CHARLOTTE – After a surprising blowout win on the road at Rice last weekend, the Charlotte 49ers were hoping to build momentum going into their last three games of the season. The visiting Western Kentucky Hilltoppers had other ideas, and quarterback Austin Reed’s six-touchdown performance ensured that the Charlotte hope was short-lived as the visitors walked out of Charlotte’s Richardson Stadium with a 59-7 win on Saturday afternoon. 

Photo Credit: Ed Conway

WKU started the game strong, scoring in only two plays on their first drive. A reverse run by LT Sanders got the Hilltoppers into Charlotte territory and Austin Reed hit a streaking Jaylen Hall to open the scoring. Charlotte’s first drive was not as successful. A poor throw on a scramble was picked off by the Hilltoppers’ Upton Stout and returned to the seven-yard line, foreshadowing what was to come the rest of the afternoon. Reed found Daewood Davis on the next drive and the visitors had a two-touchdown lead only three minutes into the game. It was the second of five first-half touchdowns to five different receivers for the transfer from West Florida. Reed later found Malachi Corley, Joshua Simon, and Joey Beljan to give the Hilltoppers a 35-0 lead going into the half.

Charlotte tried to get their offense moving in the second half, going seventy-five yards in ten plays, resulting in an acrobatic grab by Elijah Spencer in the end zone to get the 49ers on the board for the first time on the afternoon. WKU immediately responded, scoring in four plays, with Reed finding his sixth different touchdown target, Michael Mathison, to extend the lead again. The Hilltoppers added a field goal in the fourth quarter and put an exclamation point on the game with a forty-two-yard Anthony Brackenridge pick-six.

Western Kentucky’s quarterback Austin Reed finished with 409 yards and six touchdowns on the day. Backup quarterback Darius Ocean added a late score to make up the final margin.

Next Week

Charlotte (2-8, 1-5 CUSA) is on the road at Middle Tennessee next Saturday before returning home for the final game of the 49ers’ season on November 19th against Louisiana Tech. Western Kentucky hosts Rice in their home finale before hitting the road for the final two weeks of the season.

CHARLOTTE – It had been thirty-six days since the Charlotte
49ers had last played a football game. Thirty-six days of dealing with practices
and games canceled or postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-six days
since meaningful competition and the ability to get on the gridiron and battle
it out against someone not wearing the same uniform. Charlotte looked like a
team who had not played in thirty-six days, being outgained 436-309 in total
yards on its way to falling 37-19 to Western Kentucky on Sunday afternoon.

Western Kentucky thought they were going to able to strike
first on this rare Sunday afternoon college football game, getting all the way
to the one-yard line, but Charlotte defensive standouts Markees Watts and Timmy
Horne combined to stop the Hilltopper quarterback from punching it in on a
quarterback sneak on the fourth down. Unfortunately, for the 49ers, this was
the defensive highlight of the day as the visitors were successful in their
other three trips to the red zone.

Photo Credit: Ed Conway

The Hilltoppers got on the board first with a 33-yard Brayden
Narveson field goal late in the first quarter. It ended up being the only
points of the first stanza, but the more interesting conversation piece was the
scrum that followed on the ensuing kickoff. Although a limited scuffle, the referee,
looking to maintain control over the emotions of the game, issued a rare
unsportsmanlike penalty on every player from each team.

The Charlotte offense still struggled on their second drive
of the game, but bad turned to worse as a bobbled snap on a punt attempt led to
a short scoop and score by the Hilltoppers’ AJ Brathwaite Jr. and the visitors
found themselves with a 10-0 lead sixteen seconds into the second quarter. The
Hilltoppers added another unconventional touchdown near the end of the half, as
6’1”, 300 lb. offensive lineman Jordan Meredith recovered a fumble in the end
zone to give Western Kentucky a 17-0 lead going into the halftime break.

Charlotte finally found some offense in the third quarter,
taking the second-half kickoff and marching seventy-five yards down the field
in ten plays, resulting in a five-yard scoring pass from Chris Reynolds to
Micaleous Elder. It was the first of two scoring passes for Reynolds on the
day, the other coming along with a great grab by former East Lincoln standout
Cameron Dollar in the fourth quarter. Elder hauled in another score late in the
game from backup quarterback Dom Shoffner, but this wasn’t enough as the
Hilltoppers put two more scores on the board to keep the game out of reach.

One bright spot for the Charlotte defense occurred in the first
half as defensive back Ben Deluca became the program’s all-time leader in
tackles, breaking the record held by Jeff Gemmell since last season.

Noteworthy Notes

Western Kentucky had a perfectly balanced offense, rushing
and passing for 218 yards.

The time of possession for the game was almost balanced as
well, with only a 2 second differential between the two teams. Charlotte possessed
the ball for 30:01 with Western Kentucky possessing for 29.59.

Backup QB Dom Shoffner has completed two passes this season.
Both were touchdowns.

 

Up Next

Charlotte (2-4, 2-2) travels to Huntington, WV on Friday for
a matchup with Marshall (7-1, 4-2) while Western Kentucky’s season is complete.