A look at IU football’s 2024 opponents: Week 4 — Charlotte

With college football season starting to creep up, we’re running down Indiana’s schedule to preview all 12 opponents for 2024.

IU returns home to host Charlotte in week four at Memorial Stadium, in the Hoosiers’ final non-conference game of the regular season. This is the first-ever meeting between the schools on the football field. Head coach Biff Poggi enters year two with the 49ers after a difficult first season, and he has a lot of work to do to turn things around.

Opponent: Charlotte
Date/Time/TV: Saturday, September 21, TBA
Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Ind.
2023 record/postseason result: 3-9, 2-6 AAC

Returning production, offense: 58 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN)

Offensive outlook: Charlotte’s offense struggled in 2023, finishing 117th in the country (out of 133) and 12th in the AAC with total 312.8 yards per game. The 49ers scored 17.5 points per game, the eighth-fewest in the nation. But Poggi brought in a lot of transfers in the offseason that could make his offense look different this year.

Redshirt senior quarterback Trexler Ivey (55.2 completion percentage, 1,263 yards, four touchdowns, 10 interceptions) returns, but may have to compete with redshirt sophomore Florida transfer Max Brown for the starting job. The 49ers have their top six receivers back from last season, although leading receiver Jairius Mack finished with just 453 yards on 25 receptions and two touchdowns. Graduate student transfer Justin Olson, with 450 yards on 43 catches and a touchdown last season at Middle Tennessee, could give the 49ers another receiving threat outside.

Quarterback Jalon Jones led Charlotte with 476 rushing yards last season, and he’s gone this year. But the team’s second-leading rusher, redshirt sophomore Terron Kellman (82 carries, 328 yards, one touchdown) is back. Junior Iowa State transfer Cartevious Norton (87 carries, 343 yards, three touchdowns) should factor into the 49ers’ backfield picture.

The biggest difference in Charlotte’s offense this year will be its offensive line. The 49ers have just one returning starter on the line, redshirt senior center Jonny King. The other four spots could be filled by portal additions, including former four-star recruit and Clemson tackle Mitchell Mayes. Charlotte has a lot of room to improve offensively this year, but if the offensive line can perform better — particularly in pass protection — it would greatly help the 49ers’ chances.

Returning production, defense: 51 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN)

Defensive outlook: The 49ers performed better on defense than offense last year. Charlotte allowed 374.2 total yards per game, which ranked 61st in the nation and seventh in the AAC. The team finished 45th in the country in pass defense at 212.7 yards per game, but the secondary graded even better than that on PFF in coverage — the 49ers graded as the 17th-best coverage team in the country last season.

That secondary has one returning starter, redshirt junior cornerback Dontae Balfour. Poggi brought in seven upperclassmen in the secondary from the transfer portal this offseason, and several of those players figure to factor heavily into the equation this year. Charlotte’s secondary may not grade as highly as it did last year, but the group needs to continue performing well for the 49ers to have a chance at improving as a team.

Last season’s team leader in tackles and interceptions, linebacker Demetrius Knight, transferred to South Carolina. The 49ers also lost Eyabi Okie-Anoma, who led the team with 11.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks, to the NFL. But the team does bring back a key piece in linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (nine TFLs). Hill-Green and Balfour are the only primary defensive starters Charlotte has returning this year.

Special teams outlook: Resisting the obvious pun, punter Grant Gonya is gone. Charlotte added former Michigan State and Ohio State punter Michael O’Shaughnessy out of the transfer portal. Sophomore kicker Kyle Cunanan returns after he went 16 for 16 on extra points and 9 for 15 on field goals as a freshman. Coastal Carolina transfer Hunter Patrick could challenge for the kicker job, though. Redshirt junior returner Henry Rutledge returns — he finished third in the AAC last year with 23.4 yards per kick return, and he was second in the conference with 11.9 yards per punt return with one touchdown.

Overall Outlook: Charlotte’s football program existed for three years in the 1940s before folding, and didn’t restart until 2013. The 49ers have played in FBS since 2015, and they’ve had only one winning season in program history. So Poggi is fighting against history — or a lack thereof — to get Charlotte winning. The 49ers are projected to finish near the bottom of the AAC again this season, and may not have the offense to turn some closer games around. But they led at halftime at Maryland last season, so if the defense is solid again and IU isn’t fully clicking, this game may not be completely straightforward.

Previous opponent outlooks:

Florida International

Western Illinois

UCLA

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