WKU Football: Charlotte Q&A with Agent 49
We’re one day away from WKU’s brunch season finale against Charlotte. This is a chance to end the regular season on a three-game winning…
We’re one day away from WKU’s brunch season finale against Charlotte. This is a chance to end the regular season on a three-game winning streak and potentially make a bowl game. 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.
Charlotte is sitting at 2–3 overall and has been hit particularly hard by covid postponements/suspensions having not played a game since a 53–19 loss to Duke on Halloween. What is the morale around the program considering all the adversity this team has faced?
From the fan's perspective, we’re at the point where we 100% expect a cancelation to occur. Any game that happens at this point is a blessing, 2020 going to 2020. The team is trying to stick to the “Stay Positive. Test Negative.” mantra, but at this point who can reasonably blame them for feeling a bit defeated at this point?
Will Healy is seen as a rising star within the coaching industry. How long do 49ers fans expect him to stay in Charlotte?
Honestly, I was hoping to get 3 seasons from Healy here, which would be 2 full recruiting classes to help overhaul our roster. When he came in, he took over “only FBS offer U”. Why that name you ask? I’d venture to say well over 1/2 our scholarship players when he came on board had 1 FBS offer, Charlotte. Recruiting was one of Lambert’s achilles heels.
As of right now I’m keeping a close eye on the Virginia Tech opening for Healy. Seems as if their fans have zeroed in on Healy and Tony Elliott, and personally I thought VT could be an option for him if it were to open up.
The 49ers had their best performance in a long while last season in both major sports (Football/Men’s Basketball). Has there been a surge in fan interest/buzz around the athletic program? The interest is certainly growing and Mike Hill has done a solid job so far in trying to revitalize a once-proud program. For Men’s Basketball, it’s a big year for Ron Sanchez. Year 3 is a time when you expect another step forward, however, game 1 vs ECU was a huge dud. Interest was really high for FB this year but COVID has derailed things for us. A strong finish to the season could go a long way for our fan base.
Now onto the game…
Quarterback Chris Reynolds has been a mixed bag this year (good in wins, bad in losses). What does he need to do Saturday to guide the 49ers to a win?
For our offense to be dynamic, we need Chris Reynolds to run the ball. He was hurt on the first offensive snap of the season at App State and hasn’t looked like the player he grew into last year. Will we finally see him use his feet more as a weapon this week? That’ll show where he’s at for us.
Wide Receiver Victor Tucker was seen as an NFL prospect heading into the season. How has he performed during this weird season?
He’s our leading WR statistically this year and is far and away WR1 for us. That said, our WR room is fairly loaded for a run-first offense so the ball gets spread around a good big. Keep an eye on Sophomore WR Micaleous Elder, he has great elusiveness and burst.
Who are some other skill position players that the WKU defense should worry about Saturday?
I’ve already mentioned Elder, Cameron Dollar is a solid WR2 as well and Rico Arnold (2018 C-USA All-Freshman team) is coming back from an injury that sidelined him for all of last season and we’re still waiting for things to click for him. Taylor Thompson, a true Freshman TE, is another outside target to keep an eye on.
While Charlotte did lose Benny LeMay to graduation, the RB room is really solid with Northern Illinois transfer Tre Harbison (back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons) and Aaron McAllister as the 2 main guys. Chavon McEachern has popped as a true Freshman and brings a different dynamic to the backfield with his speed. We’re still waiting to see prized true Freshman, Elijah Turner who has battled an injury all year so far.
The 49ers have given up 31.6 points per game to their opponents in 2020. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the 49ers defensive unit?
If you ask any Charlotte fan what they want to see out of our defense in this one, it will be “pass rush”. With the loss of Alex Highsmith Charlotte has lost the ability to get to the QB. Markees Watts has been hampered with a lower body injury this year which has clearly impacted him, so maybe a month off will help him? Romeo McKnight is another transfer for Charlotte and a guy that has popped at times at DE. With a lack of pass rush it’s really hard to judge the secondary this season, they can only cover so long. We’ve had a RS Junior Safety hit the portal, Jacione Fugate, so I’m expecting to see some FR guys more in the secondary in this one.
If I could tell you to watch anyone on our defense, it would be RS Junior Linebacker Tyler Murry (Troy transfer) and Safety Ben DeLuca. DeLuca will likely become Charlotte’s all-time leading tackler in this one.
How do you see the game playing out? What’s your final score prediction?
At this point, it’s honestly a crapshoot for Charlotte. Our guys could come out ready to go since it’s been a month, conversely, they could come out flat because it’s been a month. It may be a reach but C-USA East is on the line with this. If Charlotte can defeat WKU and FIU this upcoming week, I can see C-USA rescheduling Charlotte/Marshall on Dec 10–12 to determine the winner from the East.
Brunch Bowl 2020:
Charlotte 38
WKU 28
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 Tuesday’s matchup.