The Tar Heels don't have many things to be excited about right now with another collapse to end the regular season. In the last three days, though, the Tar Heels did have two of their stars named finalists for a couple of different awards. Here is a look at the chances that we think Omarion Hampton and Drake Maye have to take home their respective hardware at the end of the season.
Omarion Hampton- Doak Walker Award
The Doak Walker Award finalists were announced right around noon earlier today and amongst that group of three was Tar Heel running back Omarion Hampton. Hampton finished the regular season fourth in the FBS in rushing yards (1442), eighth in rushing touchdowns (15), third in scrimmage yards (1657) and first in yards after contact (1023).Â
Hampton had positioned himself well heading into last week, but an extremely quiet performance against NC State, in large part because of his offensive line, has put him in a tough spot. Oklahoma State running back Ollie Gordon II seems like the favorite to win the award heading in, especially if he has a big showing on Saturday in the Big 12 title game against Texas.
Drake Maye- Manning Award Finalist
This finalist list is a bit more extensive, but Maye is still one of the final ten in the running for this award that will be given out following the conclusion of bowl season. Maye sits seventh in country in passing yards (3608), thirteenth in touchdowns responsible for (33) and third in total yards (4057). Unfortunately, Maye probably sits towards the bottom of the list here amongst this group right now. If he plays in the bowl game, he can probably jump a few people, but he simply isn’t playing close to the level that Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr. are right now.