Tulane shuts out Charlotte in season finale. What we learned in the 49ers’ loss

The Charlotte 49ers’ football season concluded with a whimper Saturday night in New Orleans. Wrapping up a rough first year under Tim Albin, Charlotte was shutout by the No. 24-ranked Tulane Green Wave, falling 27-0 to round out the season 1-11.

Losing nine of their last 10, Saturday night’s lopsided loss was on brand for the 49ers’ season against FBS competition — losing all 11 matchups by double-digits.

And the season-long struggles were evident from the game’s first play.

Charlotte (1-11, 0-8 American) kicker Liam Boyd booted the opening kickoff out of bounds, drawing a penalty before the Jake Retzlaff-led Green Wave offense took the field. It was all downhill from there, with Tulane scoring touchdowns on its first two drives to crush any hope of a season-spoiling upset for the 49ers.

Despite reports of Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall’s jumping to the Power Four next season, the Green Wave (10-2, 7-1) handled business in every facet, punching their ticket to the American Conference Championship game, where they will face North Texas (11-1, 7-1).

At the bottom of the conference sit the 49ers, who lost all eight conference games in their third season in the league.

Retzlaff was far from perfect, putting the ball in harm’s way early and often against what has been a struggling, but opportunistic Charlotte defense. The junior signal caller tossed two (nearly three) bad interceptions and was responsible for multiple turnover-worthy plays. Even with the miscues, Tulane’s offense did enough to win the game by four scores, moving the ball for 463 yards.

Retzlaff finished the game 28 of 38 for 291 yards, two rushing touchdowns and two interceptions.

Green Wave does enough

Tulane’s offense was up and down in the first half, trading scoring drives and turnovers for the first 30 minutes. But playing against a lifeless Charlotte offense, the Green Wave had time to figure it out, capitalizing with three first-half touchdown drives — all ending with one-yard plunges to find pay-dirt.

Kadin Schmitz was all over the field early for Charlotte’s defense, hurrying Retzlaff and then picking him off in the endzone just two plays later, halting what looked to be another sure-fire touchdown drive for the Green Wave.

Later in the action, defensive back Ja’Qurious Conley recorded his second interception in as many games, giving the 49ers the ball back with yet another opportunity to show anything in their seventh and final nationally televised game.

There were legitimate flashes of competent football on defense in Saturday night’s loss, but the combination of horrendous play-calling, pre-snap errors, bad snaps, and bad quarterback play killed any chance to be competitive. Charlotte started with Grayson Loftis, swapped to backup Zach Wilcke for two drives (three-and-out, interception), and then put Loftis back in. Neither quarterback was effective.

The two signal-callers combined to go 20 of 28 for 143 yards, both tossing interceptions.

Play-calling conundrum

A four-play sequence summarized Charlotte’s entire season, and its play-calling. The 49ers’ second straight takeaway set Charlotte’s offense up needing just 12 yards to score a touchdown.

Offensive coordinator Todd Fitch’s play calls trailing 14-0 in the first half in the low red zone, with a chance to put pressure on a ranked opponent:

• Designed quarterback run by pocket-passing quarterback Loftis (gain of 1)

• Play-action pass to third-string tight end Joey Bearns III (loss of 1)

• Play breaks down, dump off to tight end Gus McGee (gain of 5)

• Missed 25-yard field goal

Fitch failed to draw up a single play for his top four receivers, including the best playmakers in Sean Brown and Javen Nicholas.

The 49ers had 13 drives all game. One of them went for more than 30 yards, which resulted in a punt. Five of the 13 were three-and-outs. Injuries derailed the offense all season, but the play-calling did Albin and the team zero favors.

It was Charlotte’s third straight game with one score or less, and its lone shutout of the season — its first since 2023 under Biff Poggi.

What’s next?

Another offseason of change is on the horizon for the 49ers, except this time Charlotte won’t be looking for a new head coach. This time around, it’s all about bringing talent into the building, improving the roster, training staff, and bones of the program.

Entering the 14th year of football at Charlotte, and its fourth year in the American, Charlotte is in need of a major upgrade across the board following the sixth-straight losing season.