Courtesy Charlotte Sports Information | Charlotte49ers.com
TULSA, Okla. – When push came to shove, walk-on QB Trexler Ivey pushed all the right buttons and LB Nikhai Hill-Green shoved back – allowing the 49ers to rally from a 17-0 deficit to grab a 33-26 overtime victory in American Athletic Conference action at Tulsa.
“A lot of inner gut resolution by these kids,” head coach Biff Poggi said. “They just want to get better every week. They want to play as hard as they can. I am very proud of them. It’s really hard to win a college football game in this conference on the road and we’ve done it twice. We’ve got to keep getting better and we’re working hard at it and I think you’re seeing improvement every week.”
After scoring 18 straight points to take an 18-17 lead, the 49ers saw the small lead whisked away by a 14-play, 68-yard fourth quarter TD drive that gave Tulsa a 23-18 lead with 5:03 to play.
After the 49ers next drive stalled in the red zone due to a fumbled snap, Hill-Green stopped a third-and-one with his 11th tackle of the game to force Tulsa to punt with 1:39 remaining.
Ivey then hit Jairus Mack for 11 yards, Duane Thomas Jr. for six yards and Jack Hestera for 35 to push the ball to the Tulsa 18. After an incompletion, he hit Hestera cutting open over the middle in the endzone for the 18-yard TD. His pass to Colin Weber for the two-point conversion gave Charlotte a 26-23 lead with 59 seconds left.
Tulsa was able to drive down the field for the game-tying 27-yard field goal to tie the score.
In overtime, Ivey quickly found Mack for 20 yards to the Tulsa five and after Henry Rutledge ran to the one-yard line, Ivey plowed in for the go-ahead touchdown.
On Tulsa’s OT possession, Hill-Green nearly came up with the game-ending INT on the first play, but the play was overturned and ruled incomplete. Dontae Balfour broke up the next pass and on third and 10, Balfour came up with the interception to seal the comeback victory.
