Tar Heels in NFL: Downs has best day of rookie season; Holcomb has big game; Chandler gains big on fake punt

Josh Downs had the best game of his rookie season, Cole Holcomb had a big day and Ty Chandler made a fake punt work on a Sunday with few bright spots for UNC alums. Although a touchdown still has eluded Downs through five games, the wide receiver caught all six passes targeted to him Sunday for a season-high 97 yards to put up a season-high 15.7 fantasy points in the Indianapolis Colts’ 23–16 home victory over the Tennessee Titans.

Good, Bad and Ugly Report: Syracuse

Sometimes things happen in college football that are simply unexpected. UNC’s dominating 40-7 win over Syracuse in Chapel Hill certainly falls in that category. It’s not that Carolina won the game; the Heels were an eight-point favorite and had a 61% chance to win, according to the ESPN FPI index. But I don’t think anyone anticipated such a dominating performance on both sides of the ball, leading to UNC’s biggest margin of victory since beating Georgia State 59–17 in 2021.

NCAA rules Walker immediately eligible, citing new information

he NCAA has ruled UNC wide receiver Tez Walker eligible immediately because of what it called new information, and he’ll debut as a Tar Heel on Saturday against Syracuse.

The NCAA said that the new information had not previously been provided to it by Carolina. “While we must be careful not to compromise a student-athlete’s right to privacy when it com