The new sports season opened with more evidence that college athletics will never be quite the same, some changes for better and some for worse. We’ll just have to see how it all plays out.
Before the football Tar Heels kicked off the 2022 campaign at Kenan Stadium, their basketball brethren had something called the Blue-White Game but not what Carolina fans remember from the old days, when Carmichael Auditorium filled up to the last row and we excitedly saw the new team while Dean Smith watched from the scorer’s table.
It’s a different animal now, thanks to the burgeoning NIL era of college sports.
This new age confounds Mack Brown, who turned 71 on the day when his fourth Tar Heel team in his second UNC stint debuted against Florida A&M, which arrived in Chapel Hill with limited players. Twenty Rattlers were left back in Tallahassee due to eligibility issues caused by the transfer portal — the other major change to the rules wreaking havoc amongst coaches and administrators.
Besides a record-breaking performance from red-shirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye, the underdog visitors stayed right with the home Heels for three quarters as a near-capacity crowd sat through an intermittent rain. The 56-24 final also bamboozled (legal!) bettors since the teams went well beyond the “over” total of 58 points while Carolina failed to cover the 35-point spread by a field goal.
The game had been moved to “Week Zero” because Brown wanted Maye and freshmen, like bulldozing back Omarion Hampton and fleet George Pettaway, to get some college experience before the Tar Heels go to Appalachian State this Saturday. No. 28 and No. 23 did not look like they needed it, combining for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns on 18 carries and averaging about 10 yards a tote.
North Carolina’s George Pettaway (23) evades Florida A&M’s Eric Smith (8), Gentle Hunt (92) and Justin Cooks (57) en route to a touchdown during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Maye was the show, however, and proved that the back-up he beat out (Jacolby Criswell) must be pretty darn good. Coaches said it was a coin flip as to who started the first game after competing all spring and summer to be QB1.
The five touchdown passes from Mark Maye’s youngest son and Luke Maye’s kid brother set UNC precedents for a freshman in his first start and any quarterback in a season opener. In going 29-for-37 for 294 yards, Maye hit ten different receivers, led by jack rabbit Josh Downs (9 catches for 78 yards and 2 touchdowns) and including three terrific tight ends who caught 8 balls and 2 more scoring passes. Carolina already looked at times like a bigger threat than when Sam Howell struggled to find anyone but Downs open as a junior.
Maye also had 55 yards rushing, including a 42-yard scamper that set up his first college TD pass and a sideline sprint that ended at the FAMU 1-yard line after he went airborne with a half gainer and a full twist that had the crowd gasping. Maye bounced up and Brown took a timeout to review the play and make sure the 6-foot-5 athlete was okay. He, regardless of the FCS opponent, looked every bit the young NFL prototype as advertised.
Maye was not sacked, protected by a retooled offensive line led by Miami grad transfer Corey Gaynor at center and a host of veterans and talented young back-ups. For a while, their offense was overshadowed by FAMU’s patchwork yet talented attack that scored on three straight and four out of five possessions in the middle of the game before the Tar Heels broke it open.
The defense, under new coaches Gene Chizik and Charlton Warren, seems to be deeper and did force two turnovers, but still needs work to get where Brown wants it after he fired Jay Bateman following last season’s 6-7 finish. One worry: star junior cornerback Tony Grimes left early with an injury and did not return.
Back to basketball, a few hours before: this Blue-White Game was less recognizable than what we’ve seen of exhibitions. The players on this season’s highly-ranked men’s hoops team were there all right — but they wore blue and white practice jerseys with their names and numbers but not their school logo.
Only four employees of the university were in the building: the two people who had to open and close the Smith Center, the team trainer and strength coach in case any of the players got hurt. No one else who works for UNC, including head coach Hubert Davis and his staff, was allowed in.
All the digital ribbon boards were turned off and a square in the middle of the large video screens showed black-and-white logos of the game “sponsors” including a company called ProCamps, which rented the arena and hired several former UNC players to coach the teams, all of whom got paid with the net proceeds from ticket sales.
There were no replays or PA announcer, just the shrieking voice of the basketball time-out mic man who offered a rambling commentary on what was happening on the court. The game had officials but no free throws. There were two 75-minute halves of “running time” with the points kept on two plain back-and-white scoreboards on the facias behind both baskets.
Although it was way more of a scrimmage, the returning players looked good. Of the newcomers, Northwestern grad transfer Pete Nance (32) and true freshman Seth Trimble (0), stood out.
Here are some highlights, courtesy of our friends at Inside Carolina:
There might have been 10,000 fans who paid $12 a ticket that went into the NIL coffers for the players. UNC did very little to promote the game because it was sponsored by direct competitors of six-figured athletic department partners.
BCBSNC questioned how United Healthcare could present an athletic event at the venue where it has exclusive category rights. Maybe Wells Fargo felt the same way, since Virginia-based Towne Bank also had its logo on the board. Both companies had commercials during a brief halftime.
This will not happen again once the season gets under way with only sanctioned practices and scheduled games. But it was enough to cause confusion over the few hundred dollars each player made for his Name-Image-Likeness on display. Many other Tar Heel athletes are making deals to benefit from their NILs.
Almost an hour after his game ended, Brown joined the ACC Network talking heads, who presented him with a small birthday cake. Mack pushed it away, saying he’s “lost 10, working on the next 15” and began his 72nd year by going back to work with all eyes on high noon in Boone this Saturday.
Man-for-man, that should be a second “W.” But, as they say, that’s why they still play the game…despite all the chaos swirling around it these days.
Photo via AP Photo/Chris Seward.
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