Charlotte To Start 3rd-String Quarterback At Indiana

Charlotte coach Biff Poggi said Tuesday that quarterback Deshawn Purdie will not play Saturday against Indiana due to injury. He plans to start Trexler Ivey at quarterback, who led the 49ers to a comeback win over Gardner-Webb last week.

Charlotte coach Biff Poggi said Tuesday that quarterback Trexler Ivey will start Saturday at Indiana. / photo via charlotte49ers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Three games into the season, Charlotte is on its third quarterback.

Charlotte went into the season with Max Brown as its starting quarterback. But plans have completely changed as the 49ers prepare to face Indiana Saturday.

Brown suffered an injury in Week 2 against North Carolina. True freshman Deshawn Purdie was next in line, but he left Saturday’s game against Gardner-Webb with an injury. So Charlotte turned to third-string quarterback Trexler Ivey, a walk-on.

Ivey helped the 49ers overcome a 20-3 deficit en route to a 27-26 win over Gardner-Webb. With Brown and Purdie out, Ivey will get the start Saturday against Indiana at Noon ET in Memorial Stadium.

“Deshawn is banged up. We don’t think he’s gonna play this week, matter of fact he’s not gonna play this week. Trexler’s getting the start,” Charlotte coach Biff Poggi said Tuesday. “We have complete confidence in that guy, and so, that’s where we are.”

Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Monday that the Hoosiers would prepare for both Purdie and Ivey, but now they can focus on Ivey.

“Maybe the younger guy [Purdie] has a little bit of a liver arm and his mobility might be a little more,” Cignetti said. “But the older guy [Ivey] has got the experience, kind of the moxie, understands how to play. So it won’t affect our game plan a whole lot.”

Poggi and Cignetti’s thoughts on Ivey are aligned as both used “moxie” to describe the 6-foot redshirt junior. 

“He’s tough,” Poggi said. “He’s tough mentally, tough emotionally. He makes the right decisions, and our team has a tremendous amount of confidence in him and so do the coaches. I’m really happy for him. You never want to see guys get hurt obviously, but really happy for Trexler.”

ESPN Analytics gave Gardner-Webb a 96.1% chance of victory over Charlotte with 9:41 left in the fourth quarter. But Ivey led the 49ers on three touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, and Charlotte’s defense stopped Gardner-Webb’s two-point conversion attempt with 1:55 left to secure a 27-26 win.

Ivey completed 11 of 12 passes for 142 yards, two touchdown passes, three touchdown drives and zero turnovers. 

“I would love to have seen your storylines that you had written half of at halftime,” Poggi told Charlotte reporters postgame. “... I’ve been doing this a long time, and I just want to thank God the father and the son Jesus, because I’ve never been part of anything like that before.”

The miraculous win tied for the largest comeback in the program’s FBS history.

“You’re down 20-3 and not playing well, there’s a lot of times that possibly teams would pack that in,” Poggi said. “Not these guys.”

Ivey played in 11 games with five starts for Charlotte in 2023, completing 112 of 203 passes (55.2%) for 1,263 yards, four passing touchdowns, three rushing touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

Ivey entered the 2024 season as the third-string quarterback, but that didn’t affect his performance on Saturday.

“When Purdie went down, I went over to [Ivey] and I said, ‘Here we are again. You’re the fireman. Put this thing out,’” Poggi said. “And he looked at me and he goes ‘I got you coach. No problem.’”

Charlotte enters Saturday’s game at Indiana with a 1-2 record, including a 27-26 home victory over Gardner-Webb, a 38-20 loss at North Carolina and a 30-7 home loss to James Madison. Early in his second season, Poggi has a 4-11 record with the 49ers. Prior to Charlotte, Poggi was an associate head coach at Michigan from 2021-22, so he’s familiar with the Big Ten.

“In my opinion, as far as the run game and stopping the run game, [the Big Ten] is unique,” Poggi said. “The SEC is probably the best conference as far as skill guys and things like that, but the fronts in the Big Ten, you have to build your team that way.”

The Hoosiers are 3-0 in Cignetti’s first season, with a 42-13 win at UCLA, a 77-2 win over Western Illinois and a 31-7 win over Florida International. Indiana has had well-rounded performances, both offensively and defensively, through three weeks. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week after his 307-yard, four-touchdown game at UCLA.

Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines’ unit has allowed just 23 points across three games and has given opposing quarterbacks fits. The Hoosiers held each of Florida International, Western Illinois and UCLA’s quarterbacks below 140 passing yards, and each threw at least one interception.

Poggi knows his team has a tough challenge on Saturday.

“Things that jump out are really well-coached. They got a lot of really good players, too. They did a great job in the portal. Coach Cignetti, I’m happy to see a fellow Italian doing well, and he’s got it rolling, and that league better get ready for him because he’s won everywhere he’s been, does a great job,” Poggi said. 

“... They’re in the top five – and mostly closer to one, two and three – in almost every offensive category in the country. Very sophisticated concepts, a really physical offensive line. On offense, excellent quarterback, three running backs, really good receivers, guys that can make plays. Then on defense, they play really hard, really physical, really fast, they run to the ball, and they play really hard. So it’ll be a big test for us going up there against a really good team.”

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