North Carolina’s first post-Drake Maye game at QB looks completely cursed

The post-Drake Maye era isn’t off to a solid start with the North Carolina Tar Heels. In just the first half of game one on the road against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, fans were begging for head coach Mack Brown to bench Johnson for another quarterback. Johnson has since left a knee injury.

Late in the third quarter against the Golden Gophers, Johnson had completed 12 of 19 of his passes for only 71 yards and an interception in the first play of a drive in the middle of the second quarter.  That interception thrown by Johnson would lead to a two-play, six-yard drive by Minnesota to tie in the game.

To make matters worse, Johnson left the game with the injury, leaving Harrell as the first-string quarterback for an unknown portion of the season.

It could be a very long season for the Tar Heels, who are darkhorse candidates to win the ACC and make a college football playoff appearance.

North Carolina’s first post-Drake Maye game at QB looks completely cursed

Brown and the Tar Heels had a difficult offseason goal to replace the two-year starting quarterback, Drake Maye. Instead of developing a new starter for the 2024 season, Brown decided to go for the transfer and former LSU and Texas A&M starter in Johnson. This left Harrell, a more dual-threat quarterback, listed as the backup.

In just one half of the game against Minnesota, North Carolina fans have seen enough. Harrell will be the quarterback moving forward, likely until Johnson comes back, but not for the reason that fans believe. Johnson is out with a knee injury.

The Tar Heels will likely run the ball more with Harrell, a RPO-style quarterback, running the offense. Through most of the game, the Tar Heels ran the ball more, but the passing offense only utilized short-yard situation plays. Johnson has shown multiple times at different schools that he isn’t an efficient long-yard passing quarterback. 

Johnson has had an up-and-down career through two previous teams at LSU and Texas A&M, now that process appears to have occurred with North Carolina. Johnson was decent as the backup quarterback for LSU in 2020. By the time he took full control of the offense for LSU in 2021, Johnson had some good, but not great moments as he threw for 2,814 yards, 27 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

By the time he transferred to Texas A&M in the last two seasons, Johnson struggled at times. He never became the reliable quarterback to play above a game-manager. In just one half as a Tar Heel, Johnson struggled by not taking risks in big plays and limiting the offense.

With the injury to Johnson, Harrell will take control of the offense. Harrell is likely to take more risks in deep plays in the air. He will also open up the playbook for the offense with quarterback runs and option-style plays. Fans might be happier with Harrell moving forward as Johnson’s knee could be an issue.