Spring Game Is About Player Evaluation For Brown, Staff

CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina will cap off its series of football practices that began five weeeks ago with the spring game Saturday afternoon at Kenan Stadium .

It will begin with a seven-on-seven event before the actual game is played. It starts at 3 pm and will air on the ACC Network. UNC sold out all 10,600 tickets, the maximum allowed by the state per ongoing COVID protocols, so this will be the largest home crowd the team has played in front of since the conclusion of the 2019 regular season when the Tar Heels sold out every game.

Saturday will be much like a game, but not everything has yet been determined.

“We’re still trying to figure out what we’re going to do for kicking,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said following practice on Tuesday. “The game will start at 3:45, I think the broadcast starts at 3 o’clock on (the) ACC Network.

“We will have a full scrimmage. There will be tackling, and it should be fun.”

Starting center Brian Anderson will miss the game to attend his brother’s wedding, and some players that have been out for most or all of spring will not participate.

“We feel like everybody else that is available on Saturday will be able to play,” Brown said.

Fans attending or watching at home should pay attention to how individual players perform more than the units they are on, because while score will be kept, the game is all about the staff evaluating individual players.

There will be schemes on both sides of the ball, but nobody is going to try and outwit each other. This is to evaluate, plain and simple.

“More than anything else, we’re not looking at schemes right now as much as we’re looking at personnel,” Brown said. “And even in the spring game, we will not have game plans. We’re not going to sit there and (offensive coordinator) Phil (Longo) and (defensive coordinator) Jay (Bateman) aren’t going to work against each other to figure out how they can move the ball or stop it.

“We are totally looking at people.”

Among the players fans might be most interested in seeing would include everyone along the defensive line, which is much deeper and talented than any time in recent history. Included are redshirt sophomore Kevin Hester, a former basketball player who has blossomed this spring. Also, true freshman defensive tackle Jahvaree Ritzie has been outstanding this spring and Brown says will play a role in Carolina’s pass rush in the fall.

An inexperienced but talented crop of wide receivers will certainly generate eyes, but the player that has stood out all spring and is worth paying attention to Saturday is sophomore Josh Downs. He scored two touchdowns in the Orange Bowl, and Brown says Downs has been “great” this spring.

Backup quarterback is a battle that will really commence in the summer, though how Drake Maye and Jacolby Criswell perform Saturday could have a lasting effect.

“Jacolby is playing better right now since he’s been here,” Brown said. “He’s had some good practices, he’s very talented, but it hasn’t transitioned to the field as well. I thought the last two scrimmages, he’s handled the drives well, he’s handled the offense well, and I do think he’s getting closer to being ready to play.

“Drake, right now, is very much like Sam was his first spring here. We’ve told Drake not to worry about it, ‘You’re very talented, you’re very smart, learn the offense, learn how to practice, but don’t be fighting for a job right now.’

The spring game is also an opportunity for Bateman and Brown to get closer to making some decisions with respect to the secondary.

Don Chapman started a lot oat safety the last two seasons but has been playing a lot lately at nickel while Ja’Qurious Conley, the starter there the last four games, has been working at safety. Cross training players will help the staff help get around injuries that could come in the fall, and considering the rate UNC’s defensive backs have been injured the last two seasons, they need to get guys experience in multiple spots in case they’re forced to move to a new position during the season.

Plus, the staff needs to know where certain players best fit.

“Jay and I are working really hard to find out what the best position for each one of these guys is,” Brown said.

That and much more will be learned by the staff, media, and fans during UNC’s spring game Saturday.