BUIES CREEK, N.C. – Kalif Phillips tied his own school record with three touchdown runs and Charlotte broke open a close game Thursday night in a 33-9 season-opening win over Campbell.

In front of a record crowd of 6472 at Barker-Lane Stadium, the 49ers stretched a 6-3 half-time lead into a 27-3 advantage while scoring on all three of their third-quarter possessions.

Phillips capped drives of 63 and 54 yards with 1-yard runs. Matt Johnson connected with Justin Bolus on a 62-yard catch and run to set up a 10-yard Phillips score with 3:00 left in the period.

Charlotte outgained the Camels 178-72 in the third quarter before the Camels cut the gap on the first play of the fourth.  Ben Bolling hauled in a 25-yard scoring pass from Dakota Wolf to pull CU within 27-6.

One year after trailing the 49ers 35-7 at the half, Campbell out-gained the 49ers 170-126 in the opening period and trailed by only three.  However, Charlotte, which will begin play in the FBS Conference USA in 2015, out-scored Campbell of the PFL 27-6 over the final two periods.

True freshman Maetron Thomas gained 74 yards on just six carries, including a 40-yard scoring burst on his first collegiate touch for Charlotte (1-0).  Phillips finished with 74 yards on 13 carries, while Lee McNeill had 50 yards, 48 on one rush, in two attempts on the ground.

Matt Johnson connected on 14-of-30 passes for 189 yards and one interception.  Austin Duke had seven catches for 51 yards to top the 49er receivers.

Campbell out-gained Charlotte 231-189 through the air, but the 49ers held a 264-110 edge on the ground.

Wolf completed 19-of-36 passes with two interceptions and one TD, but was sacked three times.  He led Campbell on the ground with 35 yards on 13 carries.  Dalton Dillon rushed once for 30 yards, while DeShawn Jones added 26 yards on seven attempts.

Bolling (71 yards) and Daniel Taylor led Campbell with six receptions each, while A.J. Artis made five grabs for 46 yards.

Luke Hill had 10 total tackles to lead the Campbell defense, while Ardy Holmes topped the 49ers with 11 stops.

Campbell failed to capitalize on a pair of Charlotte turnovers in the opening half.  Alan Hart intercepted Johnson's pass on the opening drive to give the Camels the ball at the 49er 30-yard line.  However, Jarrett Ozimek's 42-yard field goal attempt stayed wide right.

After the Camels stopped Charlotte on the first two 49er drives, the visitors moved 46 yards on eight plays and took a 3-0 lead on Blake Brewer's 50-yard field goal, which set a Charlotte and Barker-Lane Stadium record.

Brewer also connected from 38 yards to give the 49ers a 6-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Midway through the second period JR Nesmith fumbled an Adam Lutz punt and Nick Drew recovered to give the Camels a first down at the Charlotte 29.  However, Ozimek missed left on a 41-yard attempt.

Arthur Hart's punt pinned Campbell at its own one-yard line with 3:00 left in the half. However the Camels capitalized on three big plays to move the ball 90 yards.  Dalton Dillon's 30-yard run off left tackle pushed the ball across the 30.  Dakota Wolf later connected on passes for gains of 22 yards to Ben Bolling and 25 yards to Austin Fleming to give the Camels a 1st-and-goal at the 49er nine yard line.

After three incompletions, Mitchell Brown split the uprights on a 25-yard field goal attempt to bring the Camels within 6-3 at the break.

Campbell returns to action on Sat., Sept. 6 at Appalachian State in a 6:00 p.m. kick-off.  Charlotte hosts Division II Johnson C. Smith on Sept. 6 at noon.

Charlotte head coach Brad Lambert quotes

"It was really humid out there tonight, but I'm really proud of the guys. They really persevered through the head and humidity. You've got to give Campbell a lot of credit; they came out and played extremely well, and extremely hard. It was a really good environment to play in on a Thursday night."

"I thought our guys responded well in the second half. Defensively we played well the whole game. We started cramping in the second half, and we had some backup players step up and play really well. We had some guys come off the bench and had to play, so I thought that was a big plus for us coming out of this game." 

"It was a good environment, and Campbell came out ready to play which we knew they would. I've been down here before, so I knew they'd come out fired up ready to play and try to get a win tonight."

"The biggest thing is that we just needed to execute better. We had the two turnovers in the first half. Matt's hand was wet and he couldn't hold on the ball early in the game. We made some big plays in the second half just to get us going."

Campbell Head Coach Mike Minter

Opening statement…
"The old adage is that football is four quarters, not two. I thought we did a great job in the first half, and the difference in the game really was the third quarter and the big plays. The defense did not give up big plays in the first half, it was only 6-3 and we missed a couple of field goals that we could have made. We were feeling good going into the locker room. Again, though, it's about four quarters. We're in the process of learning how to win, and the hardest thing for a football team to learn is to play the entire game. It's even harder when you're playing a football team like Charlotte, who was a bigger and stronger team. Overall, I loved the effort. I loved what our guys showed tonight, and we're much further along this year than we were at this point last season. I have to give that credit to the guys that have worked hard all summer."

On the biggest difference in the game…
"The big plays in the second half were big. When you look at the first half, we didn't give up any of those. They tried, but we were right there to stop them. In the second half, you naturally let your guard down a bit. You have to be able to keep your focus, and your mind has to be razor-sharp in the third quarter. That's a tough thing to learn, and it's something that these guys will learn as the season continues."

On the offensive changes in the second half…
"That was part of our gameplan. We planned to try to get outside more often and change up what we did in the first half. We moved away from our zone scheme that softened them up, and we were able to get out to the edge with some speed. That helped to open up some passing lanes throughout the half."

Campbell Redshirt Senior Quarterback Dakota Wolf

On the mood in the locker room at halftime…
"It was extremely positive. We played very well in the first half and the defense really gave us an opportunity to win this game. We got some points on the board and had some momentum after our long drive at the end of the first half. We thought that we might be able to take the game over from that point, but we just weren't able to keep that momentum going."

Campbell Junior Defensive Lineman Dwan Hanshaw

On the role of the defense in tonight's game…
"We just tried to set the tone from the beginning of the game. We came out and let them know that we were here to play. We didn't have the second half that we wanted to, but like Coach Minter said, that's something that we're continuing to work on."