College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Charlotte 49ers season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Charlotte Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 7-6 overall, 3-5 in C-USA
Head Coach: Will Healy, 2nd year, 7-6
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 93
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 72
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 103
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Offense 3 Things To Know
– There’s only a five-year sample size of Charlotte football being alive and kicking in the FBS world, but the offense was by far the best ever. It led Conference USA in rushing, finished fourth overall, and scored 34 points or more six times after doing it just six times over the first four years.
But now it has to go on without offensive coordinator Alex Atkins – who left for Florida State – and in comes Mark Carney to try keeping it all going.
CFN in 60 Video: Tennessee Preview
Charlotte at Tennessee, Sept. 5
Doing it all again starts with replacing Benny LeMay, the 1,072-yard back who also came up with six scores. Senior Aaron McAllister is a bigger back who can power away – running for 380 yards and five scores – and 5-6, 170-pound sophomore Ishod Finger is a speedster who averaged five yards per crack with five scores.
Those two are strong, but it’s Northern Illinois transfer Tre Harbison who might take over the gig right away – he led the Huskies with over 1,000 yards in each of the last two years.
– Almost all of the top targets are back. The top three receivers – all caught 25 passes or more – form a nice, versatile group starting with junior Victor Tucker, who led the team with 52 catches for 909 yards and seven scores.
6-3, 221-pound senior Tyler Ringwood caught 25 passes with five going for scores, and Cameron Dollar made 41 grabs in the slot. Junior TE Jacob Hunt returns – the 6-4, 255-pounder is more of a blocker catching six passes.
The corps also gets back its quarterback. Chris Reynolds is an all-around baller, throwing for 2,564 yards, averaging close to nine yards per throw, and finishing second on the team with 767 rushing yards and six scores. It’ll be a battle for the No. 2 spot, with JUCO transfer Dominique Shoffner likely getting the job.
– The offensive line that paved the way for the league’s best running game and was decent in pass protection gets back just two starters. The left side is the bigger problem – losing OT Cameron Clark hurts – but veteran Jaelin Fisher is back at center and junior D’Mitri Emmanuel is back at one tackle.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Defense 3 Things To Know
– The defense had enough good moments to get by. It wasn’t always a rock, but it allowed 22 points or fewer five times, and won all five games. The pass rush was good, but Alex Highsmith is gone at one end, and the team was 33rd in the nation in tackles for loss.
It helps in a big way to get back Tyriq Harris, one of the team’s top defensive ends who missed last year hurt. The interior has a good 311-pound tackle in Timmy Horne, and there’s help from the transfer portal starting with Josiah Sa’o from Vanderbilt.
– Along with getting back Harris, the return of star S Ben DeLuca from a shoulder injury is massive. He’s the all-around tone-setter for the secondary, helping to ease the loss of leading tackler Marquavis Gibbs. Ja’Cione Fugate is back at the other safety job after coming up with 70 tackles, and Duke transfer Antone Williams should play an instant role.
The corner jobs are up for grabs with a mix of parts, JUCO transfers, and young players battling for spots – sophomore nickel defender Jonnie Pittman made 30 tackles – but there’s only one returning interception from last year’s defensive backs.
– Second-leading tackler Jeff Gemmell is done at linebacker, but junior Henry Segura returns after making 66 stops. He’s a safety-sized 208 pounds, but South Carolina transfer Derek Boykins – if ready to go – brings a bit more thump, and 225-pound senior Luke Martin is coming off a 29-tackle season.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Charlotte 49ers Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Charlotte 49ers Players
Best Charlotte 49ers Offensive Player
QB Chris Reynolds, Jr.
He’s only 5-10 and 192 pounds, and he has had to fight off plenty of options over the last two seasons, but he took over the offense last year and led the way to the winning campaign. His arm is good enough – hitting 62% of his throws for 2,564 yards and 22 touchdowns with 11 picks – and he ran for 767 yards and six scores. Now he’ll have to do it all more than ever.
2. RB Tre Harbison, Sr.
3. WR Victor Tucker, Jr.
4. WR Tyler Ringwood, Sr.
5. OG Dejan Rasuo, Soph.
Best Charlotte 49ers Defensive Player
S Ben DeLuca, Sr.
One of the stars of the program for three seasons, he put together 261 tackles with four picks and 14 broken up passes to kick off his run. On the bad side, he was knocked out early last season with a shoulder injury. On the fortunate side, that means he’s back to once again be the leader and star for another good defense.
2. LB Markees Watts, Jr.
3. DE Tyriq Harris, Sr.
4. S Ja’Cione Fugate, Sr.
5. LB Henry Segura, Jr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Charlotte 49ers Offense
The offensive line has to come together in a hurry. The line wasn’t a rock, but it did a great job for the ground game and it played a huge role in dominating the time of possession battle.
There’s no replacing the talent of new New York Jet Cameron Clark at left tackle, and overall the line is way small, but this group can move.
There can’t be a slew of big injuries, and the depth has to emerge, but if this group can be just okay, the terrific skill parts will take care of the rest. If the O line is great, there should be a big improvement to an already good attack.
Biggest Key To The Charlotte 49ers Defense
The run defense has to hold up. It allowed 192 yards per game, but when it was able to do okay, the team won.
It was all a part of the formula. The offense was great at controlling the clock and the tempo of games, and the undersized defense didn’t get hammered on. But when teams were able to pound away, the narrative quickly changed.
It was just this simple. Charlotte lost when it gave up 200 rushing yards. Not only was it 0-5 when giving up that many, but it’s 0-22 all-time as a program when allowing two bills.
Last year, the team was 7-1 when allowing under the 200-yard mark.
Key Charlotte 49ers Player To A Successful Season
OT Malik Harkness, Soph.
Forget getting a left tackle as good as Cameron Clark, but the position has to be solid from the start. D’Mitri Emmanuel is a good talent, but he’s only 6-1 and 295 pounds with the ability to play just about anywhere on the line. In a perfect world, he’s the right tackle, but that means Harkness has to step up on the left side.
The 6-4, 273-pounder got in a few starts last season on the right side, and he’s got the upside to become an all-star over the next three seasons. If this part of the puzzle is set, the rest of the line will quickly come into place.
Key Game To The Charlotte 49ers Season
at Florida Atlantic, Oct. 3
Call this the playing with house money game.
There are still road games at Marshall and Middle Tennessee to deal with, and FAU has a bit of a rougher road ahead, so if Charlotte really has any dreams of winning the East, it can lose this and still be alive.
But win – the 49ers got whacked 45-27 last year – and then it’s Game On. Win this and beat North Texas on the road a week later, and all of a sudden Charlotte becomes has the division there for the taking.
– Charlotte 49ers Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Charlotte Fun Stats
– Sacks: Charlotte 36 for 212 yards – Opponents 21 for 121 yards
– Time of Possession: Charlotte 31:59 – Opponents 28:01
– 4th Down Conversions: Opponents 15-of-19 (79%) – Charlotte 13-of-23 (57%)
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Charlotte 49ers Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Can Charlotte come up with that one big win over a solid team to make it two bowl seasons in a row?
Head coach Will Healy is only 35 and in his second year at the helm. He’s really young, he’s got a ton of fire, and he’s really, really good.
Does your head football coach do this?
It’s a new football program that’s only in its sixth year of existence, there are no real expectations whatsoever considering this whole thing is still getting started, and it’s … fun.
And there’s a good chance to do even more, but it has to beat all the annual dead weight teams in Conference USA – it changes on a regular basis; the 49ers caught a break that Middle Tennessee and North Texas were bad last year – and again, it needs that one good win like it came up with against Marshall late last season.
Set The Charlotte 49ers Regular Season Win Total At … 5.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 5
As long as the lines can reload, there’s a good chance that this year’s team could be even better than the 7-6 version of 2019.
Norfolk State, UTEP, Old Dominion – the 49ers have to take those three games down without a blip.
Forget about winning at Tennessee, and maybe at Duke, but FIU and Georgia State are winnable home games, and there’s just enough talent in place to push for another bowl season.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
