Charlotte 49ers drop final home football game to UTSA. What we learned

The Charlotte 49ers held their senior day game Saturday afternoon, hosting the visiting Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners at Richardson Stadium.

The noon kickoff time was news to offensive coordinator Todd Fitch and the 49ers’ offense, which failed to find the end zone for the entirety of the game, losing 28-7.

It was a bout that encapsulated Charlotte’s entire season, with the Roadrunners dictating the line of scrimmage for all four quarters, moving the ball for over 500 yards and allowing just one score — an 88-yard kick return by promising redshirt freshman Derrick Eley.

Charlotte native Owen McCown led the Roadrunners’ offense with 306 yards, three total touchdowns, and an interception in his homecoming as head coach Jeff Traylor and his team improved to 5-5, needing one more win to achieve bowl eligibility.

Here’s what we learned in Charlotte’s (1-9, 0-7) home finale.

Charlotte needs new play-calling next season

For the second straight week, Charlotte looked completely unprepared on offense to open the game. What was a thin crowd (9,831) at Richardson Stadium brought out the boos in the third quarter, following Charlotte’s seventh consecutive punt. The 49ers did not score until Eley’s late-game return touchdown, trimming the Roadrunners’ lead to 14 in the fourth quarter.

While this team isn’t playing with a full deck, missing its starting quarterback Conner Harrell, tailback Henry Rutledge, center Jonny King, and a handful of depth pieces on the offensive line, the play-calling by Fitch is among the worst in college football.

The 49ers are scoring 16.9 points per game this season, which is good for the bottom 10 in the FBS. Charlotte averaged 2.2 yards per play in the first half (0.2 yards per carry), and finished the day with just 197 total yards — failing to get into the red zone until garbage time, which resulted in an interception.

Charlotte coach Tim Albin was adamant that he would make no changes in the play-calling early in the season, and while the 49ers have shown flashes, there has been no consistency or creativity.

He again refuted the lack of creativity after the game.

“I think there have been some things done offensively. We’ve moved Javen Nicholas around quite a bit. I’ll call you on that (lack of creativity) comment. There are some wrinkles, but we don’t hit them,” Albin said. “From a coaching standpoint, the creativity stuff is there. We’re just so limited in the run game. These last two weeks, we’re trying to move the ball through the air — but we’re just not built for that right now.

“We struggle up front. Quarterback-wise, it’s not all his fault,” Albin continued. “He doesn’t have a whole lot of time. We’re going to continue to coach him and get the ball out quicker.”

There wasn’t much action in Charlotte-UTSA

Texas-San Antonio all but begged the 49ers to be competitive early in the action, jumping out to an early lead on the arm of McCown. Following a 45-yard strike to Devin McCuin, scoring the game’s first points, the Roadrunners played with their food for the entire first half.

After the opening drive score, Texas San-Antonio’s drive chart went as follows: interception in the end zone, punt, missed 33-yard field goal, and turnover on downs with a touchdown dropped in the end zone (albeit a good play by the Charlotte defensive back Randy Franklin), missed 35-yard field goal.

“We had our chances. It was a one-score game at halftime. We couldn’t get anything going offensively. The run game is a problem,” Albin said. “It’s no fun to play quarterback when you can’t run the ball.”

Leaving every opportunity for the 49ers to tie the game, Charlotte couldn’t hold up its end of the bargain. Quarterback Grayson Loftis missed Charlotte’s best opportunity, with wideout Sean Brown blowing past his defender for what would have been a 70-plus-yard touchdown. Loftis underthrew the ball, missing their first of many opportunities on the action.

Northwest Mississippi transfer Zach Wilcke would replace Loftis in the fourth quarter, trailing by three touchdowns with just over six minutes to play. Wilcke would finish the day completing three of his four passes for 46 yards and an interception.

The Roadrunners’ biggest play came when they needed just one yard, facing a fourth down in their own territory. After running the tush-push to convert earlier in the action, Traylor’s offense threw in a wrinkle, imitating the Philadelphia Eagles and running a sweep out of the tush-push formation, with Will Henderson III going 59 yards untouched to put the game to bed.

Albin said he knew the Roadrunners would add a wrinkle off of their successful tush-push early in the action, but the coach wasn’t able to get a timeout called before the eventual game-breaking touchdown.

Charlotte 49ers’ lone bright spot

Kick returner Derrick Eley posted the game’s most explosive play in the fourth quarter, turning multiple Roadrunners into roadkill on his way to the end zone, juking two defenders and turning on the jets for an 88-yard return for Charlotte’s first touchdown.

Eley is a promising young player that Albin and the 49ers should prioritize keeping in the program moving forward.

“Derrick is exciting — electric. Every time he gets the ball in his hands, you think he has a chance to score,” Albin said. “I think he should’ve scored last week against East Carolina. It’s encouraging.”

Charlotte’s loss concludes its home slate, with just two games remaining on the schedule — a trip to Athens to take on No. 5 Georgia, followed by the final game of the season against Tulane in New Orleans.

This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 3:37 PM.