Charlotte football gets blown out: 3 takeaways from 49ers’ homecoming loss to South Florida
In all likelihood, Charlotte football will not be going bowling this season.
The Niners’ 59-24 loss to South Florida on Saturday afternoon all but dashed their hopes of reaching a postseason bowl game. Charlotte needed to win to remain in contention for attaining the six-win threshold, and it struggled throughout in what had the makings of a blowout by early in the second half.
There was a packed crowd of 15,030 inside Jerry Richardson Stadium on Saturday for the school’s annual homecoming game, which capped “Niner Nation Week” and brought thousands of alumni back to University City.
Charlotte (3-7, 2-4 American Athletic Conference) now has a pair of games left, traveling to Florida Atlantic at 3 p.m. Saturday before wrapping up its regular season Nov. 30 at home against Alabama-Birmingham.
“It is a little bit hard to swallow,” a dejected head coach Biff Poggi said in the postgame news conference. “Offensively, what can be said? We have a young kid (Deshawn Purdie) who’s very talented, and he’s going through growing pains.
“So, we have two games left, and we’re gonna focus on winning those two games.”
Here are three takeaways from the 49ers’ Homecoming loss to South Florida:
Penalties crushed Charlotte early
While the Niners kept the scoreboard close early, they elicited plenty of laundry to be thrown on the field.
Charlotte committed 12 penalties for 103 yards Saturday. It was able to move the football early in its first in-game action in 16 days, but these blows kept the 49ers from building any significant lead.
Still, despite their five penalties for 44 yards during the opening quarter, the Niners scored on two of their first four drives.
Following an early Cartevious Norton touchdown, redshirt junior kicker Stephen Rusnak drilled a 51-yard field goal — twice, as Poggi iced him with a timeout before he initially attempted the kick — during the second quarter to put the Niners in front. The Michigan native became the third Charlotte kicker with multiple 50-yard field goals in his career.
As many penalties as the 49ers committed, they got burned both ways.
With South Florida already leading 38-17 during the third quarter, quarterback Deshawn Purdie connected with redshirt freshman Adam Hopkins IV for what appeared to be a big touchdown pass — until a late flag came in and ruled that USF had been offside. The Bulls sacked Purdie and ran the football back for a scoop-and-score touchdown on the very next play.
Charlotte defense couldn’t get off the field
The Niners kept it close, but even early, their defense struggled to slow down South Florida.
Cam Burden, the redshirt junior linebacker for the Niners, recorded the first interception of his career off Bulls quarterback Bryce Archie, the Coastal Carolina transfer who also plays baseball at USF. It was a strong day for Burden — who nearly tied his career high with nine tackles, five of which were solo — but his pick was the defense’s lone highlight.
“I felt like we prepared well, and we started fast,” defensive back Al-Ma’hi Ali, who recorded four tackles Saturday, said in the news conference. “We’ve just gotta do our jobs. I say that all the time, but it always comes down to doing your job. It’s a team sport, so if one player doesn’t do their job, you end up in a big play.
“All in all, it just comes down to that we have to do our job and be consistent — not just in the beginning, but throughout the whole game.”
Charlotte gave up 31 points during the third quarter. That’s the second-most points against the Niners in one period in program history, since Middle Tennessee State dropped 42 points on them during the first quarter of their matchup in 2015.
Still the best passing day of Purdie’s career
Purdie set a career high with 256 passing yards.
Charlotte’s 18-year-old true freshman started for the fourth time this season. He completed passes throughout the night — finishing with 17 of 39 completions and a touchdown — and looked solid, but struggled to hang onto the football and made his share of mistakes.
Purdie will be the Niners’ starter going forward, Poggi said. The quarterback from Baltimore and his father have a strong relationship with Charlotte’s coaching staff, and Purdie has told them that he fully intends on returning to the 49ers.
“We think (Purdie) gives us the best chance to build a program here,” Poggi said. “I do believe he is a very rare talent. Being a freshman quarterback is a hard job, and I want him to know that we have confidence in him. He’s all in for coming back — he and his pop have a very good relationship with (offensive coordinator) Mike Miller and me — and he’s told us recently that he wants to come back.
“You build programs around guys like that.”
Wide receiver Isaiah Myers was his top target, catching four passes for 82 yards. O’Mega Blake totaled 46 yards on four catches as well.
Purdie picked up several long gains, including a 42-yard pass to Sean Brown that set up Charlotte’s first touchdown.
“He’s a good quarterback,” Brown said of Purdie. “He takes it to the chin like an adult. He never complains or points a finger. It’s kind of annoying sometimes, because he’ll take the blame for almost everything, and sometimes, we can do something better, too.
“He’ll be all right. He’s going to have a great career.”
This story was originally published November 16, 2024 at 7:43 PM.
