The Charlotte 49ers and FIU Panthers meet Saturday in week 8 college football action from Jerry Richardson Stadium. FIU is coming off a matchup versus UTSA. In that one, the Panthers lost in a blowout. As for Charlotte, they played UAB over the weekend. The 49ers took a 14-point loss. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
FIU started out the year on a 2-2 run. First came an overtime win 38-37 over Bryant, then losses to Texas State 41-12 and Western Kentucky 73-0. The Panthers would then take out New Mexico State 21-7 before a loss to UConn 33-12.
In the UTSA game, the Panthers were down 17-3 by halftime and couldn’t get any closer in a 30-10 defeat. QB Grayson James led the team with 174 yards and a pick. Lexington Joseph was the top rusher with 56 yards, and Kejon Owens put up 52 yards with a score.
Over on the 49ers’ side, their year started out with a string of three losses 43-13 to Florida Atlantic, 41-24 to William & Mary and 56-21 to Maryland. After a 42-41 win over Georgia State Charlotte fell to South Carolina 56-20 and UTEP 41-35.
In the UAB game over the weekend, Charlotte had a 14-10 lead at halftime. The 49ers couldn’t hang on however and fell 34-20. QB Chris Reynolds put up 214 yards with two picks and a TD. Chavon McEachem added 61 yards off nine carries.
PICK: I’m probably staying with FIU but not going near it. Overall this should be a pretty close matchup, though. FIU had a tepid day against UTSA over the weekend, notching 323 total yards, 19 first downs and a rough 2-of-16 run on third-down tries. The Panthers should be more comparable to Charlotte however, and I think they’ll improve.
As for the 49ers, they posted three turnovers, 12 first downs and a 3-of-10 rate on third downs in their loss to UAB. I like Charlotte to hang around in this one initially before FIU powers out a cover.