Who will start for Charlotte 49ers with QB Conner Harrell out for season?

Coming off a much-needed bye week, the reeling Charlotte 49ers are marred by injuries, and Tim Albin’s Tuesday press conference shed light on what looks to be season-long struggles.

Albin announced that Charlotte (1-3) will be without its starting quarterback, Conner Harrell, for the rest of the season, after tearing his ACL against Rice early in the second quarter on a designed quarterback run.

Duke transfer Grayson Loftis, who replaced Harrell against the Owls, will get his first start since 2023 on Friday night against South Florida (3-1). Loftis started five games as a true freshman at Duke in 2023, replacing an injured Riley Leonard and posting a winning record (3-2) in his handful of opportunities at the helm, including a Birmingham Bowl victory over Troy to conclude the season. Zach Wilcke will serve as the backup quarterback.

It wasn’t pretty with Loftis as relief in two separate games, combining for three turnovers (two interceptions against North Carolina, one fumble against Rice). Loftis has completed 52.3% of his passes for 296 yards and a touchdown, and has been sacked six times.

But as it has been for the first month of the season, Albin is rolling with the next man up.

“It’s the next-man-up mentality. Everyone else on our team is questionable. I’ve told you the two that aren’t playing,” Albin said, with tailback Henry Rutledge (lower body injury) being the other key player lost for the season. “We’re going to ultimately call the plays we need to win the game. Our football team is not going to splinter. It’s challenging. I’ve been here before. But we’re going to continue to work hard, and if we improve, we’ll win some games.”

With a third of the season in the rearview, here are the answers to your mailbag questions. While the clarification on Harrell’s status answers the most frequent inquiry, there are still plenty of injury updates, win probability, and roster construction questions to go around.

Charlotte 49ers mailbag: 1-11 watch?

Corey Ambrose (@coreambro): Likelihood of another win this season?

Getting right to it, huh? Knowing that Charlotte will be without its signal-caller for the rest of the way, what already was a tough schedule is only getting harder. It is worth mentioning that Albin foreshadowed this, stating that he wouldn’t be shocked if all three quarterbacks (Harrell, Loftis, Wilcke) played this season. “Injuries happen,” said Albin after the season-opening loss to Appalachian State.

With eight games to play, injuries at quarterback, wide receiver, running back, and on both sides of the line of scrimmage, Albin needs the team’s depth to shine. However, the harsh reality is that this team doesn’t have the talent level to compete in the American Conference this season, regardless of the injuries. Looking ahead, the combined record of Charlotte’s remaining eight opponents is 23-12, which includes trips to No. 12 Georgia and Tulane to close the season.

The most winnable games remaining are on the road at Army (Oct. 11 on CBSSN) and homecoming against Temple (Oct. 18). The Black Knights (1-3) suffered a brutal loss to FCS Tarleton State to open the season and dropped to North Texas and East Carolina in the past two weeks. Temple (2-2), much like Charlotte, has faced a tough schedule, dropping to two ranked opponents in as many weeks to conclude their non-conference slate.

South Florida (3-1), North Texas (5-0), No. 12 Georgia (3-1), and Tulane (4-1) you can chalk up as losses. The 49ers will likely be 20-plus point underdogs in each of those bouts and are 27.5-point underdogs against the Bulls on Friday night, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

“(South Florida) is the best team we’ve seen, by far, to this point. They should be nationally ranked,” said Albin. “There are a couple of teams in our league that should be ranked.”

Charlotte has never lost to East Carolina, and the 49ers’ second trip to Greenville (Albin’s first) will be a massive opportunity for Charlotte to keep the momentum on the recruiting trail and avoid losing all three in-state opportunities this season.

49ers’ injuries piling up

@CLT_Fan: Who are the known injured and their status? Any update on Coach Albin’s meeting with Henry Rutledge and his family?

Charlotte’s conference-mandated availability report mirrored a CVS receipt against Rice, and likely won’t be much shorter against South Florida on Friday night.

Here are some of the injury designations provided by Albin, with analysis.

QB Conner Harrell (ACL) is out for the season. Harrell played his best game against Monmouth and was playing well against the Owls before the injury. Charlotte’s offense had finally started leaning into the dual-threat aspect and now will revert to a pro-style offense with Loftis (historically not a dual-threat).

RB Henry Rutledge (lower body) is out for the season. Rutledge is the most explosive player on the roster, and this is his final year of eligibility. Brutal.

WR Jayden McGowan (lower body) is out for the season. McGowan saw plenty of targets against the Mountaineers and had high expectations after stints with Vanderbilt and Boston College.

DE DJ Burgess (upper body) is out for the season. Best edge rusher on the team. Charlotte will need Jaylon Johnson and Curtis Simpson to play lights out moving forward.

C Jonny King (back) hopes to play Friday night. He would have played against Rice if it were a Saturday game, but the short week (due to a Thursday game) delayed his return.

DT Macyo Williams (unknown) is questionable.

WR Justin Olson (unknown) is questionable.

DL Ayo Tifase (unknown) is questionable.

Albin mentioned he thought the team had nearly 15 players on crutches, and he isn’t far off, featuring multiple reserve offensive linemen who are also out (Albin wouldn’t elaborate on the full list of injury designations).

Charlotte’s roster construction

@Jayowski49: Explanation on how they screwed up the 105 roster rules, which limited our ability to accept walk-ons for depth? Was that a mistake by the coaching staff or the athletic department?

Albin voiced frustration on this matter during the non-conference slate, stating that the 49ers didn’t have enough healthy offensive linemen to have two units in practice. And the frustration from the program is justified, but the 49ers aren’t to blame, according to athletic director Mike Hill.

“The rule was 105 (roster spots), and then the House settlement ended up becoming jeopardized. They changed the rules at the very last second to accommodate additional people. That was not anyone’s fault in our program,” Hill told The Observer. “Most schools found themselves with little recourse for football. Kids had to know if they were staying or going well before that late rule change.”

Charlotte operated under the impression that it had to reduce the roster from 120 spots to 105 (only 85 scholarships) after the spring session. But after the last-minute rule change, reverting back to 120, the 49ers were able to get to 109, leaving 11 spots on the table.

This story was originally published September 30, 2025 at 2:43 PM.