Charlotte 49ers football: ‘Defense is always ahead of the offense’

With less than three weeks until the season kicks off against Appalachian State in the Duke’s Mayo Classic, the Charlotte 49ers are picking up the intensity and putting the pedal down.

That means live periods, even including the quarterbacks donning red jerseys, which will play a key role in coach Tim Albin’s evaluation of the 49ers’ signal-caller position. But with the defense winning the day in Charlotte’s first scrimmage, which was closed to the media, Albin is focused on one facet — minimizing self-inflicted errors.

“If you were keeping score, that’s what you would say,” Albin said of the defense. “The defense is always ahead of the offense; it doesn’t matter what the schemes are. The disappointing thing is the penalties. As the head coach, I’m going to have to look at getting officials here more times at practice, and not just scrimmages. Right now I’m disappointed with myself, to be honest with you.

“If we’re asking them to clean it up, we’re going to have to train them the right way. I’ll take full responsibility for that. I’m going to have to look at that, just where we are as a program and their history. I’m going to have to up my game to help those guys because they want to do it the right way. I’ve got to give them the tools to do it.”

Early standouts for Charlotte 49ers

Through 10 of 19 training camp practices, Friday morning’s scrimmage was the biggest evaluation opportunity yet for the 49ers. While Albin needs to watch the film before detailing the good, bad and the ugly, he did single out one player on each side of the ball who impressed: Redshirt freshman defensive end Curtis Simpson and graduate wideout Sean Brown.

“(Curtis Simpson) got a penalty early in the scrimmage, and he had some really, really good plays that require discipline (after). He was able to not let the emotion of a disappointing play earlier affect him in doing what he was supposed to. I thought it was great,” Albin said of the UNC transfer.

It was the first time Charlotte’s practice had been officiated since the spring session, and it showed, according to Albin.

“We went 80-plus plays today. Pleased with their efforts. Everybody got reps today, and it’s going to be a huge evaluation day,” said Albin. “We’re a long way from being ready. Too many penalties, particularly on offense. No turnovers, which is a big thing for us with the style that we want to play.”

Live quarterback reps

As the three-headed competition to take the season-opening snaps against the Mountaineers rages on, Albin and his staff got a sense of who could be “the guy” in the scrimmage.

“They went live, all three guys. It’s going to be down to the wire. I’m anxious to watch the film. They all did some good things, but they all had some things — play clock issues, protection issues,” said Albin. “We saw it all. I think it will be good for them, because quarterbacks don’t hit — and we probably won’t hit them the rest of the time.

“We have three guys who have started games, we had to get as much information as we could. To do that, we had to give them a chance to go live. We’ll evaluate and see where we are at.”

Transfers Conner Harrell, Grayson Loftis and Zach Wilcke are competing for the 49ers’ starting quarterback job.

Etc.

• Tailback Henry Rutledge returned to practice after missing two days to deal with a soft-tissue injury, Albin said.
• CJ Stokes saw his first live action of fall camp. “He’s battled through some injuries. (Friday) was his first day to go with the defense trying to tackle him,” Albin said. “He’s trying to make everybody miss, but there’s going to be a point where he’s got to put his foot in the ground and be the hammer. That will come.”
• Wide receiver Adam Hopkins IV posted the fastest speed in the scrimmage at 19.91 mph, according to the team’s Catapult Stats.