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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina quarterback and owner of many of the program’s all-time statistical records is listed as day-to-day for the Tar Heels final home of the season Saturday versus Wofford, and his status for the finale at NC State remains in question. He will also walk on Senior Day, so he is also moving on to the NFL following the conclusion of this season.
UNC announced at the outset of head coach Mack Brown’s weekly press conference that Howell sustained an upper body injury late in an overtime loss at Pittsburgh last Thursday night. Howell will be evaluated during the week, and a decision may not come down until Saturday morning.
“Sam will be with the doctors this week and see if he can practice,” Brown said. “He wants to play Saturday, and if he can he will. He feels like he will be 100 percent for next week. But he and the doctors will make the decision day-to-day, and a game day decision on whether he will play this week.”
FCS member Wofford is 1-9 overall and 0-8 in the Southern Conference, so UNC is heavily favored to reach its sixth win of the season, thus making the Tar Heels bowl eligible, even without Howell.
Howell is UNC’s career its all-time leader in passing yards (9,931), total yards (10,829), touchdown passes (90), and touchdowns accounted for with 105. He is third all-time in ACC history with 90 touchdown passes.
In addition, Howell has thrown at least one touchdown pass in each of the 35 games he’s played as a Tar Heel, and he has thrown two or more scoring passes in 28 of the 35 games in which he has played.
Howell is Carolina’s single-season record holder for touchdown passes with 38 in 2019. He also holds UNC single-game records with 550 yards passing and six touchdowns, both of which occurred versus Wake Forest in 2020.
Brown also named Howell while listing the players who will walk on Senior Day, meaning they will play their last home games at Kenan Stadium. Brown has hinted at this for several months, saying Monday he has expected for more than a year that Howell would not be back for his senior season. Howell is projected to go in the first round of the NFL draft next spring.
“I have never had one thought about him coming back,” Brown said. “And he’s gonna be a first-round draft choice, so I think he should leave… And if he is ready to leave and he’s ready to make a bunch of money, then we think he should leave.”
Second-year freshman Jacolby Criswell and true freshman Drake Maye will split time at quarterback this weekend, as the program looks to build toward the future.
Criswell, who is 6-foot, and 220 pounds, has played in six games in two seasons as a Tar Heel, getting 56 total snaps. He has played just 12 snaps this season. Overall, Criswell is 5-for-6 passing with 70 yards, one touchdown, and an interception. He has run the ball 11 times for 28 yards.
Maye, a former 4-star prospect from Charlotte and the son of former UNC quarterback Mark Maye, has played in only two games getting five snaps. He has not attempted a pass. His older brother, Luke Maye, is a former standout basketball player for the Tar Heels. Maye is 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds.
“That obviously puts into question your young backup quarterbacks, so you have to get them ready to play,” Brown said. “They’ll get the heavy load of practice this week, and we’ll just have to decide during the week how we play them.”
UNC hosts Wofford at noon Saturday before closing the regular season at NC State on Friday, November 26.
