On Wednesday, the University Press sat down with Joey Ellsworth to discuss FAU’s road game against the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers. Ellsworth is the Sports Editor at Niner Times, the student-run newspaper that covers Charlotte.
FAU is coming off of a 36-10 loss to the University of Texas at San Antonio Roadrunners (UTSA) (4-3, 3-0 AAC) less than a week before.
The 49ers, currently sitting at 11th in the conference standings, snapped their five-game losing streak by defeating the East Carolina University (ECU) Pirates (1-6, 0-3 AAC), 10-7.
Last season, during the season opener at home against Charlotte, FAU won 43-13.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Who is the biggest threat on the 49ers’ offense and defense?
The biggest threat on offense would probably be [senior] Jalon Jones, the quarterback, which is usually the big go-to answer is the quarterback. But he’s become a lot more of a key factor and the most consistent key factor throughout the season. Biff Poggi, the head coach, has been between quarterbacks with Jalon Jones and [redshirt sophomore] Trexler Ivey, sharing touches. But [Poggi’s] been settling in with Jalon Jones from now on as the go-to quarterback. Jalon Jones still has a long way when it comes to being a consistently winning quarterback because his consistency has been an issue throughout the season. He has the talent there to make the big plays, he’s really good on the ground. It’s kind of like that Lamar Jackson-idea of “if you’re able to run the ball successfully, you’re going to be able to open up passing opportunities.” Of course, he isn’t in the same ballpark as Lamar Jackson, but the same kind of playstyle where last week [Jones] had 26 runs for 127 yards on the ground opened up the possibility of passing. He got 144 passing yards, which isn’t a lot for some quarterbacks, but for him and still developing into a starting quarterback, it was a good game for him outside of the turnovers. I think he has the talent there to make enough big plays to, at least, here and there, make an impact on the game.
For defense, I’d say it’s the linebacker duo [junior] Nikhai Hill-Green, who is on the Comeback Player of the Year watchlist, and then [redshirt junior] Demetrius Knight II, who won AAC Defensive Player of the Week last week with his performance against ECU. They’re definitely the biggest threat. There’s also [graduate defensive lineman] Eyabi [Okie-Anoma], but [Hill-Green and Knight] combine for 96 total tackles on the year, 11.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks. They’re just a very dangerous duo and on defense to change the impact of the game, which has been seen with the 49ers lately, allowing just 21 points in the last two weeks, especially with one of the games coming against Navy.
The 49ers have been on a five-game losing streak. With the win over East Carolina, what changed for you guys to win?
The most significant change that I saw was the defense continuing to improve. They’ve been getting better all year. They held Navy to 14 points, which was [Navy’s] second-lowest they’ve been held to all year. The only lower was when they played Notre Dame. They’ve got a lot better at stopping scoring, and against ECU, the only touchdown ECU had was because the defense made the stop, but Charlotte muffed the punt in the red zone, so ECU had it a lot easier chance to score. But they held ECU to seven points in a school record-low of 127 yards of total offense allowed. They just keep on getting better each and every week, and this week, unlike against Navy, Charlotte was able to put up some points: they had a touchdown and a field goal (that would’ve been two extra field goals, but those were missed). The offense was also able to capitalize a little bit, giving them the chance to win and earning them the way to win. The defense improving is definitely what’s been the most important factor for Charlotte throughout the last few weeks. Even in their losses, you could see they’re actually starting to put up a little bit of results, even while they lose.
This matchup features two new head coaches: FAU has Tom Herman, Charlotte has Biff Poggi. How would the new head coaching impact Friday’s game?
I think the biggest impact is that they’re still experimenting and trying to find ways to better their team. They both stepped into programs with losing records the year prior (Charlotte had just three wins last year). Both coaches have experience with winning, especially with Poggi. He was under Jim Harbaugh in Michigan for the last two years, going 12-2 and 13-1. Before that, Poggi built St. Francis High School from nothing to a winning program. He’s stepping into a program that needs a lot of work in many different areas, and he’s been experimenting with it and trying new ideas. I think that the process of stepping into a program with a losing record as a new head coach for both sides is it’s a learning process between the coaching staff and the players. There’s a lot of experimenting, and even for the experimenting that’s kind of done, you’re still settling into that idea of how to build success off that, such as Poggi deciding to stick with Jalon Jones after switching between quarterbacks each game. It’s just a lot of learning process going on, and I think that’ll be reflected in mistakes or seeing, on either side of the ball, things that some teams might not be super comfortable with just because they’re getting used to that way of playing and that coaching style. But I think it does give hope for the future, just kind of like seeing these two newer teams. When it comes to coaching staff and players and how they have that relationship, is kind of cool to see how they’ve grown throughout the season and how they’re finally settling into the ideas that they’ve been trying out all year.
Charlotte has the worst scoring offense in the conference. What does Charlotte need to do to get past FAU’s defense and secure a win?
The biggest thing is capitalizing on opportunities from the defense. Whether it be a good field advantage from the defense, creating a three-and-out or an interception or a fumble; when given that opportunity, they need to capitalize on it. Getting a turnover and then punting is not as acceptable because that’s not how you win games. With Jones becoming the starting quarterback and probably the only quarterback we’ll see this week, he’ll need to find his stride. There’s been glimpses of his talent, but nothing he’s been able to put together consistently. I think if he can find his stride, running backs like [redshirt junior] Shadrick Byrd can open opportunities for him. Shadrick Byrd has been a big part of the organization the past couple of years, especially this year. Opening up opportunities is the biggest thing because Charlotte has not been able to put up consistent success to start a drive. Capitalizing on big plays would be key for the offense if they want to pull away with a win right now.
Graduate defensive lineman Eyabi Okie-Anoma is fourth in the AAC in tackles for loss and third in sacks. What does the FAU offensive line need to do to stop Okie-Anoma?
The biggest key to probably stopping him is just doing everything they can to keep him away from the quarterback, which I know sounds obvious with his number of sacks and tackles for losses and quarterback pressures, but I think he’s a player who does more damage than the stats show, which is defenses having to put a lot more attention on him or just the quarterback knowing that he’s there. He definitely has not just the talent but also the aura to change how the offense has to operate. He’s one player that has followed Poggi around throughout the years. He was at St. Francis Academy back in high school, and then he played with Poggi at Michigan, amassing to the College Playoffs and running six tackles for loss and four sacks with Michigan. He’s definitely a consistent threat, and limiting him and how he affects the passing game, or even the running game, is definitely important for FAU if they want to find success on offense.
What do you think the outcome of the game would be?
As much as I would love to say Charlotte pulls away with the win, I think they’re still developing, and I don’t think their offense is at a point where they can pull away with a win on a good team at this point. I think FAU would take the win, maybe 24-13 for the score. Charlotte’s defense has been really good, but I think here and there they’re going to allow games where a couple of touchdowns are scored. I think that this will be one of those games. They’re hyped off that win, it’s just not gonna head into the upcoming week. I think they’ll find a little bit more success on offense compared to the last few weeks, but more just capitalizing on field goal opportunities than touchdowns because they haven’t really shown that they can put together a string of touchdowns in a game in a while.
Where do you think the game could lie?
It would be a lot of FAU capitalizing on the mistakes of Charlotte, mostly just turnovers. I think they will get the ball away, come out with good scoring position early and some scores and Charlotte will be playing catch-up the remainder of the game. I think after a strong start by FAU, Charlotte will be able to understand the team a little better and start stopping them, but won’t be able to put together much success on offense, such as the rest of the season has been.
Maddox Greenberg is the Sports Editor for the University Press. Email [email protected] or DM via Twitter @MaddoxGreenberg and Instagram @maddoxblade04 for information regarding this or other stories
