Charlotte football report card: Why the 49ers’ final 3 games key to bowl eligibility

A team goes one of two ways following a heartbreaking loss, and the Charlotte 49ers fell flat on their face Saturday night in their biggest home game of the season.

In the program’s second time on ESPN, Charlotte’s missed opportunities thwarted any chance of upsetting Tulane (7-2, 5-0 AAC) on Halloween, featuring a scarily bad offensive performance and domination in the second half by the Green Wave, resulting in a lopsided 34-3 loss at Richardson Stadium.

In what was a one-possession game at halftime, Tulane poured in 24 unanswered points in the final 30 minutes, stifling Charlotte’s putrid two-quarterback system and doubling the 49ers’ yardage total (431 to 189) in the route.

A dejected Biff Poggi told the media that Charlotte’s plan was to be aggressive from the jump, forgoing field goal opportunities (0-3 on fourth down) and putting the ball in its signal caller’s hands.

Following last season’s heartbreaking overtime loss against Memphis, Charlotte turned in just one scoring possession in a lopsided loss against Rice — and Thursday night’s rebound after another close loss was no different. The 49ers totaled just 189 yards of total offense, ran just 44 plays, converted just one of nine third-down attempts and turned over the ball — directly resulting in a Tulane score to put the game out of reach.

With missed opportunities and self-inflicted wounds littering all four quarters, Charlotte must now win its last three games to qualify for bowl eligibility.

Here’s how Charlotte (3-6, 2-3 AAC) graded out in its sixth loss of the season.

49ers’ rushing offense

When you see an average of 5.5 yards per carry, you’d think Charlotte dominated the line of scrimmage and the time of possession battle. However, with Charlotte trailing throughout, Hahsaun Wilson and Cartevious Norton’s opportunities were limited. Rushing just 22 times on the game — and only three times in the first quarter — Charlotte accumulated 120 yards on the ground, which is not close to enough, Poggi said.

After playing just five snaps against Memphis following his first career fumble at Navy two weeks prior, Wilson saw four carries in the first half resulting in 66 yards – and three of Charlotte’s first four chunk plays. Wilson finished the day with six carries for 68 yards, seeing just two touches in the final 30 minutes and finding his way out of Poggi’s “doghouse.”

“I thought the first run he broke that he was going to score. He’s electrifying,” Poggi said of Wilson. “He was in the doghouse because if you are a running back you can’t put the ball on the ground. He’s worked hard on that, and he played well today.”

Wilson’s biggest run of the day, a 27-yard carry, put Charlotte in scoring position early in the action — trailing by three. Five plays later, Charlotte faced a fourth-and-2 on Tulane’s 24-yard line, and ultimately turned down a 41-yard field goal to tie the game — resulting in the first of three turnovers on downs on the game and allowing the Green Wave to jump out to a 10-point advantage on the ensuing drive.

It’s clear that Charlotte’s rushing attack is formidable and has been since the East Carolina breakout game with 307 yards. Still, the timing of runs, sticking to the rushing attack, and staying competitive in these games is crucial to turning Wilson and Norton loose.

Grade: C-

49ers’ passing offense

Thursday night was the first time this season that it felt like Charlotte had no good option at quarterback. With the trio of Max Brown, DeShawn Purdie and Trexler Ivey rotating in starting and relieving roles this season, typically with at least one quarterback rising above the others, Thursday night was a brutal showing on all accounts.

Purdie got the start, his first since dominating East Carolina, and it was another up-and-down affair. After connecting on his first pass, Purdie nearly tossed an interception — throwing directly through the hands of a Tulane linebacker. Purdie would find his footing on the second drive, connecting with O’Mega Blake down the field and leading Charlotte to plus territory, but as penalties and mistakes began to accumulate, Purdie’s confidence withered.

Charlotte’s most promising drive of the game concluded in just three points, following guard Jordan Spasojevic-Moko’s false start on the goal line. The 49ers were forced to settle for a field goal following a sack of Purdie, with missed opportunities costing Charlotte 10 points in the opening half, trailing 10-3 at the break.

And despite Charlotte’s defense keeping the 49ers afloat, the biggest swing play of the game went in Tulane’s favor, ultimately crushing any attempt of a Charlotte upset. Backed up on Charlotte’s own 18-yard line, Purdie tossed the costliest interception of his young career directly to Green Wave corner Micah Robinson, who capitalized on the takeaway by scampering 21 yards to pay dirt to put the game out of reach.

At that point, Poggi made the switch to Brown — further demonstrating Charlotte’s troubles at quarterback. Brown, in his first time as a reliever this season, was awful. He completed just two of his 10 passes for 3 total yards — putting the quarterback battle up for grabs.

“When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you can tell how a guy is going to play based on how he practices. DeShawn did not have a great week. I felt like he was a little jittery. And I think he kind of played that way,” Poggi said. “I took (Purdie) out because he’s a young, talented kid, and it was time to cut our losses at that point. We put Max in to see if he could do something, and he did not play very well either.”

The quarterbacks combined to complete 7 of 22 passes for 69 total yards and an interception.

Grade: F

49ers’ rushing defense

Tulane entered Thursday night’s matchup converting 48% of its third downs, and put on a clinic in that department, converting 11 of 16 third-down attempts and possessing the ball for over 42 minutes.

The Green Wave opened the game with a 20-play drive, consuming nearly 11 minutes of the first quarter and resulting in a field goal. Tulane’s offense gained at least 30 yards on all but one drive, averaging over five minutes per possession. In short, Charlotte played average defense on first and second down — but was nowhere to be found when it was time to get off the field.

Led by Makhi Hughes’ 117 yards and two touchdowns, Tulane’s offensive line paved the way for 217 yards and three total scores on the ground, with an average of 4.4 yards per carry. And with the game out of reach, Tulane poured in 107 of its 217 total yards in the fourth quarter, imposing its will and washing away what was a “bend but don’t break” Charlotte defense.

Grade: D

49ers’ passing defense

On top of the dominant rushing attack, Jon Sumrall’s team got anything it wanted through the air, with redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah shredding Charlotte’s secondary for 214 yards.

It wasn’t a monstrous performance from Mensah, but it didn’t need to be. Half (8) of Tulane’s third-down attempts were third and short (1-4 yards), with easy completions coming at will as Charlotte’s pass rush was nonexistent.

Mensah was pressured on just 19.4% of his dropbacks, where he extended plays with ease and kept his eyes downfield for backbreaking conversions. For reference, Mensah had an average of 2.87 seconds to throw on the game, with 4.02 seconds to throw when under pressure. He commanded the field, and on the rare occasion there was a free rusher, Mensah made Charlotte pay with his pocket awareness and poise.

Without any semblance of a pass rush, and on a day where Charlotte’s secondary struggled, the 49ers had no answer for Tulane in any facet.

Grade: D

49ers’ special teams

With the offense and defense rendered lifeless for the entire second half, Charlotte’s special teams were the only unit that didn’t cost the 49ers.

Michael O’Shaughnessy opened the action with a 53-yard punt, pinning Tulane on its own 4-yard line, and followed it with a 37-yard boot, putting Tulane in the same exact spot. He finished with four punts, averaging 48.8 yards per attempt, with two 50-plus yard kicks.

And after costing the 49ers a week prior, Henry Rutledge kick-started Charlotte’s third drive with a 30-yard return, with 15 yards tacked on for a facemask on the Green Wave — ultimately resulting in Charlotte’s only points on the game, a 29-yard field goal from Stephen Rusnak.

With the offense continuing to sputter, Charlotte’s going to need points generated from special teams — whether it’s a blocked punt, a return of sorts, or a form of trickery.

Grade: B-

Overall

Losing by 30-plus points for the third time this season, and turning in just three total points, there are not many positives. Charlotte’s second and final bye week comes at a crucial time, with the 49ers desperately needing to resolve the most important issue in football — quarterback.

“I feel like all of the quarterbacks can get it done, we’re just trying to find that one spark. I think it’s frustrating for the whole team, honestly,” Wilson said of the frustrations of consistently swapping quarterbacks. “It’s just a team thing, but we’re going to pull it together, though. I have faith in that.”

Charlotte has swapped quarterbacks mid-game in six of its nine games, resulting in two of its three victories.

With three games to play — hosting South Florida (Nov. 16), visiting Florida Atlantic (Nov. 23), and closing with a home bout against UAB (Nov. 30) — Charlotte must win out to qualify for bowl eligibility for just the second time in the program’s young history.

And it’s a doable task, with the remaining trio combining for a 6-15 record on the season.

Overall grade: D+