All it took was two drives for Mack Brown and the Tar Heels to manufacture points. Not points on the scoreboard, mind you, but talking points for the next week.
Starting quarterback Conner Harrell was subbed out after two uninspiring series and replaced with back-up – and, not long ago, third-stringer – Jacolby Criswell. The Tar Heel-turned-Razorback-turned Tar Heel again did everything Harrell didn’t, marching the offense down the field for touchdowns and looking much more comfortable in his role. Drake Maye he was not, but he didn’t have to be for Carolina to pull away from North Carolina Central.
It was assumed Criswell was subbed in because of Harrell’s poor start, but Brown pushed back on that after the game.
“We decided during the week that we were gonna put him in [for] the third series, regardless,” the Hall of Famer told reporters. “Because we wanted to play both of them. And if you just put him in and don’t tell Conner you’re gonna put him in, then Conner thinks you’re taking him out. We didn’t want to do that. And then when [Criswell] took it right down and scored, we wanted to put him back in.”
Brown also indicated this arrangement would be kept in place for the time being. When it comes to determining a starter for next weekend’s game against James Madison, he said he and his staff would independently evaluate every play from both quarterbacks, compare notes and then make a decision.
Many fans could be forgiven for seeing this as an unwieldy balancing act, especially considering the excellence at quarterback for the past five seasons. The rotation seems all the more dubious when comparing stats against the Eagles: Criswell completed 14 of 23 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown. Harrell finished 2-6 for 22 yards. The first five of Carolina’s six touchdown drives came with Criswell at quarterback.
His performance served as a surprising episode in an odyssey of a college career. Criswell arrived in Chapel Hill in 2020, but entered the transfer portal after losing the quarterback competition to Maye in the fall of 2022. He returned to his home state and signed with Arkansas in 2023, but couldn’t break through there, either. He unexpectedly rejoined Carolina this past summer, after spring practice had concluded. Because of his late start, Criswell had to play catch-up with the playbook and was viewed as a long shot to play behind both Harrell and Max Johnson.
And if you weren’t expecting to see him toss the rock in Kenan Stadium, don’t worry. Criswell is just as surprised as you.
“Me entering the transfer portal, I never thought I’d be back here,” he said after the game. “I woke up one day and there it was. So it felt great [on Saturday]. Watching Sam [Howell], Drake and all those other guys performing out there and me being the back-up, it was like, ‘When is it my time, Lord?’ Me and Conner, we were going back and forth in practice, helping each other out throughout. I was just excited for my number to be called.”
The performance wasn’t perfect: Criswell regularly overthrew his receivers on deep passes and likely hasn’t learned the full playbook yet. But he performed admirably for someone who arrived less than five months ago and was – by his own admission – well overweight. It was enough to impress his head coach, but Brown made a point to involve both his quarterbacks in the discussion of next steps.
“There’s a tremendous amount of talent there,” Brown said of Criswell. “And where he’s gotta do a better job in the running game, Conner’s gotta continue to grow in the passing game. But they’ve both got some things that they can do to help us win.”
So perhaps there isn’t a quarterback “controversy” in Chapel Hill. To hear Brown tell it, he knew exactly what he was doing when he subbed Criswell in early, then re-inserted Harrell for one unsuccessful drive in the third quarter and quickly went back to Criswell until the game was out of reach. If anything, Criswell’s solid outing only made a murky situation even more so.
Maybe there is a method to Brown’s madness. Or maybe he’ll just roll with the hot hand. Either way, both quarterbacks have suddenly found themselves on an uncomfortably short leash.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications
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