UNC football spring game ‘compete’ level high, but leaves key questions unanswered
Not all questions that need answers were solved as North Carolina football wrapped up practice with Saturday’s Spring game.
There’s a lot of change taking place in Chapel Hill, and the two biggest unknowns are: Who will start at quarterback? And, how effective will they be in a new defensive scheme under new coordinator Gene Chizik?
The one thing UNC coach Mack Brown knows for sure is that he likes how they compete.
“I really like what I’ve seen out of this bunch,” Brown said. “They haven’t dodged anything. We’ve been hard on them. We’ve been tough on them. We’ve been demanding and they’ve responded to everything we’ve done.”
Brown turned every possession in practice into a competition between offense and defense that carried over into Saturday’s scrimmage. That’s one of the reasons why the score was meaningless — he’s reviewing the game to see whether the offense or defense won overall.
Here’s what we learned from the Tar Heels’ Spring game:
QB competition heats up
The quarterback competition between Drake Maye and Jacolby Criswell will continue into August when camp resumes before the season.
For what it’s worth, Criswell was 6-for-6 passing for 104 yards and a touchdown during his time with the first team offense. Maye was 6-for-8 for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Neither separated themselves from the other enough during the spring to claim the starting role vacated by Sam Howell leaving early for the NFL draft. But they’re pushing each other to be better.
Maye led a drive that stalled on his first possession. Criswell came back and connected on a 40-yard throw off his back foot to receiver Josh Downs that set up an 12-yard touchdown throw, also to Downs. Maye responded on his next possession with the first team offense with a 38-yard touchdown to Downs.
It’s been like that throughout the spring. Maye had previously suffered a slightly sprained an ankle, but didn’t miss practice. So when Criswell tweaked a hamstring, he also made himself available to stay in practice.
“I wasn’t going to hold back from it, every day that I don’t have, that’s a rep I lose,” Criswell said. “Every day with my hamstring being hurt, I’m like, ‘Okay, I gotta go out there and compete for a job.’ It doesn’t matter what it is. I have to do something to make sure myself is out there.”
Maye, the son of former UNC quarterback Mark Maye and brother of former basketball standout Luke Maye, is hoping to come into his own this season.
“I feel like in high school, I was just kind of Luke’s brother and I think a lot of people still refer to me as Luke’s brother,” Drake Maye said. “I don’t get ‘Mark’s son’ a lot. But I’m sure the older generations probably say that. But I think it comes with time, as I build myself on the field and establish myself on the field, maybe people will start knowing me as Drake.”
Live tackling makes everyone better
Brown said his team may have tackled more during the spring than maybe since early in his coaching career. Carolina as a defense had one of the highest percentages of missed tackles in the ACC last season.
They’ve replaced ‘Thud,’ in which players go full speed until they make contact, then they stop play; with more periods of actual live tackling. It’s helped bring an edge to both sides of the ball that the team lacked last season.
“I feel like we need that, I mean, we can’t just go Thud all the time,” said running back British Brooks. “That’s where Thud and live registers different in people’s head. I feel like in Thud you’re just trying to stay up, but you’re not getting the real effect. For us to go tackle a lot, I feel like as a running back, that’s something you need, because come the fall there’s no Thud.”
There weren’t many missed tackles, especially in the open field, on Saturday. Linebacker Cedric Gray believes the Heels are going to be more physical on defense and attributes that to their live tackling.
“When we’re practicing sometimes and we have to stay up to try to keep guys healthy, some guys may not be flying around as hard,” Gray said. “So those live periods made a lot more edge come out of people.”
Brown was glad it didn’t lead to more injuries.
“Guys would get banged up and come right back and play,” Brown said. “So this team is developing a mental toughness that we really, really need for a young team and I liked them hitting.”
Highlights
- Downs is on cruise control — he totaled four catches for 95 yards and two scores — but the receiver room is thin. Expect to see more of tight end Bryson Nesbit will be used some in a receiver role. Brown said he hopes to add some depth through the transfer portal.
- There’s a lot of competition at running back too after Brooks, who goes into the fall as the starter. Elijah Green had a 36 yard run up the middle and totaled 61 yards on nine carries and a score. Brown said freshman George Pettaway has been impressive through the Spring, despite not breaking a big run on Saturday.
- Looks like just two starters from last year’s offensive line will remain in place, but it could arguably be a better unit. Miami transfer Corey Gaynor has brought stability at center and five-star tackle Zach Rice is quickly making the transition from high school.
- Carolina’s secondary won’t really take shape until the fall. Safeties Ja’Qurious Conley and Gio Biggers did not play on Saturday and neither did cornerback Dae Dae Hollins.
- Defensive end Desmond Evans recorded two sacks in the scrimmage. Evans summed up the difference in last year’s defense versus what Carolina will play this season. It comes down to simplifying duties. Evans was in a hybrid position last season that sometimes left him dropping back into pass coverage. Now he can simply concentrate on rushing the passer. Evans said: “It leads to better communication all around and just allows people to fly around much better.”
This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 8:40 PM with the headline "UNC football spring game ‘compete’ level high, but leaves key questions unanswered."