*Note: Video of Criswell's interview is posted below.
CHAPEL HILL – As each week passes and North Carolina plays another football game, quarterback Jacolby Criswell gets increasingly comfortable with the many aspects to playing the most important position on the field.
An area fans and media might not directly see backing this up but coaches do is how Criswell communicates with them on the sidelines in between possessions. It has gone from jumbled uncertainty to a degree to fluid and productive.
“I’d say my first couple of starts, it was more me coming to the sideline and it’s like, ‘did you see this, did you see that?’ And (last) Saturday, it barely happened,” Criswell said earlier this week. “We were just on the same page. Whatever he called, I was on the same side he was on.
“Even when he called the play, I’m like, ‘okay, why would Coach Lindsey call this play?’ And I knew exactly why, and I executed it the way he wanted me to.”
Criswell spent three seasons at UNC before transferring to Arkansas, where he played 88 snaps last fall. He returned to Carolina in the summer, but was told he would not get on the field this year and arrived 20 pounds overweight. But UNC lost Max Johnson for the season to a gruesome injury in the opener, and backup Conner Harrell struggled mightily, so Criswell got a chance against NC Central and played well enough to keep the job.
He appeared in 14 games over three seasons with the Tar Heels, completing 18 of 31 pass attempts for 204 yards, a touchdown and interception. Last season, as a backup with the Razorbacks, Criswell was 17-for-27 with 143 yards and three touchdowns. He’d played just 204 snaps before this season.
“I was comfortable throughout the weeks, but obviously flashing back to the summer, I’m the new guy basically and I had to learn it all over again,” Criswell said. “I’d say for me, I picked up on it pretty quick. Now, I’m able to go out there and play football and just lead the way I was born to be, the way God has given me the gift.”
Athletic gifts must be harnessed or they don’t amount to much. And to do that, one needs playing time.
Criswell has now played 454 snaps this season and is 124-for-217 (57.1%) for 1,660 yards with 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions. He has not been picked off since the end of the loss at Duke in late September, a span of 106 attempts. He has also run for two scores, and has 100 yards rushing over the last two contests.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot the last few weeks, and I give a lot of shoutout to Coach Lindsey,” he said. “He’s really made me feel like I’m the guy. And game plan-wise, I’m 100 percent focused on that.”
In addition to the above from out Tuesday inteview with Criswell, he spoke about how he started 3-for-9 at UVA and was 16 for his last 21; when he felt like QB1; more on in-game communication with Lindsey; on the players saying they will run the table; and about Florida State.
