Charlotte 49ers Q&A With Pick Axe Digest
Since Charlotte football is only 3 games into its inaugural season, we figured a lot of JMU fans could use a hand getting up to speed on the 49ers. Thankfully Sydney Hunte, the site editor for the Charlotte blog Pick Axe Digest, agreed to help us out. Here’s a brief Q&A we did with him about the brand new 49er football program.First off, since this is the inaugural season for Charlotte can you tell us what sort of excitement and support the team is generating amongst students, alumni, and the Charlotte community?
It’s been incredible, and students, alums and the community have responded in a big way. Over 8,000 student tickets were requested for the inaugural game (out of an allotment of 7,500) and it was easily one of the biggest days athletics-wise in school history. The buzz surrounding the team, as well as the campus, reached levels that I haven’t seen since following Charlotte athletics. People around the area that weren’t talking about the school were suddenly doing so. Students have generated excitement among their peers about the team. The media has significantly raised its coverage of Charlotte athletics. All in all, things have exploded, and are on track to continue to do so.
There have been some fans that have decided to leave games early (for whatever the reason)–one of my writers did a long article about this problem that has exploded on social media–so hopefully that will end in a few years…but so far so good. Very few things have gone wrong thus far for the program.
The 49er program already has 2 wins under its belt. What sort of expectations do fans have for the team both this year and down the road once it makes the move to CUSA?
I think that expectations are relatively reasonable for a team as young as this one. Very few fans, if any, thought that Charlotte would run the table (a lot of them thought NC Central would be a win, at the very least), expecting six wins or somewhere around that. Next year, I think that expectations may be slightly higher as the players will have that extra year of experience and since it’s the final year as an FCS independent before making the jump to FBS and C-USA. Beyond that is anyone’s guess. The overall feeling is that this team will take its lumps early in its FBS tenure as it takes on more established opponents, like the Marshalls, Tulanes, UTEPs, etc., but as the profile of the program arises, and the players fully adjust, they’ll become a little more competitive.
Who are the top 49er players that JMU fans should pay attention to on Saturday?
Quarterback Matt Johnson is one person in particular fans should focus on. Coming in, he is 77-111 with 873 yards and eight touchdowns and five interceptions (all thrown against NCCU). His primary targets are Austin Duke (19 catches, 246 yards, three touchdowns) and Trent Bostick (14 catches, 193 yards, two scores). From a running standpoint, true freshman Kalif Phillips (34 carries, 172 yards, TD) has developed into a nice option, as has redshirt freshman Alan Barnwell (33 carries, 164 yards and a score).
Defensively, keep an eye on Terry Caldwell (tied for team leading 21 tackles, 6.5 of those for a loss, including a sack and two forced fumbles), Micah Bryan (21 tackles) and Mark Hogan (two interceptions). On special teams, Mikel Hunter is a threat; he’s picked up a 96-yard TD return already so the Dukes will need to keep an eye on him for sure.
Like you mentioned, Matt Johnson started off well tossing 8 TDs in his first two games, before struggling last week against NC Central and throwing 5 picks. Will the 49ers de-emphasize the passing attack as result this week or will they continue to air it out?
I think they’ll continue to air it out. Brad Lambert has stressed balance in the offense; with that said, I doubt he’ll shelf the passing game this week because Matt had one bad game. Still, although he did throw five picks, he did rack up his best game yardage-wise thus far (335 yards). As good as he’s been over the past few games, Matt’s still a redshirt freshman, and he’s still growing, developing and getting used to the college game. He knows what he has to do to get better and is working with the coaches on correcting some things before Saturday.
What’s the one thing JMU fans should know about Charlotte athletics?
They have received a boost from football and need to take advantage of the new publicity. This includes basketball, which was the school’s flagship program before football started. I guess the one thing JMU fans should know is that after years of being somewhat of an afterthought behind schools like Duke, UNC Chapel Hill and the Tobacco Road universities, Charlotte athletics as a whole primed to grow, but what they do with the new momentum is fully in their hands.
Bonus question: Why are Charlotte’s teams called the 49ers?
Good question! Two common misconceptions are that Charlotte’s teams are called the 49ers because (1) the main campus entrance sits on State Highway 49, and (2) it is a tribute to the area’s gold mining history (the Reed Gold Mine, not far from Charlotte, was the site of the first documented gold discovery in the U.S. in 1799–fifty years before the 1849 gold rush). But the real reason is that 1949 was the year that what was then known as the Charlotte Center of the University of North Carolina (which was started by the state three years earlier as a night school for war vets back then) gained college status and became a two-year school.
“it was easily one of the biggest days athletics-wise in school history. ”
That is because UNCC was basically non-existent until they got a football team. The hoops program had one or two decent years in the past 30 where people looked up “UNCC” to figure out who they were. I’m saying this as a former Charlotte resident.
Also…. UNCC is going from “never fielded a team” to “C-USA”. Chew on that, JMU Administration.
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