BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The test was worthwhile even if unsuccessful.
Charlotte finalized its non-conference schedule with a 52-14 loss to undefeated Indiana on Saturday. Issues reared their head against the Hoosiers, but the goal of the non-conference season is learning what needs to be ironed out.
Indiana showed the 49ers what they need to work on before a flight to Houston opens the American Athletic Conference slate.
“You don’t like to end the non-conference schedule how we ended it today,” Head Coach Biff Poggi said. “But it’s really interesting the way they responded on the sideline today — nobody gave up. They didn’t turn on each other, they played hard the whole game. We lost to a team that was really good — I think they’re going to win a lot of games in the Big Ten.
“I think we have a good football team, next week is critical because it’s our first league game and everything we pointed to.”
Chances for a winning lesson were there, but sometimes learning comes at a cost.
Charlotte scored on a 13-yard run by CJ Stokes after an ineligible man downfield call took away its score a play before. A chance to double down came after the Hoosiers’ holding call on their subsequent red-zone drive. It opened the door for a stop, possible field goal and lead if the 49ers could convert on the opposite end.
A defensive pass interference call on third down proved costly, instead, and gave way to a two-yard touchdown run to put the visitors back 17-7. Another comeback chance on the following drive, and after a 25-yard strike from Trexler Ivey to Isaiah Myers, was thwarted by Indiana’s pair of big plays and Charlotte’s facemask that paved the way for Kurtis Rourke’s 12-yard touchdown scamper to go back up 24-14.
Each presented a chance for the 49ers defense to stand tall as it did a week ago against Gardner-Webb in the team’s 17-point comeback.
Penalties proved to be their undoing.
“We just have to be physically and mentally locked in — we have to know the things we can’t do in those situations,” cornerback Dontae Balfour said. “Our guys know what to do, but it’s just about standing up and forcing a field goal with those opportunities to keep the game close.”
An avalanche took hold once Indiana’s momentum picked up.
Touchdowns on five consecutive drives included three in 15 minutes of game time that put the 49ers behind by 17 at halftime and 31 by the end of the third quarter. It was too late once they forced a punt to start the fourth.
The offense that helped Charlotte to a three-point deficit in the first half had a punt and turnover on downs in the same span to allow Indiana’s clinching run.
“We were executing, we had momentum,” quarterback Trexler Ivey said. “We were moving the ball, but it was small mistakes (that stopped it).”
Defense, and especially the big plays ceded by the unit in non-conference play, proved to be an issue the 49ers would like to fix before games count toward conference standings.
The aggressive style Ryan Osborn and company embody is dependent on pressure reaching opposing quarterbacks. When it’s stalled at the line, the back end of the defense must make up for the risk — Indiana may be the most well-equipped team to take advantage of it that the 49ers have faced all year, and Rourke completed 16 of his 20 attempts for 258 yards to set the table for six rushing touchdowns.
The Hoosiers had eight rushing plays go at least 10 yards and another seven go at least 15 through the air. Their three pass plays of at least 37 yards were hard to overcome.
“It’s a combination of things, but I think it starts with me,” Poggi said. “I’m not disappointed with the players at all, they played hard. They didn’t give up, and they just kept playing. My job is to fix it.”
A trip to Houston and a matchup with Rice start the AAC conference season next weekend. The constant message has been to use non-conference play for lessons, hopefully, wins when possible, and a training ground for the games that count most in the standings.
The trek to their conference title goal starts Sunday when the Indiana film flips on. Lessons will be taken, results will be wiped, and the season the 49ers have eyed since the spring begins in full.
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