Charlotte 49ers: 5 Important Games for 2016
The Charlotte 49ers are looking to build something in year two. Here’s the five games that will tell you that they are doing that or not.
This year marks the second season of the Charlotte 49ers as a member of the FBS. Last year they won two games total. They beat a team in Georgia State that turned out to be a bowl team by the end of the season. Then they beat Presbyterian from the level of school that they had just vacated.
That was it. There were a couple of close calls, but there were also some blowouts to greet the 49ers. As a result, picking the five most important games on the schedule is somewhat difficult. The 49ers are still looking up at most of their Conference USA brethren. That makes a lot of games have about the same value.
The one positive that the 49ers do possess is a roster that has stood together now for four years. There are seniors and juniors in most of the important spots. A veteran team can pull some results out despite the difficulties.
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With that said, here are the five games that are most important to the 49ers this season in order of appearance.
- Louisville Cardinals – September 1
Starting off with the old Bobby Petrino buzzsaw may not seem like a good idea, but it will put the 49ers on the internet so that people can see them outside of the Charlotte area. This game will show us how much guts the 49ers have. They should get blown out, but if they can keep the score respectable then that is a great sign for the future.
- At Temple Owls – September 24
Temple represents the next best non-conference team that the 49ers will play. Hopefully the team will be coming off some confidence building wins over FCS Elon and perennial MAC bottom feeder Eastern Michigan. Temple should represent another checkpoint for how much progress the team is making. The goal is not to win, but to greatly reduce last year’s margin.
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- Old Dominion Monarchs – October 1
The 49ers almost had the Monarchs last year in Virginia. This conference opener allows them to return the favor and start on a good note in the conference season. Of course there is no telling what Conference USA will look like next year if expansion trickles down again.
- At Florida Atlantic Owls – October 8
New week, but similar theme. Turnovers prevented the 49ers was knocking off the Owls last year and instead saw a ten point Florida Atlantic victory. That is another key thing that this team must do. They haven’t seen many games where they eliminated the turnovers. Yes, this is a road game but a winnable one.
- At UT-San Antonio Roadrunners – November 26
Regardless how the season goes you want to finish on a high note. The Roadrunners beat the 49ers in overtime last year here in Charlotte. This is another case of maybe getting a little better turning a loss into a win at the best possible time. Besides, who wouldn’t want to beat Larry Coker on the road?
Next: Appalachian State - 5 Games to Watch
The 49ers have their work cut out for themselves in year 2, but there are some good opportunities to show that Coach Brad Lambert is actually building something near the Cabarrus County line.