Tag: tar heels football

How does UNC football’s running back room stack up against the nation?

Looking ahead to the season opener, how does UNC football’s running back room compare to other top programs in the nation?

For years, UNC football has had a stacked running back room. From Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, who are now both in the NFL, to last year’s Omarion Hampton and British Brooks, the Tar Heels have had a dominant run game for years.

With Brooks now on the Houston Texans, Hampton was looking for a new backfield mate. Incoming transfer Darwin Barlow and senior Caleb Hood will serve as the committee behind the workhorse back.

Hampton has been projected to top his 1,500-yard season from last year while being named to every award watch list and draft prospect list imaginable for the upcoming season.

However, while top-backs like Ashton Jeanty, Ollie Gordon II, and Tahj Brooks all don’t have great second-backs in the room, North Carolina’s can be severely underlooked.

According to 247sports,  the peak of running back rooms this season has been season by Ohio State after keeping TreVeyon Henderson and bringing in transfer Quinshon Judkins. They are joined by Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen of Penn State and Jordan James and Noah Whittington of Oregon.

Hampton will be joined by Barlow who has never averaged under 4.5 yards per carry in his five-year NCAA career. It was highlighted by a 62-carry, 289-yard season in 2021.

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ESPN analysts predict UNC football’s year-end bowl games

ESPN analysts had this to say about what bowl games UNC football would take part in this year.

Some top analysts had already projected their year-end bowls before ESPN released theirs and the consensus was that UNC football would play in the Military Bowl on December 28, 2024.

Now, ESPN analysts Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach have released their predictions, and they disagree with where the Tar Heels will end up at the end of the 2024 college football season.

Bonagura has North Carolina playing in the Bronx, New York, at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl against the Big Ten representative Maryland.

Schlabach followed most of the other analyst predictions around the nation and has UNC player against South Florida in Annapolis, Maryland, in the Go Bowling Military Bowl.

North Carolina is set to begin their season next week with a true road opener against Minnesota in Minneapolis. They are projected to win by 2.5 points.

Max Johnson and Conner Harrell are projected to split time on the field in the opener, according to head coach Mack Brown, and Omarion Hampton will lead the team on the ground and the offensive presumably.

There is a long to wonder about how this team will end up, but the hopes are on being one of the top 12 selected to the first expanded College Football Playoff selections for the upcoming year.

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UNC ranks inside Top 25 in 247sports Top Talent Composite

UNC football ranks high in talent composite rankings for the 2024 season, according to 247sports.

With the UNC football season opener just one week away from today, positive news came out on 247sports about the talent that surrounds Omarion Hampton on the team. UNC football ranks inside the Top 25 in their 2024 Talent Composite Rankings.

Out of every team in the nation, UNC almost made the Top 20! Alabama came in No. 1 with 1,018.28 points with Georgia and Ohio State not far being at No. 2 and 3 with 1,006.89 and 998.62 points respectively.

Alabama had 17, 5-star commits along with 50, 4-star commitments to lead the nation. The Tar Heels came in at No. 22 with a total of 794.99 points which was just three points behind South Carolina and five points ahead of Nebraska at No. 23.

North Carolina had two five-star commits along with 28 four-star commits coming in as freshmen for the upcoming season.

They were led by a pair of five-star recruits, offensive lineman Zach Rice from Liberty Christian Academy who was a .9937 followed by Travis Shaw, a defensive lineman from Grimsley at a .9900.

Desmond Evans, who is projected for a monster upcoming season, leads all the four-star recruits with a .9774 rating.

The Tar Heel season is looking bright and it’s not just UNC football fans that think so.

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Can this be the year UNC football reverses road opener curse?

Winning true road openers has been something that has evaded the UNC football program for decades.

The 2024 college football season is just one week away from today and a dismal statistic looms over UNC football starting the season with Week 1 on the road. The Tar Heels haven’t won a road game in hostile territory in Week 1 since 1992.

Taking out neutral site games where they won in Week 1, they haven’t won a true road game in over 32 years. Week 1 might not be a common occurrence to see the Tar Heels head on the road, but this year, a week from today, they will be in Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium taking on the Gophers.

Just to put that into perspective, Matt Ferenchick listed some things that had happened since that last road win in Week 1. Hubert Davis, the current UNC coach, was just drafted. Florida State began its first season in the ACC. There were only 28 teams in the NFL, and the No. 1 song was “End of the Road” by Boyz II Men.

Currently, ESPN Matchup Predictor gives North Carolina a 54.7% chance to win their opening game in Minnesota, and we don’t even know who will be under center for the Heels that week yet.

Will this be the year the Tar Heels break the Week 1 road game curse?

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Mack Brown hints on the possibility of a two-QB rotation for UNC

Could we possibly see two quarterbacks share the starting role entering the 2024 season?

It is no secret that the North Carolina Tar Heels are in a heated battle for the starting quarterback role heading into 2024. Conner Harrell is the only QB from the 2023 roster while Mack Brown also brought in Jacolby Criswell and Max Johnson as graduate transfers as well.

So far this offseason, we have seen reports on just about each of them looking better than the other at some point in time. However, Mack Brown has still yet to decide who will start under center heading into their Week 1 game against Minnesota in just under three weeks.

Something unheard of yet is the idea the Brown could start two quarterbacks in a rotation or at the same time this year.

According to an interview that Brown did he is doubling down on the fact that Harrell and Johnson are “competing at the highest level.”

When asked about starting two quarterbacks, Brown didn’t have an immediate answer, but he did express that it’s not likely.

We have in the past. We will not if somebody separates, but if we’re not really sure which will be the best, we’ll play both. I don’t know what that means yet. You don’t get to that point until you get about 10 days out.

The idea is not unheard of and has been successful for the right programs, but let’s just hope that one of these two quarterbacks passes the other.

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Omarion Hampton listed in preseason 2025 NFL Draft Top 50

UNC star runningback listed in preseason “2025 NFL Draft Top 50”

The North Carolina Tar Heels‘ offense is set to be led by superstar running back Omarion Hampton in the 2024 season. The star is set to top his 253-attempt, 1,504-yard season last year. He also ended with 15 touchdowns rushing while also pulling in 29 receptions for 222 yards and another touchdown.

The star back has found his way onto Ryan Wilson from CBS Sports‘ list of the preseason Top 50 players on the 2025 NFL Draft big board. Hampton is listed as the No. 39 best player in the draft and the No. 3 running back on the board going into 2025.

The only two running backs listed ahead of Hampton are Ohio State‘s Quinshon Judkins and Oklahoma State‘s Ollie Gordon III.

The powerful frame of a strong back makes him a great contender to be a three-down back in the NFL given the right circumstances. There are plenty of teams in the league that could use a back that blocks as well as he runs.

Barring injury, Hampton has the opportunity with North Carolina to do nothing but rise up the board as the season goes on. Could this be the year that Hampton breaks 2,000 yards from scrimmage? Could he bolster himself into a projected first-round pick?

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Echols and Rucker listed on 2024 Bednarik Award watch list

Two defensive stalwarts for the Tar Heels find themselves on a prestigious award watch list this season.

Two North Carolina Tar Heel defensive players are listed on the released watch list of the 2024 Bednarik Award. Kaimon Rucker and Power Echols look to anchor the Tar Heel defense to an excellent season this year.

Echols is a 5-foot-11, 220-pound linebacker who finished last season with 103 total tackles including 5.5 for a loss, those both tie and beat career highs. He also had one interception and two forced fumbles on the year in 13 games.

The senior linebacker, Rucker, finished his 2023 campaign with 61 total tackles and a whopping 15.0 for a loss. To put that dominance into perspective, he had just 15.5 total tackles for a loss heading into last season over his first three seasons.

He also added 8.5 sacks, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.

They will both be up for one of the top defensive awards of the year.

According to goheels.com, “The winners of the 30th Chuck Bednarik Award will be announced as part of the ESPN Home Depot College Football Awards Show held on December 12, 2024. The formal presentations of the Chuck Bednarik Award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards on Friday, March 14, 2025, at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia.”

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Chip Lindsey speaks out on UNC QB battle

OC and QB coach Chip Lindsey gives insight into Chapel Hill starting QB battle.

There is no secret in Chapel Hill that the biggest football decision still yet to be made is the person who will lead the North Carolina Tar Heels offense under center. With Drake Maye in the NFL, graduate transfers Jacolby Criswell and Max Johnson fight with Maye’s 2023 backup Conner Harrell for the starting role.

Last year at Texas A&M, Johnson threw for 1,452 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions. Criswell spent last season with Arkansas where he threw for 143 yards and three touchdowns. Backing up Maye in his freshman season, Harrell threw for 278 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.

We haven’t heard a lot from the coaching staff on the decision, but offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Chip Lindsey spoke in depth today on the ability of the three guys and who the leader might be.

“I think all three are eager learners, they study, and if we can limit mental errors on the field, I think all three have the ability,” Lindsey said. “I really enjoy being around them and I think they are all growing and getting better each and every day.”

Watch Lindsey’s presser here;

One thing is for sure, they are taking their time. It wouldn’t surprise me if we don’t know who the starter is up until a few days before Minnesota. However, Johnson looks like the favorite for now.

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On3 predicts the winner of the UNC football QB battle

With three quarterbacks battling for the starting role, On3 predicts this QB to come out on top.

Last season’s North Carolina Tar Heels team was highlighted by superstar quarterback Drake Maye. Maye eventually went on to have a great season and was selected as a top-three draft pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.

With Maye in the NFL, the Tar Heels are forced to find a new signal caller behind center. There are three guys currently in the mix for that position.

Conner Harrell, one of the three players vying for the starting quarterback role, was the only player left on the team that was on the depth chart last season. As a freshman last year, Harrell completed 22 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions as the main backup to Maye.

Jacolby Criswell has an interesting story leading up to his fight for this spot. He spent the first three years of his collegiate career with the Tar Heels before transferring his junior year to Arkansas. He had very minimal stats in those first three years. His first sophomore year was his most productive with 179 passing yards and a touchdown.

Last season, he had 143 yards and three touchdowns on 17 completed passes. He has thrown just one interception in his entire career.

The last member of the battle is another graduate transfer, Max Johnson.

Johnson spent the first two years of his career with LSU where he threw 474 completions for 3,883 yards and 35 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He transferred to Texas A&M where he also spent two years. He completed 161 passes for 1,969 yards and 12 touchdowns with five interceptions before making the move in his last year of eligibility to North Carolina.

On3 predicts that Max Johnson will get the start in Week 1 against Minnesota, but that the leash will be tight, and multiple quarterbacks might be involved early and often.

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Watch: 4-star safety Malcolm Zigar commits to North Carolina

On Monday the Tar Heels got a big boost to their recruiting class of 2024.

On Monday, the Tar Heels significantly boosted its recruiting class of 2024.

Here’s how Fuquay-Varina (N.C.) four-star safety Malcolm Ziglar announced his commitment to North Carolina football.

Ziglar (6-foot-2, 198 pounds) is also a track star who is ranked fifth overall in the state, No. 17 at his position and No. 192 in the nation going by the 247Sports rankings.

Twenty-five other schools made offers, including South Carolina, Duke, Clemson, ECU and Wake Forest.

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