to put points on the board with any consistency.
Tulane (7-2, 5-0 American) initially opened a 10-0 advantage as the Niners had trouble getting the ball downfield in the game’s early goings. Charlotte failed to convert after going for it on fourth down and 2 from Tulane’s 24-yard line.
Charlotte’s only score came when Stephen Rusnak connected on a 29-yard-field goal late in the first half, followed by a Green Wave touchdown to give Tulane a two-score lead before the first half ended.
Tulane finished 11 for 16 on third-down conversions, compared to just 1-of-9 for the Niners.
“I don’t want to get out over my skis about the defense playing so well, but they played well enough for us to win the game,” Poggi said. “Tulane is a powerhouse. The one area the defense fell down in was getting off the field on fourth down. We had them in a lot of third-and-longs, and we just absolutely couldn’t get them off the field.
“That’s been a real problem all year. We’re good on first and second down, and we have them in third-and-6 or more, no pass rush and easy throws, but the defense has got to get off the field on third down.”
QB Deshawn Purdie struggled in another start for Charlotte
Deshawn Purdie started behind center for Charlotte.
The 18-year-old true freshman completed 5 of 12 passes for 66 yards on Thursday and was replaced by Max Brown late in the second half.
With Charlotte trailing 13-3 during the third quarter, Purdie threw a pick-six. His pass was intercepted by Tulane senior Micah Robinson and returned for a 21-yard touchdown.
He kept the Niners in the game during the first half, connecting with top target O’Mega Blake three times for 52 yards.
“When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you can tell how a guy’s going to play by the way he practices,” Poggi said. “Deshawn did not have a great week, and I felt like he was a little jittery. I think he kind of played that way, so I took him out, because he’s a young, talented kid, and it was time to cut our losses.”
O’Mega Blake and Hahsaun Wilson lead Charlotte’s offense again
Charlotte’s leading receiver, along with the team’s standout running back, recorded strong performances in the loss.
Blake, the wide receiver who hails from Rock Hill, S.C., and played for the Gamecocks, has been Charlotte’s go-to option on deep balls this season. The graduate of South Pointe entered Thursday leading Niner receivers in both passing yards and touchdowns.
Blake was their leading receiver again Thursday, catching a trio of passes for 52 yards.
Wilson, the Florence, S.C., native who’s been among the Niners’ best tailbacks, totaled 68 yards on six carries on Thursday night. Cartevious Norton only racked up 21 yards on five carries on Thursday.
“The energy is to go get it,” Wilson said. “Energy is to win. One loss don’t define us as a team. We’ve still got to move forward and look ahead. We can’t do nothing about what happened (Thursday), it’s in the past. That’s how we move on.
“Keep our heads straight, keep our heads on. We’re going to work, as we always will.”
This story was originally published October 31, 2024 at 10:59 PM.
