CHARLOTTE — Hoping to bounce back from three consecutive losses, the Charlotte 49ers were flattened by South Florida in Saturday’s 59-24 loss on Homecoming night.
Leading 14-10 heading into halftime, the Bulls (5-5, 3-3 AAC) managed to capitalize on a string of four turnovers by the Niners (3-7, 2-4 AAC), racking up 31 third-quarter points en route to a blowout victory.
USF garnered 425 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns in the matchup, splitting carries among nine different ball-carriers.
“That was an extremely disappointing effort by all of us, starting with me,” Charlotte coach Biff Poggi said after the loss. “We have this thing where we’re close at halftime, and then the third quarter is terrifying. I thought played poorly defensively and couldn’t stop the run. We knew that we had to stop the run, because they were 9-0 coming into the game under Alex Golesh if they rushed for 200 yards or more.”
Charlotte has now followed up its most monumental win in program history — a 55-24 win over East Carolina on Oct. 5 — with four straight losses that have removed the team from bowl eligibility.
Meanwhile, USF has won three of its past four matchups after overcoming a three-game losing streak earlier in the season.
“I told the kids in the locker room that people remember how you finish,” Poggi added. “The best we can be is 5-7. That’s not what we envisioned or what I hoped for. I thought this team was good enough to be a bowl team, and now we’re not going, but we still have a chance to win five football games. We can move forward from there.”
The Niners scored the first points of the night as running back Cartevious Norton barreled into the end zone with 5:18 remaining in the first quarter; the junior finished the night with two touchdowns.
As a team, Charlotte was limited to just 91 yards from 35 rushing attempts.
It was a rough showing for freshman quarterback DeShawn Purdie, who outgained USF quarterback Bryce Archie in yardage 256 to 126, but turned over the ball four times in costly situations.
Poggie confirmed after the game that he still intends to keep Purdie as the team’s starter — not just for the team’s remaining two games, but into next season also: “We have a young kid who is very talented and he’s going through growing pains. I don’t think our offensive line or our receivers played particularly well today.”
Just a few minutes into the third quarter, USF running back Kelley Joiner exploded for a 54-yard touchdown dash to make it a 21-10 game. He led the Bulls’ ground game with 140 rushing yards and two touchdowns, while Ta’Ron Keith and Nay’Quan Wright combined for three touchdowns and nearly 100 yards.
On the Niners’ ensuing drive, Purdie put his team in the red zone with a 42-yard pass to wide receiver Sean Brown, setting up a two-yard touchdown run from Norton.
Charlotte trailed 21-17 at the 10:49 mark of the third quarter.
From that point on, the Bulls reeled off 24 points in a nine-minute span that doomed the Niners’ chances of winning. The Niners added a touchdown of their own a few minutes into the fourth quarter — a 15-yard end zone grab by wideout Isaiah Myers — but the damage had been done.
The Niners have now been outscored 93-27 in their last two contests as they survey the prospect of mirroring last season’s five-game losing skid. Aiming to change their trajectory, they will now head to Boca Raton, FL, to challenge the Florida Atlantic Owls (2-8, 0-6 AAC), who are winless in conference play.
