QB Conner Harrell shows promise in Duke’s Mayo Bowl

NORTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS

North Carolina quarterback Conner Harrell runs upfield in the Tar Heels' 30-10 loss to West Virginia in the Duke's Mayo Bowl at Bank of America Stadium.

Conner Harrell’s first half as North Carolina’s starting quarterback was promising.

The redshirt freshman had some bright spots in Wednesday’s 30-10 loss to West Virginia in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl that offers promise for the future. Harrell, who completed 11-of-13 passes in the first half with a touchdown, finished 18-of-27 for 199 yards. He also hurt the Mountaineers on the ground, speeding past defenders for 39 yards rushing (after sacks) and several first downs.

“I thought Conner competed,” North Carolina coach Mack Brown said. “I didn’t think we helped him enough. We didn’t give him enough protection. So, I felt like again, the game should have been closer.”

North Carolina was down seven starters who opted out of the postseason game, including starting quarterback Drake Maye, a Myers Park High graduate. So, Brown turned over field general duties to Harrell, who kept the Tar Heels close in the first half.

“I thought Conner did really well,” Brown said. “He tweaked his ankle in the first quarter or second quarter and I think he couldn’t run as much. That hurt us because he is really fast and made some great plays with his feet. We tried to open up a little bit in the second half and didn’t protect him as well. I thought overall, he did a lot of great things and this will really help him.”

Trailing late in the first half, Harrell drove the Tar Heels downfield in under a minute and found wide receiver J.J. Jones for a 16-yard touchdown to narrow the gap to 17-10 at the break.

West Virginia (9-4) outscored North Carolina (8-5) 13-0 in the second half, which left the Tar Heels upset about the result.

“Everybody, all the guys in the locker room,” Harrell said. “It is a sick feeling in your stomach. But we’ve got to get ready and have to get better.”
Harrell wasn’t perfect, as he threw two interceptions, which could be characterized as freshman mistakes.

“Both of them were to Deems May, the tight end,” Brown said. (Harrell and May) hadn’t worked together before. I thought the first (interception) was a bit of a force. It was over the middle and there were two safeties there and (May) had a chance, but (Harrell) threw it a little high.

“The second one was inches away,” Brown said. “The (West Virginia defender) made a great play. Deems is going to have like a 20- or 30-yard run and may score. But the (defender) jumped up and made a great catch. Conner didn’t get it quite high enough, so he will learn a lot from tonight’s game.”

Having the bowl game experience will help Harrell as he transitions to next season and competing for the starting role.

“Obviously, having a little bit of experience, being out there under the lights is different,” he said. “So, that does give me a little more confidence knowing that you’ve done that before.”

Harrell is looking forward to the offseason and knows there is much to work on before next fall.

“Decision-making is huge,” he said. “It’s a huge part of it. I’ll watch the film and see it more, but some of the same stuff I worked on to get here is what I’ll work on in the offseason.”

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