The Charlotte 49ers travel to face the Maryland Terrapins on Saturday, September 9 at SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland. Live coverage will be part of NBC Sports’ B1G Saturday Night, starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock. Keep reading for how to watch and key storylines for the game.
Charlotte
This season marks a decade of 49ers football in the modern era and UNC Charlotte’s first in the American Athletic Conference. After having a football team from 1946-1948, the program folded and would not be rekindled for 65 years.
Since its revival in 2013, Charlotte spent two years as an FCS independent before jumping to the FBS level in 2015 as a member of Conference USA. But even though it’s just the 49ers first season in the AAC, and the team went 3-9 last year, first-year head coach Biff Poggi has his sights set on winning the conference.
“If we don’t win that, that won’t be a successful season,” Poggi said in August.
A Maryland native, Poggi most recently served as the associate head coach at Michigan for the last two years, helping lead the Wolverines to back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances.
The 49ers are coming off a 24-3 victory at home over FCS opponent South Carolina State — already a far cry from its 41-24 opening loss against the FCS’ William & Mary in 2022.
The running game was key on offense, with freshman standout running back Durrell Robinson amassing 11 carries for 71 yards and a touchdown as the 49ers rushed for 220 yards overall.
Through the air, senior quarterback Jalon Jones threw for just 125 yards and two interceptions, marking an area of concern that the 49ers will need to mediate quickly if they want to challenge the Terrapins.
“We’ve got to pick our game up a lot,” Poggi said after last week’s win. “Nobody in this building thinks that what we did is near good enough to win at Maryland. We’ve got to look inward and clean up our mistakes. We have to take advantage of opportunities and be relentless.”
Lucky for Charlotte, its defense was the bright spot, after giving up just 3 points and 168 total yards in week 1.
Maryland
Maryland has some star power under center in the form of redshirt senior Taulia Tagovailoa — brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — who entered the season having already claimed several program passing records.
With Tagovailoa leading the offense, along with running back Roman Hemby and tight end Corey Dyches, the Terps are hoping to improve on their 8-5 record from last season.
While the eight wins marked the most in a season since 2010, the Terps aren’t content with average and are focused on getting to a point where they can compete for a Big Ten title. Whether that can happen this season remains to be seen, but the 2023 campaign started strong against FCS opponent Towson last week, with Maryland winning 38-6 and Tagovailoa going 22-33 for 260 yards and three passing touchdowns, as well as 28 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
Head coach Mike Locksley is in his fifth season and seems to have the Terrapins on an upward trajectory after back-to-back bowl wins.
The key Terrapin position group to watch in this matchup is the offensive line, which gave up a Big Ten-high 43 sacks last season and returned only one starter. The line allowed a significant amount of pressure in the season-opener and gave up one sack. It will have to step it up against a promising Charlotte defense this weekend.
Also a concern: Maryland’s receiving corps dropped seven passes during the game.
“I thought our team came in prepared to play and got off to the kind of fast start we like to get off to,” Locksley said after the win. “There’s always things we need to get cleaned up, which we’ll do, but it’s good to be able to do that after a win.”
How to watch the Charlotte 49ers vs. Maryland Terrapins
- When: Saturday, September 9
- Where: SECU Stadium in College Park, Maryland
- Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Watch: NBC, Peacock
How can I watch Big Ten on Peacock?
The Charlotte 49ers vs. Maryland Terrapins game will broadcast on NBC and stream on Peacock. Sign up for Peacock here.
What devices support Peacock?
You can enjoy Peacock on a variety of devices.
View the full list of supported devices here.
NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football and primetime games announced to date:
| Sat., Sept. 9 | Noon | Delaware at Penn State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 9 | 7:30 p.m. | Charlotte at Maryland | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 5:00 p.m. | Washington at Michigan State | Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 16 | 7:30 p.m. | Syracuse at Purdue | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Sept. 23 | 7:30 p.m. | Ohio State at Notre Dame | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Oct. 14 | 7:30 p.m. | USC at Notre Dame | NBC, Peacock |
| Sat., Nov. 11 | 7:30 p.m. | Michigan State at Ohio State | NBC, Peacock |
| Fri., Nov. 24 | 7:30 p.m. | Penn State at Michigan State (Ford Field) | NBC, Peacock |
The remaining NBC Sports’ Big Ten Football games will be announced during the season.