If you thought the Tigers were favored heavily in any of the first three games, check out how much they’re favored by over Charlotte. The 49ers, out of C-USA, will make the short trip south Saturday to face the #1 Clemson Tigers, and when they arrive at Death Valley, they’ll do so as huge underdogs. Clemson has opened up as a 41 point favorite over the 49ers, who will be facing the Tigers for the first time.
Charlotte comes in at 2-1, with wins over UMass and Gardner Webb. Their loss came to App State in Week 2, as the Mountaineers put up 56 on a 49er defense that seems to have several holes. Opponents are averaging 33.7 points and over 190 rushing yards per game against the Charlotte defense. They’re giving up 5.2 yards per carry, so that bodes well for the stable of Tiger running backs.
On offense, the Niners have been pretty good, but they’ve not seen a defense even remotely close to what they’ll see on Saturday. They’re averaging just over 47 points and 522 total yards per game. It has been a very balanced attack, as they average 297 yards on the ground, and 226 through the air. They have converted 42% of their 3rd downs and have scored 10 redzone TDs in 12 attempts.
The game is set for a 730 pm kickoff, and will be televised exclusively on the new ACC Network. This will be the Tigers second appearance on the network, and you can thank the conference’s new 24/7 linear channel for the night game in The Valley, instead of what would have very likely been a nooner in recent years.
The announcers for the game will be Dave O’ Brien and Tim Hasselbeck. Katie George will be on the sidelines. If those names sound familiar, they should. It is the same crew that worked the Tigers opener against Georgia Tech.
