CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina stopped a four-year losing streak to Virginia on Saturday night, coming away with a 59-39 victory as the Tar Heels showcased many of their offensive toys, among them sophomore wide receiver Josh Downs.
Downs finished the night with eight receptions for 203 yards and two touchdowns. He also had a 38-yard punt return. While he was impressive through the first two games, grabbing 16 passes for 196 yards, this was a breakout night for the Georgia native.
With Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome off to the NFL, taking their prolific receiving numbers with them, Downs has had to step up into the role of Carolina’s top receiver. Inspired by meeting their standards is one thing but getting an in-person boost before Saturday night’s eruption was something else.
Brown was in attendance Saturday night, and he playfully laid down the gauntlet with Downs beforehand.
“Dyami came up to me and he basically said, ‘you’re not gonna beat my record against Virginia. I had 206 six my sophomore year,’” said Downs.
Actually, Brown had 202 receiving yards with three touchdowns in 2019, and last October racked up 240 receiving yards and three more scores in Charlottesville.
While Downs has been very strong for North Carolina early into this season, it hasn’t come to any surprise around the program. He was forced into a larger role in the Orange Bowl last season after multiple Tar Heels opted out of the game. All he did was catch four passes for 91 yards and two touchdowns.
Downs showed that night in Miami he had the ability to be a number one receiver, and he showed again Saturday night versus the Cavaliers. Hid=s final tally: EIght receptions for 203 yards, and two touchdowns, including scoring recpetions that went for 59 and 37 yards on the Tar Heels' first two possessions.
“Josh was unbelievable,” UNC quarterback Sam Howell said. “We knew it was only a matter of time before the world knows who Josh Downs is. He works super hard, he’s the hardest working guy on our team. It was just only a matter of time, I try to give him the ball as much as possible, he makes plays, he’s always open.
“They tried to cover him with several of their best guys that they thought could cover him, and no one could cover him all night long. I’m blessed to have Josh on my team.”
Howell also wasn’t surprised because the Tar Heels’ prepared for Downs having a big night.
“Just from the game plan we had, I knew we were going to have some opportunities to kind of isolate Josh on the safety” Howell Said. “Every chance we had to do that, we connected on. Josh was open every single time, I knew Josh was gonna have a big game.
“He prepares like a professional, he’s in there watching film with the quarterbacks all the time, so yeah, we knew Josh would do good tonight.
Downs was confident going into the game because of the plan and how offensive coordinator Phil Longo wanted to use him.
“I feel like we just had good matchups” Downs mentioned. “Coach Longo put me in a good situation, our o line held up good, and we had the run game going so they had to respect that. They had a weird defense that we had never played before. They had a three-high safety look, and Coach Longo wanted to see what they’re really about, and we exposed them.”
For UNC to accomplish its goals this season, it is vital to develop into an offensive juggernaut much like last year’s club. On this night, the Tar Heels did that, in large part because of Downs, who allowed them to air it out for those big plays through the air, that they’ve done so often, and look to continue to do.
