Charlotte 49ers football readies for season finale

CHARLOTTE ATHLETICS

Charlotte linebacker Prince Wallace Bemah is among the 49ers seniors preparing for their final football game Saturday against Alabama-Birmingham at Jerry Richardson Stadium.

No coach, no bowl hopes, no problem is the motto around Charlotte football.

Fresh off a 39-27 win against Florida Atlantic, interim head coach Tim Brewster said he was proud of the 49ers’ discipline against the Owls, which resulted in zero penalties for the first time in program history.

“I've never been around a great team that wasn’t a disciplined team,” he said. “We really talked a lot last week about being a disciplined football team, and that disciplined football teams win games. Undisciplined football teams get their butts beat, and for us to go out and be a disciplined team, play a disciplined game, and to play a game without any penalties for the first time in school history, I thought, was amazingly indicative of the commitment of the coaches and of the players.”

UAB comes to Charlotte with a 3-8 record and haven’t been in many close games. Their three wins were by an average of 30 points, and their losses by an average of 25 points. Charlotte, which has won two games by a single point, knows what it is like to play close games.

“It goes back to preparation,” Brewster said. “Are [we] prepared for the moment? People ask me all the time, ‘How do you perform in a tight game?’ They always say pressure bursts pipes. So many times, you do things right in practice, and I am extremely demanding in practice about getting it right. If we don’t run a play right, we have a deal here called Xerox if the play is not run right. If the play isn’t run right, we call Xerox and we run it again. … I think we have created a situation where [in close situations] our guys won’t flinch.”

This finale is senior day for the 49ers and Brewster wants the team to play for them.

“This is a huge week for our seniors,” he said. “[We need to] make sure they go out the right way. We began by honoring them today in our team meeting. We honored the seniors on the football field today at practice and we will honor them all week in everything that we do. We made a commitment to our seniors that everybody on this football team, the coaches and trainers will do everything it takes to help the seniors leave that field victorious on Saturday.”

Senior offensive lineman Jonny King said he isn’t focused on senior day. He wants to leave the field victorious on Saturday.

“For us to win … we have to be disciplined,” King said. “It all comes down to who wants it more and who actually wants to go out there and play football. Unfortunately for both teams that are playing this Saturday, there are no bowl hopes. This is the last game, so it is all about pride. It’s about why you play football.”

While Brewster wants Charlotte to play for the seniors, linebacker Prince Wallace-Bemah wants the team to play for themselves as well.

“[Underclassman] come to me and tell me they are playing for me and the [other seniors],” he said. “I like to just tell them to play for themselves. Make sure [they] go out there and put good things on film. I appreciate all the things being said from [Brewster] and that the players want to appreciate us, but they need to put good things on film.”

Both players reflected on their favorite moments as 49ers.

“In 2021, the first game of the year when we beat Duke,” King said. “That was pretty special. I was young and have never seen that many people standing before. I had never played in front of that many people, so it was pretty special and I definitely remember that one.”

Said Wallace-Bemah: “Mine would be the 2019 year playing Marshall in the bowl eligibility game. We were counted out late in the third quarter and maybe even early in the fourth quarter. We were just able to pull it out and become bowl eligible. All the fans rushed the field, and it just felt so surreal just to know we accomplished [the first bowl berth] in school history.”

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