Charlotte football stops UAB: 3 takeaways from 49ers’ dramatic win in season finale
Charlotte football ended its season victorious.
With the 49ers holding a 29-27 lead during the final minutes, Alabama Birmingham marched downfield and lined up for a game-winning field goal. The kick sailed wide left as time expired — but a leaping penalty on Charlotte gave its opponent a first down.
UAB kicker Jonah Delange’s next attempt, this time from 27 yards out, after the jubilant Niners cleared the field?
Wide left.
The Niners (5-7, 4-4 American) poured onto the turf at Jerry Richardson Stadium after closing out the two-point victory in their American Athletic Conference regular-season finale.
Deshawn Purdie had heaved a 46-yard touchdown pass to top wideout O’Mega Blake — his program record-tying ninth score this season — and increased the Charlotte lead to nine points. The Niners were holding a narrow lead in the fourth quarter before that, and linebacker Ositadinma Ekwonu, a Charlotte native and Providence Day alum who spent four seasons at Notre Dame, made his first career interception.
But a long pass from UAB quarterback Jalen Kitna to receiver Corri Milliner set up another touchdown for the Blazers, who advanced deep into the red zone before shanking both potential winning field goal attempts.
“One of my keys to victory is: ‘Be tougher, longer,’” Charlotte interim head coach Tim Brewster said. “It took two chip shot misses for us to win the game. I couldn’t be more happy, more proud. Our seniors are going to walk out of here tonight, and they’re going to remember this game for the rest of their lives.
“It’s a huge step in the right direction for the Charlotte 49ers. Huge step winning these last two games.”
Here are three takeaways from the 49ers’ win over UAB:
Prowess from the Niners’ kicking game
Charlotte kickers remained perfect this season.
Redshirt junior Stephen Rusnak converted 25 of 25 extra points — in addition to going 11 for 11 on field goals — over the course of his first season since transferring from Michigan State.
Sophomore Kyle Cunanan, who made both field goals he attempted in Charlotte’s early-season game at UNC, blasted a pair of field goals during the final two minutes of the first half Saturday. He added a 31-yarder to put the 49ers ahead during the fourth quarter — and later drilled a 35-yard extra point that had been pushed back because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Graduate student Michael O’Shaughnessy booted a 77-yard punt — the longest in school history — during the first quarter. The New Albany, Ohio, native, in his first season with the Niners, previously played in the Big Ten at Ohio State and Michigan State.
Norton, Wilson again power rushing attack
Charlotte has its first running back duo to each record at least seven rushing touchdowns in a season.
Hahsaun Wilson and Cartevious Norton have been the 49ers’ top rushers throughout the year, and they each added their seventh touchdowns of the season in the win.
Charlotte’s opening series culminated in a 7-yard touchdown rush by Wilson, who kicked off the scoring on what was already his fourth carry of the game.
“This is one of the best teams that has come through Charlotte,” Wilson said. “We all played as a family, we all played as one, and we never faltered. Never let our foot off the gas, and we played till the end. During every game. No matter the losses, the wins: Our talent didn’t define us.
“It was our ability to stick together even when stuff got hard. That’s why we can win games like this.”
Down by one point early in the second half, a couple of penalties and Blake’s first catch (for 27 yards) helped bring Charlotte downfield. It was Norton who punched it in from the 1-yard line, securing his seventh touchdown, and a big score for the Niners.
Wilson finished with 84 rushing yards on 14 carries, while Norton totaled 45 yards on 15 attempts, in Saturday’s win.
Biggest game in WR Sean Brown’s Charlotte career
Sean Brown, a Union County native, recorded triple-digit receiving yards for the first time.
The graduate student wide receiver, who grew up in Waxhaw and previously attended UNC Pembroke and Marvin Ridge High, tallied five catches for 100 yards, including a 41-yard reception (his second longest of the season).
Purdie, whose first seven pass attempts fell incomplete, ended up with nearly 200 passing yards and used his legs effectively throughout the night.
Brown caught the most passes Saturday, while Blake totaled 73 yards on two catches, and Isaiah Myers made a pair of receptions, including a 35-yard catch.
“There’s only one Senior Day, and you have the opportunity to go out there and do special things,” Brewster said. “Our seniors played extremely well. Sean (Brown) had a great night. Chantz (Williams) really did a great job getting to the quarterback, rushing the passer. There was just tremendous conviction.
“It was on my heart, on my mind so much just to win this game. These seniors have this victory to talk about for the rest of their lives.”
This story was originally published November 30, 2024 at 7:42 PM.
