https://www.tigernet.com/forum/thread/UhCharlotte-looks-sneaky-good-1928599?tstart=180
"Was idly curious so I started perusingâŚCharlotte isnât terrible. In fact by the numbers theyâre quite a bit better than Georgia Tech is.
When my son did the recruiting circuit awhile back he came back burbling about Charlotteâs facilities, which surprised me, but they were obviously making a massive push to upgrade their program. The money theyâve put into their program shows, whatever - theyâve elevated themselves to Conference USA status, arguably the top conference in the so-called âGroup of 5â, and theyâre 2-1 right now. They beat Gardner-Webb (49-28), dropped a shootout to an unbeaten App State team (56-41) - outgaining the Mountaineers 526 yards of total O to 458, losing owing mostly to two turnovers - and then thumped UMass 52-17 this past week.
Their offense is shockingly good, nationally, just four places behind Clemson, ranking 17th overall in yards per game (522.3 per game) out of 130 FBS team. If youâve read my prior posts youâve probably seen I use the NCAA stats site as a natural âbell curveââŚthat means, like Clemson, the 49ers are an A-level offense in college football. Their scoring offense has been better than oursâŚ47.3 points per game, good for 14th overall, whereas weâve averaged 39.0ppg (28th overall.)
Their D has also performed well. The 49ers rank 42nd out of 130 FBS teams, good for a solid âBâ on that aforementioned bell curve. They allow just 313.0 yards per game, though their scoring D hasnât been as good; theyâve allowed 33.7 points per game, which puts them at 106th nationally.
What jumps off that stats sheet is this: this is not a bodybag game. These guys have absolutely zero name recognition because theyâre so new to FBS, but they are assuredly not Furman or El Cid or even Coastal Carolina. I doubt theyâre quite as good as their stats indicate, but they didnât get those numbers in a vacuum, and they certainly indicate this Charlotte team probably ranks anywhere from the 30âs to 50âs nationally in reality and are substantially better than a lot of bottom-end Power-5 teams. Like I said, I think theyâd thump Georgia Tech good and proper right now.
Clemsonâs coaches do a good job prepping so I doubt any of this will be a surprise, but Clemson fans expecting a casual 70-point stroll next week are likely in for a surprise. Charlotte can and likely will fight back some - this could be a statement game for them - and this is not an automatic âWâ if Clemson sleepwalks in.
FWIW."