Grading Charlotte 49ers football: What a difference an explosive run game makes

Charlotte fans who shelled out some extra cash for the “hottest ticket in program history” got their money’s worth on Saturday as a standing-room-only crowd of 17,102 saw the 49ers dominate in-state rival East Carolina from the game’s opening play, winning 55-24 .

With true freshman DeShawn Purdie starting at quarterback for the 49ers, Charlotte turned to its rushing attack to bring the fourth-largest crowd in program history to its feet early and often, seeing multiple career-best performances on the day.

Following last season’s win against the Pirates in Greenville, Biff Poggi lit cigars for each player upon returning to Richardson Stadium. This year, Charlotte’s party was just steps away in the Judy W. Rose Football Center, where music blared ahead of Poggi’s media availability.

“We’re going to have a little bit of a celebration because they work so hard. You can see it; they’re getting better every week,” Poggi said. “So, yeah, we’re going to have cigars.”

It was the first time this season, and the first time under Poggi, that Charlotte excelled in all three phases of the game for all four quarters. And with two one-point victories heading into Saturday, a monstrous 31-point first half — leading to a win by that same total — has Charlotte feeling dangerous with its first 2-0 start in conference play.

With the 49ers tying and breaking multiple program records in the win, including the most points scored in a home game at Richardson Stadium, Charlotte’s (3-3, 2-0 AAC) headed to its first bye week. Here’s the breakdown as Poggi’s team reaches the midpoint of the season.

49ers’ rushing offense

Entering Saturday, East Carolina (3-3, 1-1 AAC) had allowed just three rushing touchdowns all season. Charlotte washed away that total in the first half alone with four scores on the ground by three different backs, notching six total on the day.

Charlotte looked like the team Poggi talked about in his introductory press conference, stating he planned to bring the Big Ten to the Queen City. The 49ers rushed for 307 yards on the day, eighth most in program history, led by Hahsaun Wilson’s hat trick with 164 yards.

Wilson’s three touchdowns came on just 15 carries, averaging 10.9 yards per attempt as he split reps with Cartevious Norton and Terron Kellman. The duo of Wilson and Norton recorded touchdown runs of 60-plus yards, combined for 252 yards, outscored the Pirates’ entire offense, and broke ECU’s spirit, according to Norton.

“They started giving up,” Norton said. “They start arm tackling, getting scared to tackle and they don’t want to put their head in there no more — and that’s when it becomes fun.”

Wilson added: “Sometimes you see it in their face — they don’t want to be there anymore. That’s us imposing our will, and really doing what we want.”

The stats back up Norton’s claims, forcing eight missed tackles (a career-best) and running for 76 of his 88 total yards after contact, according to Pro Football Focus. And after being on the receiving end of repetitive chunk plays through five games, it was Charlotte’s offense thriving on the big play on Saturday.

The 49ers registered 14 chunk plays, a season-best, led by eight on the ground for 242 of their 513 total yards. Back-breaking runs of 65, 62, 35, 23, and 22 yards sunk the Pirates, with Charlotte eating up over 41 minutes of clock in the time-of-possession battle.

Despite a strong day on the ground for the 49ers, Poggi thought Purdie and the passing attack opened the ground game.

Grade: A+

49ers’ passing offense

The second start proved to be the charm for Purdie, playing his best collegiate game in the biggest moment yet. With the ground game rolling throughout and leading from start to finish, the 6-foot-5 signal-caller wasn’t asked to take over as he did against Rice, especially in the second half. But he was on time and target in all four quarters, delivering strikes to O’Mega Blake and Jairus Mack in key situations to put the 49ers in scoring position.

Purdie finished the day completing 13 of his 22 passes for 206 yards and a rushing touchdown, marking the first Charlotte quarterback to play all four quarters in a victory this season.

“It felt amazing. I came to Charlotte to give the loyal fans some dubs,” Purdie said postgame. “And today was just a little glance at that.”

With East Carolina blitzing on over 51% of Purdie’s dropbacks, the true freshman dialed up four completions of 20-plus air yards on eight attempts, was flawless when attacking the middle of the field, extended plays when the first and second options were unavailable, and played turnover-free football. And his “weapons,” as he calls them, had a pretty good day, too.

After recording five catches for 153 and two touchdowns a week ago, Blake’s reunion with the Pirates picked up right where he left off, reeling in two 25-plus yard catches on Charlotte’s first two possessions. With the first quarter belonging to Blake, wideout Jairus Mack got in on the fun in the second quarter, catching three of his four targets for 81 yards and an acrobatic catch in the middle of the field to set up Wilson’s first touchdown, and ultimately put Charlotte up double digits for good.

Purdie dealt to six different receivers, with five recording catches of 10 yards or more. And despite ECU drawing up the blitz repeatedly, Charlotte’s offensive line held up, keeping Purdie clean on 67% of his dropbacks.

The offense is clicking with Purdie, and with Max Brown slated to return from injury following the bye week, Poggi and the 49ers could have a quarterback controversy on their hands.

“(Brown) looked good in warmups. He looked really good. The decision (not to play Brown) was made by our medical team,” Poggi said. “We have a lot of confidence in Trexler and DeShawn, but Max looked good today.”

Grade: A

49ers’ rushing defense

With Charlotte striking first for the first time this season, the 49ers’ defense matched the intensity early in the action. Ryan Osborn’s unit forced a three-and-out on ECU’s opening possession and held the Pirates to three points in the first quarter, and just 10 total in the first half.

And for a defense that had surrendered double-digit chunk plays in every game this season, Charlotte’s defense allowed just seven on Saturday, with four coming on the ground.

East Carolina rushed for 148 yards at 5.9 yards per carry, led by freshman London Montgomery’s 48-yard score on the Pirates’ opening drive in the third quarter. The momentum seemed to switch sidelines early in the second half, with East Carolina trimming Charlotte’s lead to 14 and forcing the only meaningful three-and-out of the game for the 49ers’ offense. But with ECU in striking distance to make it a one-possession game, Charlotte’s defense held, forcing a turnover on downs and slamming the door on any comeback hopes.

Trailing from start to finish, East Carolina was forced to abandon the running game in the second half, rushing just 25 total times on the day.

Grade: A-

49ers’ passing defense

After two games without a takeaway, Charlotte’s secondary and defensive line came up big on multiple occasions. Midway through the second quarter, ECU quarterback Jake Garcia tossed his 12th interception of the season as Elijah Culp pulled down his first takeaway as a 49er.

Culp was targeted 10 times, allowing just four catches and nearly caught a second interception later in the action, playing far-and-away his best game in Charlotte. For reference, East Carolina quarterbacks had a 19.2 passer rating with Culp in coverage.

Garcia was pulled late in the first half, completing six of his eight passes for 111 yards, a touchdown, and an interception, and was replaced by Michigan State transfer Katin Houser. Despite the swap at signal-caller, ECU’s offense remained lifeless much of the second half, with Houser completing just 11 of his 28 passes for 84 yards and a tip-drill interception.

Charlotte seemed to run out of fireworks following Houser’s lone turnover, with edge rusher Mike Kelly-Lawson tipping the attempted tunnel-screen pass right to Stone Handy, who scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 53-yard pick six.

“He’s a freak,” Norton said of Handy after the game.

East Carolina connected on just three chunk plays through the air, led by Garcia’s 48-yard pass to Chase Sowell early in the action. The Pirates saw a huge missed opportunity early, with wideout Anthony Smith tossing a deep ball on a trick play on East Carolina’s first play from scrimmage. Smith’s pass was on target for what looked to be a touchdown, but Sowell couldn’t corral the deep ball, leading to a three-and-out to start the game.

It wasn’t the same type of shutout performance that Charlotte put on in Greenville last season, holding the Pirates to just 127 total yards, but even surrendering 343 on the day, Charlotte’s defense made timely plays to turn what could have been a close game in the second half to a lopsided victory.

Grade: A

49ers’ special teams

There’s no better way to start a game than with an explosive play on special teams, and Henry Rutledge, as he’s done all season, kicked off the game with a 43-yard kick return to give Charlotte excellent field position. Rutledge averaged 37 yards per return, with three on the day.

Kicker Stephen Rusnak had a career day, connecting on two field goals of 28 and 35 yards and splitting the uprights on all seven extra points, marking the second-highest point total from a kicker in Charlotte history at 13 points.

And if there was any spot to give up their first special teams touchdown of the season, leading by 38 against an in-state rival seems like the best possible time. Pirates’ wideout Winston Wright Jr. scored a 94-yard kick return touchdown when the game was well out of reach. While definitely something to clean up during the bye, Poggi can live with the garbage-time score.

Grade: A-

Overall

Moving to 2-0 against an in-state conference rival is a bonus on its own, let alone blowing out a program with nearly 80 more years of football experience in a nationally televised game.

Charlotte scored the most points in Richardson Stadium history (55) and sits atop the AAC — and did it with a true freshman backup quarterback, who doesn’t look like a backup anymore.

Sitting at 3-3 headed to the bye week, Charlotte’s next three games are a gauntlet — at Navy, at Memphis and home for Tulane on ESPN on Halloween. The one blunder on the day was the yellow laundry littering the field (24 total penalties), with Charlotte being flagged 13 times for 103 yards – including 104 nullified yards on offense.

But with an extra week of preparation for Navy’s triple-option offense, the 49ers are heating up and getting healthy at the right time. And following the second-most lopsided victory against a conference opponent in program history, Poggi’s team is trending up for the first time in his tenure.

Grade: A

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