CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte 49ers had Tulane down by 10 points with under 11 minutes to play Friday night in Charlotte and still lost, falling 38-31 in overtime after the Green Wave tied the game in the final seconds of regulation.
Derrick Eley’s 1-yard run with 10:52 left put Charlotte ahead 31-21. Tulane answered with a 27-yard Cooper Helmke field goal, and quarterback Trace Johnson found the end zone from 11 yards out through the air with just 10 seconds on the clock, knotting the game at 31.
Tulane scored first in the extra period when Dagan Bruno pushed in from a yard out on fourth-and-goal. The 49ers answered by driving to a first down at the Tulane 4, but two running plays netted a single yard and Conner Harrell’s next two passes fell incomplete.
The 49ers had plenty go right before that. Henry Rutledge ran for 121 yards on a season-high 22 carries, and Khamani Alexander broke a 44-yard touchdown run. Harrell threw scoring passes of 22 yards to Jaden Barnes and 16 yards to Eley, and Aiden Bui kicked a 48-yard field goal as Charlotte took a 24-14 lead into halftime.
Tulane got 99 rushing yards and two short touchdown runs from Johnnie Daniels, plus a 95-yard kickoff return touchdown by TJ Smith. Johnson finished 28 of 36 for 284 yards. Both teams had 437 yards of offense in regulation.
Charlotte drops to 1-7 overall and 1-3 in the American Conference. The 49ers had snapped a 14-game losing streak by beating Temple 38-31 on Oct. 17, a run that reached back into last season and included 10 straight conference losses. Tulane improves to 4-4 and 2-2 in league play.
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