As the countdown to the 2023 college football season rolls on, ESPN is releasing previews for each conference. And last week, it was the Atlantic Coast Conference’s turn.
With the ACC getting rid of the divisions, it’s just one conference with the top two teams making the title game. For the sake of their preview, ESPN stuck with the teams that used to be in the coastal and ones in the Atlantic to organize it. The preview also includes the biggest questions going into the season.
And for North Carolina, that centers around Drake Maye.
ESPN’s biggest question for UNC is whether or not Drake Maye has the supporting cast around him this year:
The Tar Heels have averaged an offensive SP+ ranking of 16.3 since Brown moved back to Chapel Hill, and they’ll have a chance to produce something similar this fall. Maye’s got a senior-heavy offensive line in front of him, but he’ll be throwing to different receivers (leaders Josh Downs and Antoine Green, with their 1,827 combined yards, are gone) and working with a different playcaller. Longo left for Wisconsin, so Brown brought in former Gus Malzahn assistant and Troy head coach Chip Lindsey. Lindsey knows how to work with mobile QBs, and with his 144 non-sack rushes in 2022, Maye certainly brings that to the table. He’ll probably need to click with a pair of receiver transfers (Kent State’s Devontez Walker and Georgia Tech’s Nate McCollum), but it’s hard to worry much about the offense.
The question is a fair one as UNC does lose a lot of talent and offensive coordinator Phil Longo in the process. However, they did add talent at the wide receiver position and welcome back a good running back room and a playmaker at tight end.
Time will tell if Maye can replicate last season or if the struggles will happen early. But it could be the biggest difference maker.
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