The Tar Heels picked up arguably their biggest win of the season on Saturday night in Chapel Hill with a win over Pittsburgh. In the process, though, they lost some key players to injury as they now prepare to go back on the road this week to a place where they haven’t had a ton of success. Here is a look at who is trending up and trending down as we head towards Saturday’s trip to Virginia.
⇧Drake Maye
Maye just continues to raise the bar this season and Saturday was no different. He finished the game with a career-high 388 yards and five touchdowns on 34 of 44 passing and once again led the team in rushing with 61 yards on fourteen carries. He played his best football in the second half, completing fourteen of his final sixteen passes for 191 yards and three touchdowns. Saturday night was Maye’s statement to the rest of the country that it is time to start taking him serious as a contender for the Heisman Trophy.
⇧Antoine Green
If Maye wasn’t the best player on the field on Saturday, that title might go to Green who had one of the best games of his entire career. He caught ten of his thirteen targets for 180 yards and two touchdowns, including an amazing one-handed grab to open the scoring. This performance was just another example of how much Green has grown, even since last season, and how complete of a receiver he has become.
⇧Josh Downs
Downs combined with Green to become the first receiving duo in program history to have 100+ yards receiving in back-to-back games. He caught eleven of his seventeen passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns of his own. He was dominant late in the game, catching seven passes for 10+ yards in the final two quarters. Downs just continues to prove why he might just be the nation’s best slot receiver.
⇧Kaimon Rucker
The Tar Heels defensive front had a huge night overall and that charge was led by Rucker. He may have only had two tackles in the game, but he did have 0.5 a sack and led the team with four quarterback hurries, causing most of that havoc in the second half. Rucker has repeatedly shown flashes like this over the last three years, but with the injury issues that are plaguing this team right now, the team needs him to become that consistent force that can get after the quarterback now more than ever.
⇧Jahvaree Ritzie
Ritzie was another defensive lineman that shined on Saturday night. He finished with the most total tackles of any player on the defensive front with five and he got the most consistent push of any of the interior guys in this one. He and Rucker were the only two defensive linemen with multiple quarterback pressures in this one and they will be counted on to produce at a high level moving forward.
⇧Kevin Hester Jr.
Hester Jr. was yet another player on the Tar Heel defensive line that stepped up and had arguably his best game of the season. He did a good job of shedding blockers, especially in the run game to help teammates make plays on the football. This is the third straight game that Hester Jr. has started since Raymond Vohasek’s injury and it was a huge step forward for him.
⇧Jacolbe Cowan
Cowan is the last defensive lineman that we will point to that stood out. He played 26 snaps in the game and the team seemed to be pretty effective when he was on the field despite him only registering one total tackle and one quarterback hurry. Cowan is going to have to play a lot more over the final third of the season with the season-ending injuries to Noah Taylor and Des Evans and his performance against Pittsburgh should give fans just a little bit of hope.
⇧Don Chapman
The secondary had a brutal day overall, but Chapman had himself a good day and should be in the conversation to start this weekend. He easily graded out as the team’s best defensive back on Saturday afternoon and looked good in coverage and in the open field. With how bad Cam’Ron Kelly and Giovanni Biggers have been so far this year, there should be a serious discussion about Chapman starting at one of the two spots this weekend.
Comments