Tennessee football: 5 Charlotte 49ers to watch vs. Vols

Tennessee football gets a bit of a break as they host the Charlotte 49ers on Saturday. Can the 49ers spoil all the homecoming festivities?

Jeremy Pruitt and the Tennessee football team prepares for their homecoming game against the Charlotte 49ers. This is a game the Vols have to win to have a chance at a bowl game with three tough opponents left on the schedule.

Tennessee is coming off a heartbreaking loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks. Like most other games in the rivalry, it came down to a three-point win. Not to blame the refs but there were two calls that had a considerable impact on the outcome of the game.

Charlotte, on the other hand, is coming off a 20-17 win over Southern Mississippi and on their way to a bowl game. A bowl game is a rarity of sorts for the football program. 2015 was the program’s first year in Conference USA.

Trust the process they say and it always works. Well, that is true for Brad Lambert and the 49ers. They have struggled in the few years on the division one level but this year appears to be their year to six wins.

But, now they sit at 4-4 on the season only needing two wins for a bowl game, so to say they will give Tennessee their best shot is an understatement.

As always in this post, we break down five players to watch during the game on Saturday. Can they make enough of an impact to pull an upset? It’s unlikely, but it could happen. If these five players play well, it could be a tougher day for the Vols than most fans might think. We start with quarterback Evan Shirreffs.