UNC Football: Tar Heels wrap up Spring Practice

The UNC Football program hit the field for the Spring Game to wrap up practices until August when they begin training camp

The weather didn’t fully cooperate on Saturday but that didn’t stop the North Carolina Tar Heels’ football program from playing their Spring Game. UNC wrapped up their 2019 Spring practices with the annual Spring Game with the next step being training camp in the Summer.

A new era of UNC football is about to begin with head coach Mack Brown making his second stint in the position.

On Saturday, UNC fans were able to get a quick glimpse of the 2019 football team under Brown in a scrimmage that lasted 70 plays. While it wasn’t a big turnout due to the weather, there were still some promising moments.

One of the big battles this offseason will be at quarterback. Freshman Sam Howell will battle with redshirt freshmen Jace Ruder and Cade Fortin for the starting job and on Saturday, all three saw action in the game.

Both Ruder and Howell looked sharp on Saturday, scoring touchdowns in their drives. Howell threw a touchdown pass on a dime to Roscoe Johnson, showing off his deep ball and accuracy:

Howell also had an interception but did throw for over 100 yards. Ruder was sharp with his accuracy and led the Tar Heels on two scoring drives. He capped one off with a rushing touchdown. Fortin struggled, completing just two of his six attempts.

There hasn’t been any indication of who is currently winning the job as of now and this battle is likely to come down to the wire. When training camp practices begin in August, we should have a better feel of who is the starter.

The quarterbacks also got the chance to run their new Air-Raid offense in a scrimmage for the first time.

With an hour or so of practice, it wasn’t a full look but a glimpse for fans of what to expect. The biggest takeaway is that this offense should be a lot better. The Tar Heels flashed their potential for big plays in the scrimmage. In addition to the Roscoe Johnson touchdown we showed you, tight end Carl Tucker looked great as well.

Tucker had a long reception that went nearly 80 yards down the sideline.

In addition to Tucker, the run game looked solid on offense. We already knew what Michael Carter can do as he’s flashed a lot of potential over the past two seasons. But on Saturday it was Javonte Williams that stole the show.

Williams is entering his sophomore season and played sparingly in 2018. He had his breakout game against Western Carolina, rushing for 93 yards and a touchdown. The Tar Heels could have one of the best backfields in the Atlantic Coast Conference next season and it’s another dynamic added to the offense. On Saturday, Williams was the best back on the field and it showed early on as he rushed for a touchdown and over 50 yards.

On defense, the Tar Heels gave a few different looks. They will play a lot of nickel this year but new defensive coordinator Jay Bateman threw a few different looks out in the game.

Most of what you saw on Saturday was just going through the motions on defense but don’t be shocked to see Bateman mix in a bunch of formations this season.

Another thing that was noticeable was both Jake Lawrence and Chazz Surratt playing outside linebacker. They will be mainly depth pieces on the outside for Bateman.

The secondary did look confused at times in reaction to UNC’s new offense and they could be working out some kinks. There is a lot of depth back there but they were missing Myles Dorn.

Dominique Ross made a big play by intercepting Howell as it was probably the defensive highlight of the game.

For more on the UNC Football program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.