Tag: bryson nesbit

UNC tight end room one of nation’s best

John Copenhaver, Kamari Morales and Bryson Nesbit give the UNC football program one of the deepest tight end rooms in the nation.

There’s no question that the UNC football team has produced yet another, disappointing end to what once looked like a strong season.

Carolina started the year 6-0, beating five Power 5 opponents in six weeks and squeaking by App State in overtime. Losses to UVA, Georgia Tech, Clemson and N.C. State quickly ended College Football Playoff hopes and, once again, showed UNC has a long way to go before it considers itself a football school.

Despite the recent struggles Carolina’s endured, it has two things to be proud of: making a bowl game for the fifth-consecutive season and an electric offense.

One of the major reasons for UNC’s record-setting offense is its tight end room, which includes John Copenhaver Bryson Nesbit and Kamari Morales, who recently announced his decision to enter the transfer portal.

That room has combined for 71 receptions, 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns, making UNC one of two Power 5 schools to have a tight end group Top 5 in those respective categories.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C0fA-ppu2kD/

Nesbit is the room’s leader, catching 41 passes for 585 yards and five touchdowns. Copenhaver has 18 catches for 279 yards and four touchdowns, while Morales has 11 catches for 158 yards and no scores.

Carolina should have yet another dangerous tight end group next year, with Nesbit and Copenhaver returning for their senior years.

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Three UNC football players named First Team All-ACC

Three UNC football players were named to the All-ACC First Team announced on Tuesday afternoon.

The 2023 regular season didn’t end how the North Carolina Tar Heels had hoped for, going 8-4 and losing to both Clemson and NC State on the road to end the campaign.

But there were some players on the team that stood out and played at an All-Conference level.

On Tuesday, the Atlantic Coast Conference announced their All-Conference teams with the season complete and three Tar Heels earned First Team Honors.

Running back Omarion Hampton, tight end Bryson Nesbit, and linebacker Cedric Gray earned First Team All-ACC honors, being among the best in the conference. They were joined by Drake Maye (Second Team), Kaimon Rucker (Second Team), Noah Burnette (Second Team), Tez Walker (Third Team), Willie Lampkin (Third Team), and Power Echols (Third Team).

Alijah Huzzie, Spencer Rolland, Corey Gaynor and Myles Murphy were all named honorable mentions.

Hampton rushed for 1,442 yards which was best in the ACC and fourth in the country. He also had 16 total touchdowns on the year.  Nesbit had 41 catches for 585 receiving yards and five touchdowns. Defensively, Gray had 121 total tackles, which was second in the ACC.

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UNC Football: Offensive Keys to the Game against UVA

What hasn’t the UNC football team done offensively? We take a look at how the Tar Heels’ deadly offense can thrive against a weak UVA squad.

Sitting at 6-0 atop the ACC with Florida State, the UNC football team is in a great position to contend for a conference championship.

Outside of App State, the Tar Heels have beaten opponents with relative ease. Casuals might look at their undefeated record and think, “must be a bunch of FCS teams.”

Nope.

Five of Carolina’s six wins – South Carolina, Minnesota, Pitt, Syracuse and Miami – are against Power 5 schools. The lone school outside the Power 5 is an App State squad that competes with the country’s best – see last year’s upset at Texas A&M.

UNC only has one FCS team, Campbell University, on its schedule for Saturday, Nov. 4. This is common of several Power 5 schools to play at least one FCS school.

The Tar Heels have scored 40 points in four of their six games – even more impressive against top-ranked defenses in Minnesota, Syracuse and Miami. Drake Maye looks more and more like a Heisman Trophy contender each week, Omarion Hampton gives UNC its first star running back since Ty Chandler, while the group of pass-catchers is among the most talented in recent history.

Carolina plays likely it easiest ACC opponent in UVA on Saturday, Oct 21. While the Tar Heels are expected to win big, let’s take a look at exactly what they need to do offensively in hopes of continuing their win streak:

Six 100-yard receivers have UNC’s passing attack amongst nation’s best

The UNC football program doesn’t know who’ll lead its passing attack in a given week. That’s a good thing keeping opponents guessing.

When Drake Maye is your quarterback, you’re going to score lots of points and win plenty of games.

Behind every great quarterback, however, is a great group of pass-catchers.

Fortunately for Maye, the UNC gunslinger who is projected to be a top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, his pass-catchers are making life easy for him.

With Walker initially being ruled ineligible, guys had to step up at receiver. The other receivers haven’t only stepped up, they’ve thoroughly exceeded expectations, with six guys reaching at least 100 yards.

Walker finally earned eligibility, sending a massive cheer throughout Tar Heel Nation. His presence should further bolster an already dangerous group.

Georgia Tech transfer Nate McCollum is atop the group with 355 receiving yards. He just registered his second 100-yard receiving effort in two weeks, catching seven Maye passes for a UNC-high 135 yards against Syracuse.

J.J. Jones has 318 yards, but still is looking for his first score. Jones’ best output this year was a six-catch, 117-yard showout at Pitt.

Kobe Paysour leads Carolina with three receiving touchdowns. His first 100-yard outing came against Syracuse, as he caught three passes for exactly 100 yards and a score.

All three tight ends have over 100 receiving yards, but Bryson Nesbit leads the way with 167 receiving yards. Kamari Morales (not pictured in above post) has 139 receiving yards, while John Copenhaver has 106. Nesbit and Copenhaver have two receiving touchdowns each.

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UNC Football: Helmet stickers for win over Syracuse

The UNC football team obliterated Syracuse, 40-7, yesterday afternoon in Chapel Hill. Check out who won our helmet stickers for the win.

It seemed like everything was working for the UNC football team on Saturday afternoon, as it dominated Syracuse, 40-7, in a convincing win that showed it’s among the ACC’s top teams.

Carolina quarterback Drake Maye is looking more and more like a Heisman Trophy contender each week, as he nearly set a career high in passing yards against an Orange defense that played well coming in. Tar Heels wide receiver Nate McCollum delivered his second 100-yard performance in as many weeks. Omarion Hampton nearly broke 80 yards rushing and the UNC defense, among college football’s worst last year, held Syracuse to a season-low in points.

There were so many UNC players and units deserving of helmet stickers, but we’ve decided to narrow in on a select few. Let’s take a deeper dive into this article and see who captured them:

UNC offensive keys to the game against Syracuse

UNC hosts Syracuse on Saturday afternoon for a 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff in Chapel Hill. Check out what the Tar Heels need to do offensively.

Things are riding high right now for the UNC football program, which sits 4-0 for the first time since 1997.

The Tar Heels have enjoyed offensive outbursts each game, whether those be from the running back room, wide receiver group or Heisman Trophy candidate Drake Maye himself. They’ve engineered comebacks – late in the App State game and early in the clash with Pitt.

British Brooks took his turning leading UNC offensively in week one, running for over 100 yards in his first game action since 2021. Omarion Hampton followed with a lights-out encore, becoming the only FBS back with 200-plus rushing yards in Week 2. Nate McCollum enjoyed a breakout game in Week 3, catching over half of Maye’s passes for 165 yards and a touchdown, while Maye and J.J. Jones were cookin’ against Pitt.

With so many stars on offense, who’s going to shine against Syracuse on Saturday in UNC’s return from it’s bye week? Let’s take a deeper dive:

UNC names captains for ACC football opener at Pitt

After three, hard-fought wins against South Carolina, App State and Minnesota to open the season, the UNC football team is ready to take on the gauntlet of ACC play. The Tar Heels are currently sitting in Pennsylvania, hours away from facing off …

After three, hard-fought wins against South Carolina, App State and Minnesota to open the season, the UNC football team is ready to take on the gauntlet of ACC play.

The Tar Heels are currently sitting in Pennsylvania, hours away from facing off against Pitt in the ACC opener for both teams. UNC and Pitt will clash at 8 p.m. ET under the bright lights of Acrisure Stadium.

Carolina holds the all-time series record with 11 wins and five losses, though the Panthers took two of the past three matchups. UNC won handily last year in Chapel Hill, 42-24, behind five Drake Maye touchdown passes.

Let’s take a look at the Tar Heel captains for today: Maye (offensive), Power Echols (defensive) and Bryson Nesbit (special teams).

Maye finally delivered the breakout game we’ve all been expecting last week, completing 29 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns. He also found his true number one wide receiver in Nate McCollum, with the Georgia Tech transfer catching 15 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown.

It’ll be tough to deliver that same performance again, as Pitt is holding opponents to just 114 passing yards per game (third-best in FBS). Minnesota was limiting opponents to under 100 passing yards per game before last week, then Maye exploded, so don’t expect the Panther’s defense to play spoiler.

Will Maye go to McCollum? J.J. Jones? Kobe Paysour? Regardless of who, Maye’s due for another Heisman Trophy-esque performance.

One teammate Maye could be throwing to a lot is Nesbit, another Tar Heel captain. Nesbit carries grand expectations with him this year, as he was named to the Mackey Award Preseason Watch List. This award goes annually to the nation’s top tight end.

Nesbit’s only tallied 77 receiving yards to start his junior campaign, but he also caught one of Maye’s four touchdown passes.

Echols led UNC’s defense with nine tackles (seven solo) in the 31-13 triumph over Minnesota last week. Echols, the starting mike linebacker, is second among the Tar Heels with 24 total tackles.

Set aside the lackluster performance against App State – and Carolina’s defense has seemingly played better through three games than it did all last season, particularly in the second half. UNC has allowed just six second-half points between the South Carolina and Minnesota games.

As the Tar Heels prepare to face a lackluster offense, expect another huge game out of Echols.

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Week 3 Scouting Notebook: A look at potential Chargers prospects in 2024 NFL draft

Here are a handful of prospects for Chargers fans to watch in Week 3.

The third week of college football is here, which means we are back with another edition of the Scouting Notebook.

The Scouting Notebook will feature prospects to keep an eye on throughout the day. While some may think it’s too early to start talking about the 2024 NFL draft, there’s never a bad time to talk about the future of the Chargers.

With that being said, here are a handful of prospects to watch for in Week 3.

UNC Football: Offensive keys to the game against South Carolina

With UNC’s 2023 season-opener against South Carolina looming on Saturday, Sept. 2, we preview what is needed offensively for game success.

College football fans can finally rejoice – the season is upon us.

The 2023 campaign kicked off over the weekend with several “Week Zero” matchups, highlighted by Notre Dame’s 42-3 thumping of Navy in Dublin. 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams shined for USC, throwing for 278 yards and four touchdowns in a 56-28 Trojans win, while Vandy survived a scare against Hawaii in Nashville.

Florida and ranked Utah give us an appetizer on Thursday night, but the “main course” of college football is on Saturday, Sept. 2.

One of the most-anticipated matchups of Week One is the UNC-South Carolina game. There’s several reasons why – it’s primetime on ABC (7:30 p.m.), you have two of the country’s best quarterbacks in Drake Maye and Spencer Rattler facing off, plus teams with high expectations that ended 2022 on completely opposite notes.

This game is seen as one of UNC’s toughest in 2023. The Heels face off against an SEC team – if they win Saturday, that’s a massive step in contending for an ACC championship and, who knows, a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The Gamecocks finished 8-5 and clinched a spot in the Gator Bowl last year, losing a tightly-contested battle to Notre Dame. South Carolina’s season landed them in the Final AP Top 25 poll for the first time since 2013.

The Tar Heels, on the other hand, looked like the better team from jump. They bolted out to a 9-1 start, with their only loss being at home to Notre Dame. Maye looked like a true Heisman contender, hitting receivers with any throw or making defenders miss with his legs.

Things quickly changed with a home loss to Georgia Tech, which became the first of four straight losses. UNC made its first ACC Championship Game appearance since 2015, but struggled in a 39-10 loss.

With high expectations once again this year, let’s take a look at what the Tar Heels need to do offensively in order to start 1-0 for the second straight year:

Bryson Nesbit named a breakout candidate for the 2023 season

Pro Football Focus (PFF) names UNC tight-end Bryson Nesbit a breakout candidate for the 2023 season.

UNC tight-end [autotag]Bryson Nesbit[/autotag] has been named a breakout candidate by Pro Football Focus (PFF).

The announcement came Saturday afternoon with PFF blasting a photo with the four candidates: Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, Florida State’s Trey Benson, Texas A&M’s Evan Stewart, and Nesbit. The ACC heavy list serves as a reminder of how good the conference will be.

Nesbit will be counted on heavily this season with the departure of wide receivers Josh Downs and Antoine Green. To make matters worse, UNC has the NCAA decision looming over their heads on wide receiver Devontez Walker’s eligibility.

Nesbit is entering his Junior year on the heels of his best season as a Tar Heel. Last year, Nesbit finished with 35 receptions for 507 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

 

This season, Nesbit will likely see more balls thrown his way, thanks to being one of the more experienced offensive weapons on the team.

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