The North Carolina Tar Heels started the season with a big road win in Minnesota on Thursday night but it came at a price. Starting quarterback Max Johnson injured his leg in the second half and didn’t return.
A day later, head coach Mack Brown announced that Johnson had surgery and will miss the rest of the season. Now, UNC turns to backup Conner Harrell who replaced Johnson in the game as he will be the starter for the rest of the season.
And Brown is hoping his team can rally around Harrell.
“He’s been told: ‘You’ve got it,'” Brown said on Monday when meeting with the media. “And the team’s been told: ‘Let’s rally around your new quarterback and let’s go, and let’s make this work.’ Like I said, he’s really good. So it’s time for him to go have fun and play good.”
The redshirt sophomore Harrell lost the quarterback competition this offseason to Johnson although Brown said they did plan on playing both quarterbacks against Minnesota. Harrell has sat behind No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye for two seasons and now will have his chance to prove he can be the guy.
And he’s going to have to.
With UNC off to a good start, the team will look to Harrell to lead them starting this Saturday with a home game against Charlotte.
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