There was hope for Charlotte 49ers football on Saturday. Then, it collapsed in a heap

Everything seemed new for a while at the Charlotte 49ers’ season opener Saturday night.

And then — in a 30-7 home loss to James Madison — it all got old in a hurry.

At the beginning, it was splendid. A sellout crowd of 15,614. A bunch of happy, rowdy students. A summer night that felt beachy. A lively tailgate scene. And basically a new team to cheer for, too. Charlotte had 71 newcomers on the roster (third-most in the country) and 44 players from the transfer portal (tied with Colorado for the most).

For much of the first half, the first game of head coach Biff Poggi’s second season did look as glittery as the gold jerseys the 49ers were wearing for the first time. But then old problems surfaced. That sellout crowd was 90% gone by the end, as James Madison tacked on one final touchdown.

Said Poggi of James Madison afterward: “I don’t think they are a better team than we are… These are the losses you live with that you just like — you don’t sleep at night…. We have to learn at Charlotte how to win. And we don’t know that yet.”

It gets no easier for the 49ers, who have to travel to Chapel Hill to play North Carolina (1-0) next Saturday.

At least Charlotte does have better quarterback play and what Poggi insisted was a far better team than the one the 49ers fielded last year, despite the 23-point loss.

It’s true that quarterback Max Brown, a transfer from Florida, showcased some major potential. On his best drive, he threw three beautiful strikes, the last one to Isaiah Myers for a 26-yard touchdown and a 7-3 Charlotte lead in the second quarter.

“Even with the interceptions that he had, I was really pleased with how he played,” Poggi said of Brown.

But Brown — 22 for 45 for 193 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions — made some poor decisions, too. And so did the Charlotte coaching staff, which instead of sitting on that 7-3 lead near halftime, decided to have Brown try to throw the ball down the field on a drive that started at Charlotte’s own 9.

Brown’s third pass was intercepted on a deflection at his own 33, and the Dukes capitalized with a 33-yard TD pass on the very next play. Suddenly, Charlotte was down by two points at halftime (the extra point was missed) instead of ahead by four. And the game’s momentum swung completely in the second half, where the 49ers came out so lethargically that Poggi mused afterward that he may change up the team’s halftime routine.

In the second half, the 49ers offense often looked like the one that last year was one of the worst in major college football. As James Madison found its way to two more touchdowns, Charlotte ran a whole lot of plays but ultimately got shut out.

“There’s a lot I have to clean up,” Brown said.

Many of the fans filed out with nine minutes left, when Charlotte was down 23-7 and a fourth-down red-zone play failed badly. All they missed was that last JMU touchdown.

Now this wasn’t like losing to a Division III school. James Madison is hardly a cupcake and hardly an ideal season-opening opponent, either. The Dukes went a combined 19-4 over their past two seasons, which were also their first two in FBS. Oddsmakers figured this was coming: James Madison was favored by eight points, on the road.

Charlotte, meanwhile, has gone 3-9 each of the past two seasons. The program is in its 12th year of existence (and 10th in FBS) and, for the majority of that time, has struggled to field a winning team.

Wearing a collared shirt with sleeves instead of his customary sleeveless T-shirt, Poggi said he was encouraged by a number of things, including the way the 49ers moved the ball.

“We showed some flashes of brilliance and then some moments of dullness,” Poggi said.

Charlotte’s most ignominious stretch came at the beginning of the second half. With James Madison leading 9-7, after a kickoff touchback, both teams trotted on the field to begin the third quarter. The Dukes had the ball.

But before a single play from scrimmage was run, Charlotte’s defense had to take a timeout because it had the wrong personnel on the field.

Getting the right personnel out there didn’t get it fixed. James Madison then got a 73-yard touchdown pass two plays later, to go up 16-7.

The Dukes outgained Charlotte 417-324, but the 49ers ran 76 plays compared to JMU’s 60. James Madison made its living on big plays, as quarterback Alonza Barrett III only completed 10 passes but averaged 21.9 yards per completion. He also ran for another 89 yards.

Said Poggi: “There are losses where you say, ‘We got beat by a better team’ and there are losses where you say, ‘Holy smokes.’ This was a ‘Holy smokes.’ And you know, that falls directly on me.”

But, the coach added: “If you sat in that stadium and you watched that game and you don’t think this is a significantly better team than last year, then you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

I’d agree, to a degree. The 49ers at least don’t seem like a lost cause this year. But running 76 offensive plays in a game isn’t enough. They’re going to have to actually score.