CHAPEL HILL – Someone will take the first offensive snap against Minnesota on August 29, but who will that be?
That question remains open-ended with North Carolina having completed its 11th practice of fall camp Sunday. If there’s enough separation between Conner Harrell and Max Johnson, a starter likely will be named inside of two weeks before the game against the Golden Gophers.
“We’ll have a scrimmage on Saturday that will be a really good scrimmage like the first one, and then after that, we’ll start looking hard at depth charts and personnel more and more,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said following practice Sunday.
Had a starter been named Sunday it wouldn’t have been a big surprise given the timing. The Heels and Gophers play in 18 days, and between now and then, UNC concludes fall camp, and starts classes on the 19th. So, Carolina has just five more practices until the 20th, which then puts it nine days from the opener.
The team will be in game-week mode by then, so the clock is ticking on a decision being made. And according to Brown, Harrell and Johnson continue going back and forth trading days playing better than the other. The staff is quite literally in a quandary.
“You got differences in Conner can run 4.4 but he hadn’t played very much,” Brown said. “Max has played 1,600 (snaps) and thrown (788) passes in the SEC and played against very tough competition in a tough league and in loud stadiums. And Jacolby’s (Criswell) behind them simply because he wasn’t here for the spring. So, right now, it would be Max and Conner competing at the highest level.”
Harrell, who is listed at 6-foot-2 and 210 pounds, is now a redshirt sophomore in his third season at UNC. Sitting behind Drake Maye, he played little last season, but did start the Tar Heels’ bowl loss to West Virginia. He was 18-for-27 with a touchdown and two interceptions that day. And for the season, was 22-for-30 with 270 yards, two scores and two picks.
Johnson, who is 6-foot-5 and throws lefthanded, owns a decided edge in experience, having attempted 788 passes, while Harrell has thrown it only 33 times. Johnson has played 1,624 snaps while Harrell has logged just 93 snaps. And Johnson has 47 touchdowns with 12 interceptions with Harrell posting two and two, respectively.
The two QBs have competed since last winter, and if not enough distance is gained by either over the other, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that Brown and Chip Lindsey will roll with both for the foreseeable future.
It isn’t optimal, Brown is quick to note, but hasn’t been dismissed either.
“We have in the past,” Brown said, referring to when he used two quarterbacks at UNC in the 1990s and Texas. “We will know if somebody separates. But if we’re not really sure which one would be the best, we’ll play both.
“And I don’t know what that means yet because you don’t get to that point until you get about ten days out, and that’s when you start making decisions. Or are there certain times when one plays and the other one comes in.”
In the early-mid 90s, Jason Stanicek and Mike Thomas rotated some. Brown’s last two UNC teams had Chris Keldorf and Oscar Davenport. Those two clubs finished ranked in the top 10, and the 1993 Heels won 10 games.
At Texas, Brown did it a couple of times as well, and each of those teams was successful. He has done it before and will again. Brown knows how to handle that kind of QB room, but it isn’t preferable.
“We’re not planning on playing two,” he said. “But unless someone takes over, then obviously you put both of them out there, and the one that takes over and starts winning the game will play more.”
The likelihood the Heels end up rotating at the most important position on the field is slim, and it’s also probable a starter will be named by next weekend.
