Two programs stripping it down to the studs meet on a Friday night in November, and neither one is pretending this is about a championship — it's about proof of life.
Bush’s Picks
CLTUAB
CLTUAB
OverUnder
Best BetUAB
UAB gets the value case here simply by having more clarity at quarterback with Ryder Burton projected as the guy, while Charlotte still hasn't sorted out life after last year's 1-11 finish. Home teams building under a new voice often play with more energy early in a rebuild than teams grinding through year two of a slow climb. It's a coin-flip caliber game between two rosters that are hard to trust, but UAB's slightly firmer depth chart tips it.
Charlotte
+Staff continuity: same OC, DC, ST coordinator as last year
+52 returning players give Albin a real Year 2 core
−Finished 1-11, 0-8 in conference play last season
−QB picture behind Conner Harrell still unresolved
UAB
+Clearer QB1 in Ryder Burton with prior starts
+Grantham brings proven college/NFL DC experience
−First-year head coach installing new systems from scratch
−49 newcomers means major continuity questions on both sides
There's no pitching matchup here, obviously, but there is a coaching matchup worth sitting with. Charlotte enters Year 2 under Tim Albin, who built a 33-19 run at Ohio before taking over a 49ers program that finished 1-11 in his debut season. UAB, meanwhile, is starting fresh under first-year head coach Alex Mortensen, promoted from offensive coordinator after Trent Dilfer was let go midseason and finished 9-21 overall. Both sidelines are looking for the same thing: a sign the rebuild is actually working.
Charlotte's staff continuity is the case for optimism. Todd Fitch is back calling plays on offense, Nate Faanes returns as defensive coordinator, and the 49ers bring back 52 players off last year's roster to go with 46 newcomers, 31 of whom have prior college snaps. That's a program trying to build continuity after a season that saw them go 0-8 in conference play and lose by an average of almost 25 points a game. UAB is doing the opposite — tearing it down further before building back up, with new defensive coordinator Todd Grantham (fresh off calling plays at Oklahoma State) installing a new system from scratch and 49 newcomers fighting for spots up and down the roster.
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CLT Charlotte
UAB UAB
Whichever way the number moves between now and kickoff, this is a game about whether either roster has found its footing by November. A three-and-a-half-month runway means plenty can change — QB competitions, injuries, depth-chart shakeups — but the framing won't: two staffs trying to convince their fan bases the corner has actually been turned.
On paper, UAB has the slightly clearer quarterback picture, with redshirt junior Ryder Burton — a transfer with stops at BYU and West Virginia — projected as QB1 after making two starts last season in his first year in Birmingham. Charlotte's situation behind redshirt senior Conner Harrell is murkier heading into fall camp, and a first-year staff figuring out its passing identity on the fly is its own kind of risk. Neither team is walking into this one with a settled, proven starter, which is exactly the kind of variance that makes rebuild-year games hard to forecast.
Charlotte 49ers
Oct 30?vs Tulane—
Oct 16?@ Temple—
Oct 9?@ North Texas—
Oct 2?vs Memphis—
Sep 25?vs Louisiana—
Sep 19?@ App State—
Sep 12?@ Ole Miss—
Sep 5?vs The Citadel—
UAB Blazers
Oct 30?@ South Florida—
Oct 15?vs East Carolina—
Oct 9?@ Memphis—
Oct 3?vs Samford—
Sep 25?vs Navy—
Sep 19?@ Louisiana—
Sep 12?vs UL Monroe—
Sep 3?@ Illinois—
Recent form.
Friday's kickoff is set for 11:00 PM ET, a late-window slot that fits two programs still building their national profile rather than commanding prime real estate on the schedule. Charlotte will be looking for any sign it's clawing back from the bottom of the conference standings, while UAB's goal under Mortensen is simply establishing habits — line play, tackling, situational execution — that didn't show up consistently under the old staff. Whoever handles those fundamentals better in November has the edge, regardless of name recognition.
