The Charlotte 49ers have been on a roll to start the 2014 college football campaign.
The 49ers battled through ups and downs in the 2013 season en route to a 5-6 overall record but Charlotte has now won four consecutive games dating back to last year’s season finale. Three of those four victories have come away from the comfortable confines of Jerry Richardson Stadium and the 49ers will look to notch their fourth consecutive road triumph tonight when they travel to Rhodes Stadium for a match-up against the Elon Phoenix with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
Charlotte (3-0) is coming off of a 40-28 redemption win over North Carolina Central last weekend, while the Phoenix (0-2) will look to rebound from a tough 17-12 defeat at home at the hands of North Carolina A&T.
The 49ers have looked dominant at times in all three games this season. Charlotte coasted to a 33-9 victory over Campbell in week one after struggling to find a rhythm in the first half. The 49ers followed that win by defeating Johnson C. Smith 56-0 in a game that was a clear mismatch from the opening kickoff to the final whistle.
Charlotte jumped all over the Eagles last Saturday and built a 40-0 lead through three quarters before letting their foot off of the gas in the fourth quarter and allowing 28 unanswered points to create a more respectable final score.
“I thought our guys were really tuned in and they played well early in the game, which was a big emphasis for us as a team. I thought the guys really handled the environment well being on the road and I thought it was a huge win for us based on the results last year,” said Charlotte 49ers Head Coach Brad Lambert at his weekly press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
“You can never let your guard down and we tell our defense that everyday. You’ve got to play one drive at a time and you have to get yourself off of the field. You have to take care of the ball and you have to finish the game.”
This is the first time the 49ers will play Elon in their short history as a program and Lambert is aware of the potential challenges that can create for his football team tonight.
“They’ve had a lot of success at Elon. Their coach really has their team playing extremely hard despite playing two tough opponents to start the season,” said Lambert.
“He’s going to have them ready to play and it’s going to be a good challenge for us only having two games of film on them.”
Charlotte’s offense has been clicking ever since the second half of the Campbell game a few weeks ago. The 49ers have put up 123 points in their last 10 quarters of football, mostly behind a dominant ground game led by starting running back Kalif Phillips.
Phillips has an FCS-best eight rushing touchdowns through just three games early in the 2014 season. Phillips has scored multiple touchdowns in five consecutive games for Charlotte dating back to last season.
Expect a heavy dose of Phillips and the other 49ers backs tonight as Charlotte looks to improve to 4-0 for the first time in school history.