PHOTO | CURTIS WILSON

The Charlotte 49ers, who won a school record seven games in 2019, kick off the 2020 season against Appalachian State Saturday in Boone.

Charlotte 49ers football made it to game week.

In what is the most unique season in program history to date, the 49ers are preparing for their season opener at Appalachian State on Sept. 12 at noon. The game will be nationally televised on EPSN2. The 49ers are testing three times a week for COVID-19, and are on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday testing schedule for this week.

“You spent the first two or three weeks [of camp] wondering if somebody was going to tap you on your shoulder and tell you, you had to get off the field,” said coach Will Healy, who led Charlotte to their first winning season in program history at 7-6, along with their inaugural bowl game appearance. “To be here in this situation, we’re lucky.”

This was not originally Charlotte’s 2020 opener. If it was not for the COVID-19 pandemic, second-year coach Healy said today’s press conference would have been about their season opener against Tennessee. Yet with conferences like the SEC opting for in-conference play only and Conference USA rival Old Dominion opting out of the season completely, Charlotte added two dates once camp had already kicked off. They scheduled dates at nationally ranked App State and North Carolina for Sept. 12 and Sept. 19 respectively. The Mountaineers are ranked No. 20 by CBS. North Carolina sits at No. 18 in the Associated Press’s poll.  

The goal is to create a rivalry between Charlotte and App State. However, it’s not a rivalry between the Mountaineers and the 49ers until Charlotte wins. The Mountaineers lead the series 2-0, beating Charlotte 45-9 in 2018 and 56-41 last season. While Healy’s first game against the Mountaineers was significantly closer than their previous one, he emphasized that they were never in a spot to win. Healy counted around 28 plays on their part that, as he put it, “were not good football.”

“We knew our fans would be excited about us being competitive, because we hadn’t been with App in the past, but I didn’t want that to be a benchmark, ‘we just scored some points on App,’” Healy said. “The reality of the situation is we were never in a position to win the game. We were in positions to maybe tie it, but they had control of the football game.”

Said junior quarterback Chris Reynolds: “We have to come in more composed, knowing our assignments and executing at a high level, while being fast and physical.”

Healy came into the program preaching culture, and the change was apparent last season during Charlotte’s first five-game winning streak. During their extended preseason it has been a daily topic of conversation, more so than schemes and philosophy. Healy expects their record to be a byproduct of the strength of their culture.

“If you go a day without talking about it, expect it to slide,” Healy said. “Is it where we want to be? Heck no, and we’re going to face some adversity on Saturday that we haven’t seen yet. How we handle that will be very important.”

Charlotte will have to bring said cultural standards, including Club Lit to the mountains without fans. Healy recalled leaving behind the Club Lit sign at App State last season, and he intends to steal it back if they win.

“We went up there last year, and we take a Club Lit sign on the road,” Healy said. “We left it there, and I’ve told Shawn [Clark, App State’s head coach] he’s missed incredible opportunities to be able to use that Club Lit sign against us. If I was him, I would have it on their sidelines. I told him, if we do beat them, I’m going into his office and stealing it back, because I know it’s in their staff room.”

For Reynolds, it will be the second game in his career that his dad has missed. The first was due to his grandfather’s death.

Said Reynolds: “He hasn’t missed a game of mine since I was born, except for the death of my grandfather,” Reynolds said. “It’s really killing him right now, and I know it is for the rest of my family.”

Charlotte will also play without fans at home, when they open against Georgia State on Sept. 26 in the first of four scheduled home games. Charlotte athletics director Mike Hill said it is too soon to tell whether or not their remaining home games will be played without fans.

“We’re preparing for the possibility,” Hill said.

Another missing piece from their season opener may be their new logo, which they unveiled during the offseason. Delivery of one key piece of their uniforms has been slowed by COVID-19. What’s the missing piece? The jerseys.

“Our intent is to wear the new uniforms,” Hill said. “We still have one piece of our uniform that hasn’t arrived yet.”

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