WKU Football: Charlotte Preseason Preview
With the kickoff of football season less than four weeks away, we’ll continue to bring you our preseason look at each of WKU’s regular season opponents between now and the start of the season. Today we continue the series with this year’s homecoming game in Bowling Green, a visit from the 49ers of Charlotte.
Date & Time
October 14th 2017, 3:30 p.m. CT
Location
Houchens Industries L.T. Smith Stadium
Series
Charlotte football has only been around since 2013 and only been FBS since 2015. This is their first bowl eligible season in FBS and their first meeting with the Hilltoppers.
Last Meeting
N/A
TV/Radio
TV- TBA
Radio- Hilltopper IMG Sports Network
2016 Season
The 49ers, in their second FBS transition season, really were a tale of three seasons. In the first part of the season, they were generally terrible, going just 1–4 with their lone with over FCS Elon. After a blowout loss to ODU, they reeled off three wins in their next four games to push their record to 4–5, two wins within bowl eligibility. Unfortunately, they lost two close games to Rice and MTSU before getting blown out by UTSA to finish 4–8 (3–5), and in fifth place in the C-USA East division.
Returning Starters
12 (six on offense, six on defense)
Relevant Preview Articles
Bill Connelly’s SB Nation Charlotte Preview
It’s hard to imagine Charlotte improving too much this fall, but you can see a solid core to build around for next year and beyond.
I guess there’s one more positive: there are a lot of bad teams in Conference USA. Including non-conference home games against NC A&T and Georgia State, the 49ers play five teams projected 101st or worse and another five projected between 84th and 99th.
If the run game gels, the secondary improves as planned, and the run defense doesn’t fall apart — and none of those ifs are unrealistic — it’s not hard to figure out how Charlotte gets to five or six wins.
Still, I’m holding off on setting any expectations for one more year. Charlotte should be able to further craft its identity this fall, but Lambert gets another year before the pressure starts.
Pete Fiutak’s College Football News Charlotte Preview
Yeah, Charlotte loses a ton of experience and key parts off of last year’s 4–8 team, but that was the first ever group of players to come in. Now Lambert gets to work more and more after a few real recruiting cycles, and the payoff should start to come with a more competitive team that shows plenty of promise.
It’s still going to be a youth movement at several spots, and a few miracles have to happen on the lines and at receiver to be tougher on offense and more explosive on defense, but there are just enough decent pieces returning to hope for a surprising season and possible slight improvement to get to six wins.
Three Players to Watch
Klugh is a North Carolina A&T transfer that started last season behind Miami transfer Kevin Olsen. Klugh played sparingly until Charlotte’s game against FAU in week six. The 6'3" junior from Concord, NC native took off during the middle of the season, winning three of four games and helping the 49ers become competitive. On the season, he passed for 1,356 yards while also passing for 10 touchdowns compared to only three interceptions. Klugh is also a dangerous runner, accumulating 426 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground. Like many mobile quarterbacks, he struggles with accuracy as he only completed 53.6% of his passes on the season. If WKU can contain Klugh’s legs then the veteran secondary should be alright forcing him to beat them through the air.
2. Robert Washington — Running Back
Washington has big shoes to step into filling in for the only starting running back that Charlotte has ever known in Khalif Phillips. Luckily for him, he gained valuable experience last season complementing Phillips. The 5'1"0 sophomore from Huntersville, NC gained 489 yards on the ground with five rushing touchdowns, including a 58 touchdown against Southern Miss. Washington will now be called to be the feature back. He’ll have to increase his receiving skills out of the backfield, having only 28 yards on 13 catches a year ago, but if his freshman year is any indication he should be one of Charlotte’s most dynamic weapons this season.
3. Karrington King — Linebacker
After losing several seniors from their first full class, King will now be asked to stand up and be the leader of Charlotte’s defense. The 6'0" hometown senior has consistently been a solid contributor in his first three seasons. Last year, he finished with 73 tackles while also chipping in two sacks and five tackles for loss. King will be called to lead a defense that will have youth around him. Look for him to fly all over the field trying to keep up with WKU’s high powered attack.
Preseason Thoughts about the Game
- Charlotte is still looking for breakthrough season
This is just Charlotte’s fifth season of existence and their first of being able to qualify for bowl season. The 49ers have gone 5–6, 5–6, 2–10 and 4–8 in coach Brad Lambert’s start-up. While 2017 doesn’t necessarily have to be a smashing success, they must show they are building something in order for fans and administration to keep the faith. A bowl bid would be spectacular, but Conference USA’s East Division just got much harder with Butch Davis and Lane Kiffin now in the same division and trending upwards.
2. Another large crowd
This game has rightfully been tabbed as WKU’s homecoming game. Besides parents weekend, homecoming is usually on of the best attended games each season. The 3:30 p.m. kickoff should also play well into many groups that usually have some sort of event planned after the game. Should WKU’s season go as planned before this, expect another crown near the 20,000 mark.
3. Looking ahead?
This game marks the last game that WKU should be able to completely out class an opponent on the season. No offense to the 49ers, but they simply aren’t in the same league as the Hilltoppers at this point. Will WKU take them seriously when they must travel to Old Dominion only six days later? After this game WKU must get down to business and take care of a slew of talented challengers. Let’s hope Sanford can get his team to focus on the task at hand or motivated team might just surprise the Tops.
4. Another potential blow out
WKU’s early schedule is an interesting dichotomy of over-matched opponents and “prove it” games. Games against EKU, Ball State and UTEP all fall in the “over-matched” category. As it stands now, Charlotte looks to be closer to that group rather than Illinois and Louisiana Tech. Playing at the Houch should only magnify the differences in experience, talent and coaching. Homecoming fans should be able to leave happy and potentially early in this one.
5. Keep an eye on Charlotte moving forward
There was a reason that Conference USA decided to add a football upstart like Charlotte instead of a proven commodity like Appalachian State or Georgia Southern; potential. Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities in the nation — its the 22nd largest metropolitan area in the US. If the 49ers could ever invigorate even a fraction of the city, they could be a sleeping giant in Conference USA. They have a beautiful, newish stadium waiting for expansion, proximity to fertile recruiting grounds and many potential corporate sponsors if they ever became the Queen City’s college team of choice. Being in the same division as WKU, they’ll be a constant on the schedule for years to come. If Lambert finds a way to be successful, look out, because they have much more resources to pull from than 90% of the league. If they have to start over in a couple of years then they could fall into the same fate as FAU, FIU, and North Texas — teams with tons of potential advantages that just can’t pull it together.
Preseason Prediction
The homecoming crowd will once again go home happy. WKU jumps to a significant halftime lead on the strength of their powerful running game. Klugh is no match for WKU’s rushing defense and ball-hawking secondary as he struggles throughout. WKU lets off the gas in the 2nd half and they cruise to the halfway point with another comfortable victory.
Final Score Prediction- WKU 48 — Charlotte 13
Best places for Charlotte coverage as the game gets closer
Being new to the FBS and in a pro city, 49er football coverage seems to be lacking from the local media. You will find the occasional piece in the Charlotte Observer (local paper) but a quick search of their local tv stations yielded little results. They do have a solid student newspaper called the Niner Times. They also have a good Rivals site called Niner Report as well as a decently trafficked message board called Niner Nation. I even found one blog that started last year in Agent 49. When they get successful I would estimate they make more appearances on Underdog Dynasty in the future as well.
What are your thoughts on the Miners heading into the season? Will they be able to give WKU a game during their homecoming? Are they a program to reckon with moving forward? Let us know in a comment below, via twitter at @TheTowelRackWKU or on our Facebook page.
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