That's a good result for UAB's defense and a bad one for its offense. The preview's big worry was the Blazers' offensive line, which gave up 6 sacks and ran for 17 yards in the 30-10 loss at South Florida. Against a Charlotte defense that had allowed 50-plus to both Memphis and North Texas, UAB had 6 points through 3 quarters. Whatever the 49ers did up front held up for a long time. The board had the Blazers as a clear home favorite, and the moneyline had drifted toward Charlotte before kickoff. For 3 quarters, that drift looked right.
The 4th quarter is where it went the way the season says it should. UAB scored 17, more than it had managed in the first 3 quarters combined, while Charlotte got just 6. A 6-6 game turned into an 11-point win almost entirely in one quarter. The full stat line wasn't available at writing time, so the line score is what tells the story: the Blazers' offense finally got going, and Charlotte's offense, which had looked revived over the previous 2 weeks, couldn't keep pace once it had to.
For Charlotte, this follows a familiar pattern. Against Tulane, the 49ers led by 10 and lost in overtime. Here they went into the 4th quarter level on the road and lost by 11. Henry Rutledge's 121-yard day against Tulane was the reason for optimism coming in, but 12 points says the run game never broke the game open. The question the preview raised was whether Charlotte could hang on for 4 quarters. It hung on for 3, and it's now 1-8.
Samford33-14UAB goes to 5-4, still unbeaten at home in this stretch and 1 win away from bowl eligibility. The defense did its job for a full 60 minutes again, and the offense, which got pushed around in Tampa, came alive in the 4th. It wasn't pretty, and a 6-6 tie with 15 minutes left against a 1-win team is not something the Blazers will put on the highlight reel. They still got the win they needed.
