Charlotte 42, Middle Tennessee 39
Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Chris Reynolds punched the ball four straight times up the middle to score the insurance touchdown with a leap over the pile from the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter and Charlotte fended off Middle Tennessee 42-39 in a Conference USA slugfest.
The touchdown with four minutes left, on top of four passing touchdowns, made for a career scoring night for Reynolds, who passed for 339 yards. Grant DuBose caught 9 passes for 114 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Calvin Camp broke off a 44-yard scoring run to end the third quarter and racked up 101 yards rushing on 12 carries.
Chase Cunningham threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns to five different receivers for the Blue Raiders (1-3, 0-2) in his first career start. The junior had entered with five career scoring passes and a 150-yard single-game best effort.
After four lead changes through the second and third quarters, Charlotte wrapped two touchdowns around a Middle Tennessee three-and-out to grab a 35-24 lead with 10:27 remaining, breaking the pattern of the two teams trading scores.
The scoring drives on consecutive possessions, plus Reynolds' winner from the 1, swung momentum to the 49ers (3-1, 1-0).
Reed Blankenship was credited with 13 tackles, six solo, to become the all-time leading tackler for Middle Tennessee with 348 career tackles. He entered the game needing 10 to claim the 35-year old mark from Roosevelt Colvard (344, 1983-86).
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
MiddTn | Char |
| Char |
TD |
7:25 |
Grant DuBose 17 yard TD pass from Chris Reynolds (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) |
0 |
7 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
3:27 |
Jimmy Marshall 7 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Zeke Rankin Extra Point) |
7 |
7 |
| Char |
TD |
0:57 |
Grant DuBose 12 yard TD pass from Chris Reynolds (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) |
7 |
14 |
| Second Quarter |
MiddTn | Char |
| MiddTn |
TD |
11:15 |
Jaylin Lane 24 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Zeke Rankin Extra Point) |
14 |
14 |
| MiddTn |
FG |
7:49 |
Zeke Rankin 26 yard field goal |
17 |
14 |
| Third Quarter |
MiddTn | Char |
| Char |
TD |
7:04 |
Elijah Spencer 18 yard TD pass from Chris Reynolds (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) |
17 |
21 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
6:16 |
DJ England-Chisolm 51 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Zeke Rankin Extra Point) |
24 |
21 |
| Char |
TD |
0:00 |
Calvin Camp 44 yard TD run (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) |
24 |
28 |
| Fourth Quarter |
MiddTn | Char |
| Char |
TD |
10:27 |
Shadrick Byrd 19 yard TD pass from Chris Reynolds (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) |
24 |
35 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
8:21 |
Jarrin Pierce 16 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Jaylin Lane 2pt conversion attempt is GOOD) |
32 |
35 |
| Char |
TD |
4:00 |
Chris Reynolds 1 yard TD run (Jonathan Cruz Extra Point) |
32 |
42 |
| MiddTn |
TD |
2:12 |
Yusuf Ali 12 yard TD pass from Chase Cunningham (Zeke Rankin Extra Point) |
39 |
42 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Middle Tennessee |
Charlotte |
| First downs |
25 |
32 |
| Rushing |
6 |
11 |
| Passing |
16 |
18 |
| Penalty |
3 |
3 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
2-11, 18% |
6-12, 50% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-2, 100% |
1-1, 100% |
| Rushes-Yards |
23-123 |
40-207 |
| Passing Yards |
379 |
339 |
| Return Yards |
0 |
77 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
28-40-0 |
25-36-0 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
1-1 |
0-0 |
| Punts |
5 |
3 |
| Fumbles Lost |
0-0 |
2-1 |
| Penalties - Yards |
10-86 |
7-62 |
| Middle Tennessee Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Cunningham |
28 |
40 |
379 |
5 |
0 |
| Charlotte Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Reynolds |
25 |
36 |
339 |
4 |
0 |
| Middle Tennessee Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Charlotte Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Middle Tennessee Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| K. Ulbrich |
5 |
212 |
42.4 |
| Charlotte Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| B. Rice |
3 |
146 |
48.7 |
| Middle Tennessee Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Charlotte Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| C. Dollar |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
| Middle Tennessee Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| Middle Tennessee Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Charlotte Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| J. Cruz |
35 |
