As the 2021 college football season draws closer, UNC junior quarterback Sam Howell was named a preseason First Team All-American on Thursday by the Walter Camp Football Foundation.

Along with the return of Hall-of-Fame head coach Mack Brown for a second tenure in Chapel Hill prior to the 2019 season, Howell has played a starring role in the transformation of the Tar Heel program.

The native of Indian Trail, North Carolina flipped his commitment from Florida State to UNC following Brown’s arrival and has gone on to become arguably the top quarterback in the country heading into the 2021 campaign.

Last season saw Howell throw for 3,586 yards and 30 touchdowns while leading UNC to an appearance in the Orange Bowl, the program’s first major bowl appearance since 1950. He was a Second Team All-ACC selection due to the presence of Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence — the No. 1 pick of the 2021 NFL Draft — on the First Team, and was a finalist for the Manning Award.

As a true freshman in 2019, Howell set a new UNC single-season record with 38 touchdown passes and threw for 3,641 yards across the Tar Heels’ 13 games.

Howell currently sits fifth on the school’s all-time passing yardage list at 7,227 and is tied with Darian Durant for the all-time touchdown mark at 68. Those 68 touchdown passes are the most through a sophomore season in ACC history.

He needs just 2,150 yards in 2021 to pass yardage leader T.J. Yates (9,377) on the school’s all-time list.

 

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