PHOTO | TROY HULL

Charlotte receiver Keith Pearson hauls in a 6-yard touchdown pass from Chris Reynolds in  the 49ers’ 49-21 loss to Marshall last week at Jerry Richardson Stadium. The 49ers play Old Dominion Saturday with both teams needing a win to qualify for a bowl.

It’s win or go home for Charlotte football.

The 49ers, who play Old Dominion Saturday in the regular season finale, face a simple scenario: a win makes them bowl eligible while a loss ends their season. With three losses over their last four games, including Saturday’s 49-28 setback against Marshall, the stakes can’t be more pronounced.

“Let’s do it,” Charlotte (5-6, 3-4 Conference USA) coach Will Healy said. “I mean, maybe it’ll help us, you know? I’m up for anything. I want our guys to understand what it feels like to play in a pressure game, in a game that really means something.”

As has happened throughout the season, Charlotte’s defensive struggles, especially against the run, were exposed. Marshall, which advanced to the C-USA championship game, racked up 588 yards, including 321 on the ground to pound the 49ers. Thundering Herd running back Rasheen Ali rumbled for a career-high 203 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries and Marshall quarterback Grant Wells hit 21-of-28 pass attempts for 267 yards and a couple of scores.

Although Charlotte and Marshall were nearly equal in time of possession (30:57 compared to 29:03) and number of plays (73 to 72), the Thundering Herd were significantly more efficient in putting up points, especially in the second half when they scored on four straight possessions.

“When they created as many explosive plays as they did, you’re going to win the time of possession battle,” Healy said. “You’ll watch games across college football where a team may get beat by 10 minutes in time of possession, but they’ve had 10 more explosive plays and that’s what happened tonight. You’re talking 44 carries for 321 yards and 21-of-28 passing for 267 yards. So explosive plays were all over the place.”

Marshall also kept the chains moving. The Thundering Herd converted 8-of-12 third down opportunities, which kept Charlotte’s defense on the field.

“This one hurt, talking about [or] listening to this hurts but we’ve got to wipe this away and I think we can just respond like coach always says,” linebacker Luke Martin said. “Prepare like guys never have prepared before, be in the film room. Give the coaches what we’re doing, just execute better.”

Charlotte is down to its last opportunity to do better against an Old Dominion squad that also needs a win for bowl eligibility. To Healy, that’s what makes football fun.

“You’re in November the last week [of the season], you’re playing for something,” he said. “Should be an awesome environment, awesome atmosphere, great football team that we’re going to play, and it’s win or go home. Our guys are very aware of that, and it’ll be good for us to learn how to be able to manage that because I expect playing in games that really means something to happen around here for a long time. So, let’s get used to it.”

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