Photo credit: Charlotte Athletics
Charlotte’s looking for their first win at Floyd Stadium
Charlotte’s interim Head Coach Pete Rossomando and crew are looking to rebound out being easily handled at home by WKU. The Niners are in Murfreesboro, searching for their third straight win over the Blue Raiders. Charlotte is currently 11.5 point underdogs to Rick Stockstill’s team, and the current o/u is set at 67.5.
You’ll be able to stream this one on ESPN3 at 3:30pm ET, here’s the link to watch it. While you’re watching this one, be sure to join your fellow Niners on Discord to discuss the happenings, and more (Discord is free to use).
What to watch
Can Charlotte get the running game on track? In Rossomando’s first game, Charlotte ran for 239 yards (5.6 ypc) as they shredded the Rice Owls defense. Then last week versus WKU the Niners only ran for 161 yards (3.4 ypc). The Blue Raiders have only allowed 148 yards per game on the ground to FBS teams this season.
Defensive havoc. Greg Brown’s unit had no answers for WKU’s offense last week, giving up 59 points and nearly 600 yards of total offense. Markees Watts and Amir Siddiq need to get to Chase Cunningham, so far he’s been sacked 19 times, though Louisiana Tech’s defense was unable to get to Cunningham last week.
Special teams. At Rice Charlotte played like a team with nothing to lose, opening the game with a reverse on a kickoff, going for an onside kick and converting on a 4th down with a Bailey Rice pass to Shadrick Byrd. I won’t be surprised if we see this unit go for broke today.
The loser of this game will all alone at the bottom of Conference USA standings, a spot you never hope to be.