Criswell will continue to share QB snaps, first-team reps with Harrell

By R.L. Bynum

After three games, Jacolby Criswell is becoming a key part of North Carolina’s offense.

Criswell will still share snaps with Conner Harrell for Saturday’s noon game (ACC Network) against James Madison (2–0). At his weekly press conference on Monday, Coach Mack Brown didn’t name a starter and said they would share starting reps in practice.

Brown’s plan entering the Tar Heels’ 45–10 Saturday win over N.C. Central was to start Conner Harrell and bring in Criswell for the third series. Criswell led UNC (3–0) to scores in his first three series, and took control of the position.

“We’re very inexperienced at quarterback,” Brown said. “We’ve just got to do a great job of coaching these two young guys and build on what they do best.”

Playing 47 snaps compared to 26 for Harrell, Criswell completed 14 of 23 passes for 161 yards, one touchdown and a 134 passer rating.

“Saturday was a positive experience for him,” Brown said of Criswell. “He’s really smart. He’s a great student. He’s got a tremendous arm. We all talked about that when he and Drake [Maye] were competing. He’s got such a quick release, and a couple of those throws were unbelievable.”

Harrell didn’t look as comfortable in the pocket and was only 2 of 6 for 22 yards and a 64.1 passer rating. Even though Harrell is more of a running quarterback, Criswell outrushed him 16–6 on only one more carry.

“He has a legitimate chance to step up and help this football team for the first time,” Brown said of Criswell. “I thought he looked better Saturday than I’ve seen him look. There are many things he can improve, but the only way a quarterback can improve his play is to go out there and do it.”

Criswell may have been the starter coming out of preseason camp if not for missing spring practice. After one season at Arkansas, he transferred back to UNC, where he was the backup to Sam Howell, then Maye.

There’s no doubt Criswell is happy with the opportunity in front of him now.

“Just watching Sam and Drake and all those other guys just performing out there, and obviously me being the backup, it was like when is my time, Lord?” Criswell said.

While he was familiar with the program, the offense he learned two years ago when Phil Longo was offensive coordinator is quite different from the current offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey’s scheme.

“When I first got here, no pressure,” Criswell said, knowing that Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson and Harrell had the edge to earn the starting spot. “Just coming in here, I knew Max and Connor — this was their team moving forward and I was going to help them regardless, and I’m just going to wait until my turn happened.

“Honestly, Max’s injury — you don’t ever want to be able to play after someone gets hurts like that,” Criswell said. “I felt so bad for him. Coach Lindsey was like, ‘you’re one, two snaps away. Be ready, make sure you are on top of your stuff.’ I just had to be on top of my stuff.”

Part of that is losing 15 pounds since camp started, and he admits that he was too heavy. He was 210 pounds when he left for Arkansas, and its coaches said that he had to gain weight “or get demolished” in the Razorbacks’ pro-style offense.

He got used to gaining weight and realized when he got to UNC that some of those pounds would have to come off. The 6–1 Criswell said he’s down to about 228 pounds.

Lindsey said that Criswell has shown more of a sense of urgency in practice since Johnson got hurt.

“He had a calm demeanor,” Lindsey said. “I thought the was very calm in the pocket. He’s got arm talent, and the ball came out usually on time. There’s some things, obviously, he wants to clean up.”

In one game, Criswell nearly had as many attempts and completions as he did in four games last season for Arkansas, where he was 17 of 27 for 143 yards and three touchdowns.

Criswell says he and Harrell are “boys” and have a relationship that began two seasons ago when Harrell was a freshman and Criswell was a mentor. Criswell is undoubtedly happy to be the starter, but it’s not as if it’s a vicious competition.

“When one person had success, the other has success,” Criswell said. “He was very much helping me out during practice. I was very helping him out there. I was like, ‘If I do well, you go out there and do what you do anyways.’ We had each other’s back and just kept going forward.”

There’s no doubt Criswell is happy with the opportunity in front of him now.

Criswell made the short passes that Harrell has had trouble completing and distributed the ball to tight ends better, with John Copenhaver catching six passes on seven targets for 60 yards and Bryson Nesbit snagging three catches on five targets for 42 yards.

“I was just comfortable, so that was the main thing,” Criswell said.

NOTES — The James Madison game is a sellout. … Jorge Sedano, Orlando Franklin and Morgan Uber will be on the ACC Network call. … JMU’s leading rusher is former UNC running back George Pettaway, with 114 yards on 18 carries. … Carolina has won al three meetings with JMU, the last a 56–28 win in 2016. … The ACC opener at Duke on Sept. 28 will start at 4 p.m. and air on ESPN2. … The defense has allowed 43 first downs, the fewest through three games since 2008. … Omarion Hampton was UNC’s offensive player of the game after running for 210 yards, including 181 after first contact, and also is the ACC running back of the week. … Kaleb Cost and Kevin Hester were the defensive players of the game. … Christian Hamilton was the special teams player of the game.

Month/ date	Score/ time	Opponent	Record/ TV
September
1	L, 48–14	vs. TCU	0–1
6	W, 20–3	at Charlotte	1–1
13	W, 41–6	vs. Richmond	2–1
20	L, 34–9	at UCF	2–2
October
4	L, 38–10	vs. Clemson	2–3, 0–1 ACC
17 (Fri.)	L, 21–18	at California	2–4, 0–2
25	L, 17–16, OT	vs. No. 16 Virginia	2–5, 0–3
31 (Fri.)	W, 27–10	at Syracuse	3–5, 1–3
November
8	W, 20–15	vs. Stanford	4–5, 2–3
15	L, 28–12	at Wake Forest	4–6, 2–4
22	L, 32–25	vs. Duke	4–7, 2–5
29	L, 42–19	at N.C. State	4–8, 2–6