49ers hoping to rekindle their best form against Memphis

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte quarterback Max Brown returned to the lineup for the first time in four games in last week's game against Navy, but struggled against the Midshipmen. The 49ers (3-4, 2-1 AAC) play Memphis Saturday.

Charlotte football coach Biff Poggi is putting last week in the rearview mirror.

The 49ers (3-4, 2-1 AAC), plagued by turnovers and rusty quarterback play was overwhelmed by nationally ranked Navy, must shift their focus to Memphis (6-1, 2-1) who are coming off a 52-44 win against North Texas. The Tigers have one of the best quarterbacks in the conference in Seth Henigan and Poggi knows the task will be another tall one.

“[Memphis] is 16-4 over the last two seasons and 8-2 at home,” Poggi said. “They are a really good football team centered around their quarterback, Seth Henigan, who is a guy that a lot of people thought would go in the [NFL] draft last year. But he decided to stay, which is good for him and great for Memphis. They are 6-1 for a reason. Their victory over Florida State, who I know is a little bit down, but when you watch that film, they really had their way in that [game].”

Poggi is hoping his team can find a way to succeed early. It starts with limiting mistakes.

“We have to start fast,” he said. “We can’t turn the ball over. Get a three-and-out in the first series on defense. Tackle people and do your job. These types of things are very simple football stuff. Our turnovers, which there were a lot of them [against Navy], led directly to 31 points, and most of it was early in the football game. I think a lesser group of men would have gotten 80 [points] hung on them.”

Poggi has been outspoken about the effort he is seeing from his team being much better than it was a season ago. There was a glimpse of the effort turning into results against East Carolina, but the consistency hasn’t been there. Poggi recognizes it while pointing out the 49ers have the second toughest schedule in the conference, which poses a challenge.

“We are 3-4 and we are 2-1 in the conference,” he said. “We have played a hell of a tough schedule. We have the second toughest schedule in the [AAC]. We have the 38th toughest schedule in the country. If you look at the strength of schedule of the other [teams] in the conference, they schedule to go to bowl games. [Some teams] are 118 or 119 and Navy was 130th or something. Our kids are playing their asses off. They are playing really hard, and they are fighting.”

Quarterback Max Brown will start again this weekend after showed a great deal of “rust,” as Poggi called it last week. Freshman Deshawn Purdie had a procedure on his non-throwing hand, which he hurt against East Carolina. He doesn’t have full mobility of that hand and, while Poggi said he looked good in practice, the lack of mobility in that hand may cause him difficulty in catching the ball in shotgun formation.

“The question with [Purdie] is can he take a snap,” Poggi said. “He looked like he could today but then there’s all other kinds of handoffs he has to be able to take. You just can’t hand the ball off with your [off] hand. You have to be able to go the other direction when the ball is going the other direction. You have to be able to have your left hand there and right now it can’t bend. I thought he looked good throwing the ball, but Max will be the starter against Memphis.”

Poggi said there are no other injuries that aren’t being commonly “banged up,” this week. The 49ers will also have defensive back Ja’Qurious Conley available this week after playing for the first time against Navy. Conley had been deemed ineligible prior to last week, but Poggi is glad he is back.

“[We are] thrilled,” he said. “There are some people to thank. Raegan Hill did a yeoman's work here. I mean, she actually drove [Conley] up to Chapel Hill one day. Katie Renaud, our head of compliance and [Athletics Director] Mike Hill got involved, too. But I do think we should also thank [North Carolina Athletics Director] Bubba Cunningham. We ought to thank [Tar Heels coach] Mack Brown and [Associate Athletics Director] Rick Steinbacher who helped us with this.

“After the last press conference, [North Carolina] got involved and I think it expedited the situation. And it is great for [Conley]. We didn’t know until Friday night. Raegan called me and it was during team dinner. So, sometime around 6:30 or 6:45 that evening, she Ubered back from her event to announce it to the team, which I thought was appropriate. Our team was very happy about it.”

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