Photos by Ben Coon and Chris Crews.
The Charlotte 49ers took the field against the No. 2 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Saturday afternoon with all the odds stacked against them and it showed in a 59-34 blowout loss in front of a lackluster crowd inside Jerry Richardson Stadium. Coastal Carolina entered the game undefeated, boasting a perfect 9-0 record, while the 49ers took the field with a backup quarterback under center and a defense that has been dreadful during the past five weeks.
Lee McNeill performed well in his first career start. Photo by Ben Coon.
“There’s not much to say. We got beat up pretty good by a really good football team,” said 49ers Head Coach Brad Lambert post game.
“Those guys got after us pretty good and from the opening kick we couldn’t do much on offense. Our third down defense wasn’t very good. We’ve just got to get back to work, continue to progress and try to win the next game.”
Charlotte pinned the Chanticleers on their own goal line early in the first quarter, but couldn’t take advantage on defense. The 49ers had two opportunities to get off the field on third down, but quarterback Alex Ross drove Coastal Carolina 99 yards and capped the drive with a three-yard rushing touchdown for an early 7-0 lead.
The Chanticleers didn’t stop there. Coastal Carolina found the end zone on five of their first six possessions and posted a commanding 35-0 lead with 7:56 remaining in the first half. Charlotte’s 35-point deficit in the second quarter is the largest in school history.
49ers backup quarterback Lee McNeill played well in his first career collegiate start, but the game was already out of reach before he found his rhythm. Charlotte allowed 690 yards of total offense and the Chanticleers dominated the line of scrimmage with six rushing touchdowns on the afternoon.
The 49ers have allowed at least 440 yards of total offense in every game during their current six-game losing skid. Opposing offenses have eclipsed the 600-yard mark three times, including The Citadel who racked up over 700 yards with their triple-option attack a few weeks ago.
“We put ourselves in a position with third and long and we just can’t get off the football field,” said Lambert when asked about his defense.
“We have to look at what we’re doing, how we’re doing it and who’s doing it. We’ve got to work on everything.”
The 49ers found themselves trailing 21-0 early in the second quarter when the offense first began to show signs of life. McNeill drove Charlotte inside the Coastal Carolina 30 before the drive stalled, forcing a Blake Brewer field goal attempt. Brewer pushed the 44-yard attempt wide left and that’s all it took for the Chanticleers to blow the game wide open.
On the ensuing drive, Coastal Carolina marched the ball 73 yards in less than two minutes. Backup running back Oshamar Abercrombie busted up the middle for a one-yard touchdown run that extended the Chanticleers lead to 28-0.
The Coastal Carolina defense made their impact felt just minutes later when Pernell Williams delivered a bone-jarring hit on McNeill that forced a fumble deep in 49ers territory. Defensive end Roderick Holder recovered the fumble for the Chanticleers and returned it seven yards for their fifth touchdown of the game.
Charlotte finally got on the board late in the first half when McNeill began to settle into the game. The 49ers drove 83 yards on 13 plays and McNeill found true freshman receiver T.L. Ford for a five-yard touchdown pass to cut the deficit to 35-7 as both teams headed to the locker room for halftime.
Any momentum Charlotte garnered with that late first half touchdown was extinguished when Ross sprinted 41 yards for his second rushing touchdown of the day on Coastal Carolina’s first drive of the second half.
The lone bright spot for the 49ers on Saturday afternoon was the play of running back Kalif Phillips. Phillips racked up 159 yards rushing on the ground, including a 51-yard touchdown in the third quarter that made the score 42-14.
Kalif Phillips eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season against Coastal Carolina. Photo by Ben Coon.
Phillips set two school records on his touchdown run. He now has 14 touchdowns this season, most in program history and he also broke the 1,000 yard rushing mark, becoming the first Charlotte running back to accomplish that milestone.
“It didn’t matter to me if I got 1,000 yards,” said Phillips.
“Obviously I’m grateful for it. The coaches give me a chance to run the ball and the offensive line does a great job pushing them back and opening things up for me.”
Damarrell Alexander, the 49ers backup running back, made his presence felt on special teams. Alexander broke loose for a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown late in the third quarter, delivering Charlotte’s first special teams touchdown of the season.
McNeill struggled early in the game, but looked impressive in the second half. He finished the day completing 18 of his 33 pass attempts for 236 yards and two touchdowns through the air. McNeill also added a rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter and played well enough to give the 49ers a chance to win if not for the awful defensive performance.
“It was an excellent opportunity for me against an excellent team,” said McNeill following his first start.
“They blitzed me a lot and their cornerbacks and safetys played tight coverage which threw me out of sync for a while. I’m grateful for this opportunity and it’s definitely something I can learn from.”
If nothing else, the Charlotte coaching staff has to be comfortable with McNeill at the helm of the offense moving forward if regular starter Matt Johnson is unable to play again this season after suffering an MCL tear two weeks ago.
The 49ers schedule eases up considerably as they head into the final two weeks of the 2014 season. Charlotte will host division III Wesley College next Saturday at noon before welcoming Morehead State to Jerry Richardson Stadium for the season finale two weeks from today.