goldrush: august 27, 2013. charlotte vs. campbell

1AUG. 31 CHARLOTTE VS CAMPBELLGOLDRUSH

T H E I N A U G U R A L S E A S O N

2 A PRODUCT OF STUDENT NINER MEDIA GOLDRUSH


VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STAFFNT SPORTS EDITOR

LIBBY [email protected]

NT MANAGING EDITOR

PATRICK BOGANS [email protected]

NT EDITOR -IN- CHIEF

EDEN [email protected]

DESIGN & PRODUCTION

LINDSEY [email protected]

PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRIS CREWS MARKETING DIRECTOR: EMMANUEL LOREDOSALES: DYLAN ROBISON CIRCULATION MANAGER: PATRICK WISNIEWSKI

NINER MEDIA ADVISER: WAYNE MAIKRANZ MARKETING ADVISER: KELLY MERGESBUSINESS MANAGER: LAURIE CUDDY GRAPHICS & PRODUCTION: PETE HURDLE

OFFICE MANAGER: MARK HAIRE

A PRODUCT OF STUDENT NINER MEDIA

Inside Jerry Richardson Stadium

Game-Day Tailgating

Ticketing Info

Q&A with Head Coach Brad Lambert

Coaches

49 Downs to Football

The First and Last

All In: Joining Conference USA

2013 Football Schedule

Niner Picks Game Predictions

Game Preview

Player Roster

Spring Game Highlights

58

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Open at 10 amon game days

If you don’t have a ticket, see the game at Boardwalk Billy’syour Pre and Post Game Headquarters

Join us in the

Congratulations, Charlotte! Football is finally here

Supporting 49er Sports Since 1998


• 46,150 square feet• Administrative offices• Coaches’ offices• Training room• Strength training suite• Locker rooms• Academic center• Lounge for players

JUDY W. ROSE FOOTBALL CENTER

INSIDE JERRYRICHARDSON STADIUM

Jerry Richardson Stadium is a 15, 314 seat complex boasting state of the art facilities. Here is an inside look atthe Judy W. Rose Football Center and the Press Box overlooking McColl-Richardson field.

PHOTOS BYCHRIS CREWS

COMPILED BYLIBBY WEIHSMANN

• 6,636 square feet• Media box• Coaches’ booths• Broadcast booths• University Box• Visiting Box• PA/Scoreboard• Security and Replay Booths

PRESS BOX


• 15,314 seats• Built for room to expand to 40,000 seats• Named July 11, 2013• Panthers owner Jerry Richardson committed $10 million to the stadium• McColl-Richardson Field is 98,000 square feet

JERRY RICHARDSON STADIUM

• 7,075 square feet• Inside the Judy W. Rose Football Center• Includes synthetic turf floor space• Training equipment contained on Mondo flooring with inlaid platforms

TRAINING SUITE


EDEN CREAMEREDITOR-IN-CHIEF

GAME-DAY TAILGATING

With the launch of a new football program, the need for an official policy regarding tailgating at the university becomes necessary. As the university revved up for football, a tailgating policy was created. Below are points from the tailgating policy, available in full online.

CAMPUS ENTRANCES AND LOT INFORMATIONAll entrances except the main entrance and the John Kirk Road entrance will be closed five hours prior to kickoff. Game-day entrances open four hours prior to kickoff.Parking and tailgating will be available in lots 5, 5A, 6, 7, 7A, 14, 18, 19, 23, 25, 27 and CRI 2 and 3. Decks available for parking are Union Deck, Cone Deck 1 and 2, West Deck and CRI Deck. On-campus residents not attending the game can park in East Deck 2 and 3 or North Deck.

LOT CONTRABANDKegs, glass containers, drinking games, devices used to accelerate the consumption of alcohol, grills in parking decks and on brick pavers, open pit fires, staked tents, household furniture and animals are prohibited.

STADIUM CONTRABANDTobacco products, other drugs, alcohol of all kinds and weaponry are prohibited.

Enrolled students

are able to receive a

free ticket to each regular season

home game in

three easy steps.

requestTicket request is available at the Official Ticketing Site of the Charlotte 49ers about six days before the game.

claimStudents can claim the ticket 48 hours after the initial request. This time will vary depending on the number of students who request tickets for the specific game and availability of tickets.

printImmediately after claiming the ticket, students are encouraged to print the ticket directly from the ticketing webpage.


with HEAD COACH BRAD LAMBERT

PHOTOGRAPHED BYCHRIS CREWS

INTERVIEWED BYLIBBY WEIHSMANN

Niner Times Sports Editor, Libby Weihsmann, sat down with 49ers football Head Coach Brad Lambert to talk about the inaugural season for Charlotte.

What excites you most about the 2013inaugural season?

I think the biggest thing for me is I’m just really excited about our team finally having a chance to go play a game. We’ve been practicing for so long, and I’m just really excited to watch them go out, execute during a game and have a chance to go out and compete against somebody else. For a lot of our team, they haven’t played yet. I’m just excited to watch them go out in that first game, and watch them play.

What concerns you going into this season?

For me, focus is the thing I worry about most. We just don’t have our full team yet, so depth is an issue for us. My preparation of this football team has really been a focus for me about what’s enough work to get them ready to play in the games, but what’s too much. We just can’t afford to lose a bunch of guys. We’re pretty thin, so that’s my biggest concern is just trying to keep all of our guys here for all of the games.

What do you want your team to remember when they walk on the field?

We get one chance to start, and we need to start the right way in how hard we play. That’s been our theme and our message, and that will continue through the game. They’ll be ready to play. The number one thing for me is that, “Hey, look guys. We get one chance to start and establish how we play, and whether it’s right on the scoreboard or not, hopefully it comes out that way.” The way we play, how hard we play and how tough we are. Well, that’s the central theme for us.

“We get a chance to start. You never

have this opportunity to start, and we want to

start the right way.”

What are the strengths of the team?

I’m really excited about watching our offensive and defensive lines play. That’s been [a] real focus for us. Our offensive line is playing really well right now, and I like where they are. I like the attitude they bring, so I’m excited about watching those guys get out. They come to work every day on both our offensive and defensive lines, and I’m excited to see how hard they play.

What about your coaching staff?

Well, we’ve got a great coaching staff put together. I’m really excited about the guys that are here, and the guys that came here on day one are still here with us. We’ve been able to retain coaches, and that’s really important to me. They’re excited about getting to it. We’re all pretty fired up, but we have to remember that we can’t win the national championship in the first month. That’s been our thing the whole time. We just need to take our time and do it the right way, and we have to maintain that. I’m really proud of what the coaches have done to prepare this team.


BRUCE TALLNAPOLEAN SYKES

DAMIEN GARY DREW DAYTON

Defensive CoordinatorAlma mater: Ohio WesleyanHometown: Shaker Heights, Ohio

Inside Linebackers CoachAlma mater: Wake ForestHometown: Spruce Pine, N.C.

Running Backs CoachAlma mater: GeorgiaHometown: Athens, Ga.

Outside Linebackers CoachAlma mater: Wake ForestHometown: Baltimore, Md.

COAC

HES

COAC

HES

LIBBY WEIHSMANNSPORTS EDITORPhotos by Chris Crews


JEFF MULLENJAMES ADAMS JOHN RUSSELL

JOE TERESHINSKI JOHNSON RICHARDSON PHIL RATLIFF

Offensive CoordinatorAlma mater: WittenburgHometown: Lima, Ohio

Secondary CoachAlma mater: Wake ForestHometown: Durham, N.C.

Assistant Secondary CoachAlma mater: Wake ForestHometown: Knoxville, Tenn.

Wide Receiver CoachAlma mater: GeorgiaHometown: Athens, Ga.

Tight Ends CoachAlma mater: WoffordHometown: Charlotte, N.C.

Offensive Line/Recruiting CoordinatorAlma mater: MarshallHometown: Louisa, Ky.


MARK HOGANOUTSIDE LINEBACKER

MIKEL HUNTERWIDE RECEIVER

ZEB LITTLEOUTSIDE LINEBACKER

Made team at a walk-on tryout

Graduate student

from Matthews, N.C.

Leading tackler at

Georgia State

Holds record for

the fourth-longest

touchdown run in Air

Force history

Previously played for the Air Force

Falcons

For four seniors and two graduate students, this will be their first and last year playing for the Charlotte 49ers football team.

Here are some quick facts about them:

International Business major

THE FIRSTTHE FIRST


ALEX PETZKESAFETY

BRANDON STRUPPPUNTER

CJ CRAWFORDHALFBACK

Accounting major

from Charlotte,

N.C.

Earned a spot on the team at the first-ever

walk-on tryoutKinesiology major and Public Health

minor

Previously played at Concord University in Athens, W. Va.

Grew up in

Denver, N.C.

Has a 2011 Herd’s Beef

O’Brady’s Bowl win

from Marshall

LIBBY WEIHSMANNSPORTS EDITORPhotos by Chris Crews

Graduated from Marshall

AND LASTAND LAST


LIBBY WEIHSMANNSPORTS EDITOR

After an eight-year hiatus from Conference USA, the Charlotte 49ers have cut ties with the Atlantic-10 Conference.

On July 1, the Charlotte 49ers officially returned to Conference USA.

The Charlotte 49ers were members of Conference USA from 1995-96 until 2004-05.

They then joined the Atlantic 10 Conference, but are now back to where it was all started.

Conference USA was established in 1994, but had their first year of competition in the 1995-16 season.

Sixteen of Charlotte’s athletic teams will immediately become members of Conference USA.

Charlotte football will have to wait

ALL IN: JOININGSixteen of Charlotte’s athletic teams will switch to Conference USA

for the 2013-14 season. Football will switch conferences in 2015


until 2015-16 to join Conference USA. The football team will have to spend their first two seasons as an FCS Independent team.

In 2015, all 17 of the Charlotte 49ers athletic teams will be competing members in Conference USA.

CONFERENCE USAC O N F E R E N C E U S A T E A M S

C h a r l o t t e

E a s t C a r o l i n a

F l o r i d a A t l a n t i c

F l o r i d a I n t e r n a t i o n a l

L o u i s i a n a T e c h

M a r s h a l l

M i d d l e T e n n e s s e e

N o r t h T e x a s

O l d D o m i n i o n

R i c e

S o u t h e r n M i s s i s s i p p i

T u l a n e

T u l s a

U n i v e r s i t y o f A l a b a m a a t B i r m i n g h a m

U n i v e r s i t y o f T e x a s a t E l P a s o

U n i v e r i s t y o f T e x a s a t S a n A n t o n i o


T H E I N A U G U R A L S E A S O N

UNC CHARLOTTEF O O T B A L L 2 0 1 3

SAT, AUG 31

Campbellat Charlotte, N.C.

12 p.m.

SAT, SEP 7

Chowanat Charlotte, N.C.

12 p.m.

SAT, SEP 14

North Carolina Centralat Charlotte, N.C.

12 p.m.

SAT, SEP 21

James Madisonat Harrisonburg, Va.

6 p.m.

SAT, SEP 28

Presbyterianat Clinton, S.C.

2 p.m.

SAT, OCT 5

Gardner-Webbat Charlotte, N.C.

12 p.m.

SAT, OCT 12

UNC Pembroke (HC)at Charlotte, N.C.12 p.m. SAT, OCT 26

Charleston Southernat Charleston, S.C.1:30 p.m. SAT, NOV 2

Coastal Carolinaat Conway, S.C.3 p.m. SAT, NOV 9

Wesley Collegeat Charlotte, N.C.12 p.m. SAT, NOV 23

Morehead Stateat Morehead, Ky.1 p.m.


NINER PICKSFormer and current members of Student Niner Media give their game predictions

FINAL SCORE: CHARLOTTE 24-17




As a grad of the school and a reporter who followed the program literally every day for three years, it’s really cool to see everything finally coming togeth-er. That being said, it hasn’t set in at all for me yet.”

“Last year, I remember thinking how far away Aug. 31, 2013 felt. It’s here, but it still hasn’t hit me. Charlotte has football. My school has football. It’s exciting to be a part of history here at UNC Charlotte.”

“After two long years of nothing but drills and practice, I can’t wait to finally see these guys strap up for a real game. It’s time to put UNC Charlotte on the map.”

“It’s amazing to think Charlotte has a football team. Not only will foot-ball help motivate the student body, but it has already lit a fire under alumni to become even more involved (I have my FSLs, do you?)”


The Campbell Camels kick off their sixth season of football on the road when they travel to Charlotte, N.C. to play the Charlotte 49ers.

In 2012, the Camels went 1-10 overall and 0-8 in the Pioneer Football League (PFL). After a year of disappointment, the Camels hired former Carolina Panthers defensiveman Mike Minter as head coach in hopes of a much need-ed change.

Hiring a new head coach to lead the Camels into the 2013 season wasn't the only change made at Campbell.

Barker-Lane Stadium underwent an ex-pansion that added a new grandstand and two deck press box. Barker-Lane Stadium has been home to the Camels since 2008.

For the first time since the rebirth of Camp-bell football, the Camels will play 12 games in the 2013 season.

The 2013 season will also be the first time the Camels face a Football Bowl Subdivision member.

2013 Pioneer Football League Coaches Poll, Campbell was picked to finish eighth in the up-coming season. There are 12 teams in the PFL.

The Campbell offensive line will be the most experienced position for the Camels.

Five of the six returning offensive linemen all played in six or more games last season. The sixth returner, Daniel Ritter, only played three games before a season-ending injury, but will be back for the 2013 season.

Charlotte’s offensive line appears to be

stacked with big guys like Jamal Covington, Daniel Blitch and Danny Book.

For Charlotte, the defense appears to be quite strong and could overpower the experi-enced Campbell offensive line.

49ers outside linebacker Mark Hogan was the all-time leading tackler during his time at Georgia State, and free safety Desmond Cooper and strong safety Martay Mattox are expected to be big playmakers.

Campbell's quarterback position is up for grabs.

Charlotte quarterback Matt Johnson is ex-pected to start for the 49ers. Johnson complet-ed 13 of 14 passes for 174 yards in the spring game.

The Camels return starter Dakota Wolf and welcome Liberty transfer Brian Hudson. Wolf picked up 617 yards on the ground and 801 passing in 2012.

Campbell returns leading tackler Matt Farris to the linebacker position, among other returners to add some stability to the defense.

The Camels also returns Dalton Dillon, a 2012 Second Team All-PFL fullback. Dillon played almost every down at fullback for Campbell.

The Campbell specialists return with experi-ence from punter Adam Lutz.

A first-year team against a new coach. 2013 looks to be a new beginning for the Camels and 49ers.

The Charlotte 49ers host the Campbell Camels in the first-ever football game inside Jerry Richardson Stadium on Aug. 31 at 12 p.m.

THE BREAKDOWN

LIBBY WEIHSMANNSPORTS EDITOR


Will ThomasKariym GentCorey Nesmith Jr.Lee McNeillTerry CaldwellJalen HoltMatt JohnsonMark HoganAustin DukeMark PettitC.J. CrawfordDesmond CooperTank NormanJustin BolusJoc WatkinsMikel HunterPatrick O’BrienMartay MattoxPrince MayelaDonjore GaineyDaquan LucasAlan BarnwellKalif PhillipsCortezz NixonTerrance WinchesterGreg Cunningham Jr.Micah BryanQuintin GayAlex PetzkeDamarrell AlexanderBrandon StruppNico AlcadeJames Williams Jr.Nick HalmonSam DexterZeb LittleArdy HolmesJordan AbramsCaleb Clayton-MolbyTyler DeStefaniKendal ParkerDevin PearsonDaQuavius ReidMark MontiniKeaston SinickiJarred BarrKarrington KingRobert WilliamsBrandon Rodriguez

Jordan StarnesMason SledgeFletcher O’NeilJustin Bridges-ThompsonDustin CrouserPayton ThomsonCody BrownZach ThomasHayden PezzoniCameron CurlingsThomas FrazierLarry OgunjobiJoe WolljungMitch MonskaDanny BookStephen MuscarelloCasey PerryZach BumgarnerTevin LawsheJamal CovingtonThomas La BiancaEugene GermanDaniel BlitchWolfgang ZacherlKyle HoffmanJeff WalkerReggie WoodsTrent BostickJason EuryEmmitt AfamDarius SmallsLuke SonrickerBlake BrewerZach FergusonEJ RhinehartDmarjai DevineElijah RobersonPeter FieldsNick CarrollJames MiddletonHayden BeckKyle TaylorDevin CleggDevon JohnsonTanner FlemingGarrett StuartJosh TannBrandon BanksJamel Ross

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PLAYER ROSTER

^ - will miss 2013 season


Team Green defeated Team White 26-3 in the first Spring Football game on April 20, 2013. 13,950 fans were in attendance.


PHOTOS BYCHRIS CREWS

goldrush: august 27, 2013. charlotte vs. campbell

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