MATT LACZKO | THE CHARLOTTE POST


The Charlotte 49ers will need to be a their best defensively to compete against Temple and Owls quarterback Evan Simon, whose rating of 71.6 is 35th-best in the nation and hasn’t been intercepted this season. Simon has passed for 1,149 yards and 13 touchdowns.

The Charlotte 49ers find themselves in an unusual spot at homecoming.

They are 0-3 in American Conference play and tied at the bottom with Tulsa and Alabama Birmingham with the 49ers having the worst overall record at 1-5. Even in Charlotte’s first two years in the conference, they haven’t finished last. There are five conference games left to change their position, but Tulsa and UAB aren’t on the schedule, meaning it won’t be easy to escape the basement.

A season plagued with injuries has made first-year 49ers coach Tim Albin scratch his head at times. He is proud of the way his team is battling, but it isn’t amounting to wins.

“We’re very excited about this week, homecoming week, being back home in front of Niner Nation,” he said. “We look forward to an electric game. [To recap] the Army game, I think… offensively again, it just was struggling. It could not help our defense. I’m really proud defensively of how they fought. They were physical against a physical opponent in Army, you know their style of offense, and they did a really nice job. … I’m really proud of them playing with some energy and some excitement.”

Losing running back Henry Rutledge for the season due to injury hurts, but Albin said sustaining the ground game will, in turn, help the passing attack. Quarterback Zach Wilcke got the start against Army but was pulled for Grayson Loftis. Neither performed particularly well although Loftis orchestrated the lone 49ers’ touchdown late in the fourth quarter. 

“We’ve got to be more consistent in a lot of areas,” Albin said. “The running game is going to help with everything. It is easier to play quarterback when you can have a good running game. It is not all about clock control. That is not what we are trying to do. But the quarterback needs a smoke break and trying to move the ball with his arm every time, that is a recipe to not be very successful.”
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emple comes to Jerry Richardson Stadium Saturday with hopes of spoiling homecoming. The Owls were 2-2 in non-conference play with wins over Massachusetts and Howard. The losses were to ranked opponents in Oklahoma and Georgia Tech. They opened American play with a 27-21 win over UTSA and a 32-31 loss to Navy. 

Owls quarterback Evan Simon has a season rating of 71.6, which is 35th in the nation. Simon has 1,149 passing yards and 13 touchdown passes, but what is arguably his most impressive statistic is that he has yet to throw an interception. 

“Offensively, they have a nice quarterback,” Albin said. “They are averaging over 30 points per game. Obviously, they had a tough game with Oklahoma, but they have played a couple of close games. I thought they gave Georgia Tech all they wanted. I know [the score was lopsided at the end] but the difference in the game was Georgia Tech popped a couple long runs to pull away. … We will have to have really good eye discipline. … They like to get after you on third down [defensively] with man coverage, so we are going to have to win some one-on-one matchups.”

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