WKU Football: Charlotte Q&A with Agent 49
We’re one day away from WKU’s homecoming game against Charlotte. This is a chance to build on a three-game winning streak against a team…
We’re one day away from WKU’s homecoming game against Charlotte. This is a chance to build on a three-game winning streak against a team that is reeling. With that in mind that, we’d thought we’d get a Charlotte perspective on the game. Luckily for us, we got Ross Smith from Agent 49 to give us his thoughts on this Charlotte team, the program, the game, and his predictions. Without further adieu, here is our conversation with Ross.
First-year head coach Will Healy has brought a lot of excitement to the 49er program. How would you grade his first six games in the Queen City?
The first 6 games have brought some highs and then some very humbling lows. I’m hesitant to really put a grade on what they’ve done to this point as I don’t think we can grade the job here until they’re able to get guys in for their scheme but more importantly to create some depth. Lambert’s recruiting left a lot to be desired and now the staff is having to navigate those waters while trying to be competitive and overhaul a roster and find the best first for the schemes they are implementing.
Charlotte’s football program is only in its seventh season in program history. How has the city embraced the program from a support/coverage standpoint?
There is certainly more Niner stuff around town however we have a ways to go before the town is painted green. As a whole, the athletic department is working consistently to strengthen our position locally and to remove the “best-kept secret in town” stigma they inherited.
What do you think the program’s ceiling is within the next 4 years?
I’ll put on my green-tinted glasses here and state the ceiling is a call up to the AAC. If football makes the turn we anticipate with the hiring of Healy and Ron Sanchez lives up to his billing, we’re a completely different program than where we are right now. I’ll most certainly get grief for stating that, but it’s the truth. If the AAC wanted someone that was positioned for the all up (looks at UAB and ODU fans) they’d have made that call already… Simply from the football view, Healy will have us at or near the top of the East and bowling consistently. If he’s as good as we’re all thinking/hoping, perhaps in 4 years his replacement is looking to sustain his success.
Now onto the game…
Chris Reynolds has started the majority of the season at quarterback for Charlotte and has a solid 11/5 TD/INT ratio. How would you describe his playing style and rate his performance through six games?
Reynolds is gritty and creative, however, he’s not a guy we can look to air it out 40 times and lead us to a win on his arm. His success will be tied directly to Charlotte sustaining drives, bleeding the clock, running the ball well with Lemay and making the correct RPO reads to exploit a secondary keying too hard on our run game.
Benny Lemay was a preseason all-conference running back. Has he lived up to those expectations thus far?
Yes, Benny has proven he’s far and away our best offensive player. Now we’re leaning on him more via the air and putting him in wildcat packages to keep the ball in his hands and reduce the number of hits Reynolds is taking.
Who are some other skill position players that WKU should worry about on Saturday?
Our running backs not named LeMay are putting up great numbers as well behind Offensive Coordinator Alex Atkins’ running scheme. Freshman Wide Receiver Micaleous Elder is electric when healthy, he missed the FIU game and was knocked out of FAU early. If he’s playing, they’ll find a way to use his speed & elusiveness. On the defensive side, Alex Highsmith gets all the love and attention, and it's well-deserved. Opposite of Highsmith is Sophomore Markees Watts, who the staff is extremely high on as well. Watts has totaled 3.5 sacks so far and 27 tackles.
Defensively Charlotte hasn’t really stopped anyone all season and is rated near the bottom in most major categories. Why has it been such a struggle thus far?
We’ve had some injuries thus far that have taken a toll on an already thin roster. Simply put we’ve struggled to stop the run, however, some of that comes down to needing to be more sound in tackling. I believe last week at FIU they had 350 yards on the ground, but half of that came AFTER contact…
How do you see the game playing out? What is your prediction?
WKU’s games have been lower scoring games and they’ve done a great job of stopping the run. Charlotte is top 30 in rushing offense and WKU is top 30 in stopping it. Something will have to give there, but Charlotte’s defense also needs to show better tackling and commitment to their assignments to keep us in the game. I’m a homer and bleed green, Niners find a way to get back on track and win 31–28 in Bowling Green.
I want to thank Ross for taking the time to do this q&a with us. You can read his work on Agent 49 and follow their official twitter account @_agent49 for fun analysis and reaction to Saturday’s matchup.