Charlotte football dominates ECU: 3 takeaways from 49ers’ win over in-state rival Pirates

It came easily for Charlotte football against its new in-state rival.

Fans clad in green found themselves in the midst of a heightened amount of purple as they roamed their campus in University City on a scorching October afternoon. The 49ers’ 55-24 drubbing of East Carolina on Saturday came in their second all-time meeting with the Pirates, with whom they now share a rivalry in the American Athletic Conference.

Six of Charlotte’s seven touchdowns in Saturday’s dominant victory came from its rushing game, which ties a program record.

A packed crowd of 17,102 — the fourth-largest in school history — was on hand at Jerry Richardson Stadium, and the Niners now find themselves 2-0 in conference play for the first time.

“What really happened (Saturday) was our passing game opened the run game,” head coach Biff Poggi said in the postgame news conference. “Whenever you can rush for over 200 yards in a college football game, that is a huge rushing effort. To rush for a school record (307 yards) and six touchdowns rushing, that’s crazy good.

“I’m really happy about that. But sometimes, in the old Neanderthal way like I think, it’s run it to open the pass. This was passing to open the run.”

The 49ers (3-3, 2-0 American) will wait nearly four weeks until their next home game — scheduled for Oct. 31 against Tulane and set to be nationally televised on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. Their bye week is up next, followed by a trip to Navy on Oct. 19.

Here are three takeaways from the Charlotte 49ers’ win over ECU:

Deshawn Purdie led Charlotte’s early offensive surge

True freshman quarterback Deshawn Purdie made his second career start.

Max Brown was a game-time decision for Charlotte. The starter, who joined the Niners after starting for the Florida Gators, had missed the past three games after injuring his throwing thumb.

Brown, who had practiced all week, ended up wearing shorts beneath his jersey on the sideline during Saturday’s game.

But Purdie was in rhythm early.

The 18-year-old signal caller put together a strong performance in the Niners’ dominant victory at home, finishing the day with 13 of 22 completions for a career-high 206 yards.

“We came with a lot of juice,” Purdie said. “We came out fired up, we all came in on the same page. Literally: Pass game opens up the run; run game opens up the pass. This is Charlotte football.

“It just felt amazing. I came to Charlotte to give the fans a reason to be excited. Get the loyal fans excited about some dubs. (Saturday) was a little glance at that.”

Cartevious Norton keys strong running backs’ performance again

Charlotte’s rushing game was pivotal to its offensive success Saturday.

On its opening drive, Cartevious Norton ran for an 11-yard touchdown after the Niners had marched right downfield. The early scoring drive included an impressive 27-yard grab from O’Mega Blake, a week following the career-best performance from the South Carolina transfer.

Hahsaun Wilson, the team’s leading rusher with 164 yards Saturday, scored a pair of touchdowns, including a 23-yard carry into the end zone during the second half.

“We all know we can do it,” said Wilson, whose rushing performance is the second-best of his career. “We’re true to it. We’re not new to it. We can really dominate in this conference, and we’re gonna do that.”

Norton, who finished with a career-best 88 yards on 10 carries, had the Niners’ biggest rushing play of the day.

The junior running back who transferred from Iowa State broke away for a 62-yard scoring dash through ECU’s defense late in the second quarter. That touchdown allowed Charlotte to open a 31-10 advantage during the first half.

“You go out there and just want to be a dawg,” Norton said. “It also started in practice. We push each other — we know we make mistakes — and we just keep fighting.”

Six of the Niners’ seven touchdowns came on the ground, which ties the program record they set on Nov. 23, 2013, in a 61-17 win against Morehead State.

Charlotte knocked out ECU’s starters early

East Carolina starting quarterback Jake Garcia had been benched by the end of the first half.

Katin Hauser, a sophomore who transferred to ECU from Michigan State, entered behind center for the Pirates late in the second quarter. He finished with 84 passing yards on 11 of 28 completions.

Garcia, who previously played at Miami (Fla.) and Missouri, had completed his first six of eight passes for 111 yards, along with an interception.

East Carolina’s offense struggled to move with much consistency.

London Montgomery, a running back who redshirted at Penn State a season ago, took a pitch from Hauser for a 48-yard touchdown rush early in the third quarter. The 14-point deficit the Pirates faced then was as close as it would come.

Charlotte linebacker Stone Handy cemented the victory with a 53-yard pick-six, which marked the first touchdown of the redshirt senior linebacker’s career.

Stephen Rusnak drilled a pair of field goals on top of all seven extra points, solidifying the second-highest point total a Niners kicker has recorded in a game.

“I really respect (ECU head coach) Mike Houston, and he was incredibly gracious after the game,” Poggi said. “He was very complimentary of Ryan Osborn and Mike Miller and the game plans they put together.”