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UNC Football: Drake Maye named Shaun Alexander Freshman of The Year

By Aaron Conrad

Dec 3, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye (10) warms up before the ACC Championship against the Clemson Tigers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 3, 2022; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Drake Maye (10) warms up before the ACC Championship against the Clemson Tigers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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UNC Football just announced that freshman Drake Maye is the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award winner. 

Freshman Drake Maye continues to add awards to his already impressive resume for the 2022 season. The UNC Football program made the announcement on Twitter that Maye is the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year.

According to ShaunAlexander.com, the award is given to the top freshman every season.

"Shaun ended his career at Alabama with 3,565 yards rushing (41 touchdowns), 798 receiving yards (8 TD receptions), and one kickoff return for a touchdown. Due to Shaun’s tremendous freshman campaign for the Crimson Tide, The College Football Freshman Player of the Year Award is now called The Shaun Alexander Award."

The inaugural winner of the award in 2018 was Clemson freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Other freshmen to bring home the award are as follows:

2019 – Kenneth Gainwell (Memphis)

2020 – Will Anderson Jr (Alabama)

2021 – Brock Bowers (Georgia)

Now Maye can add his name to that list of players as well.

For the 2022 season, Maye had 4,115 yards passing, 35 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, and a QBR of 82.8. For much of the season, Maye was mentioned as an outside chance for the Heisman trophy as well. Ultimately, the award went to Caleb Williams of USC and Maye was not invited to the ceremony.

Surely after announcing his return to Chapel Hill next season, he will be among the pre-season favorites for the award again next season.

Rumors swirled recently that Maye turned down multiple more significant opportunities to return to UNC.

While much of college football has been a storm of transfer portal news and players leaving for other teams, Maye has maintained that he loves playing for UNC Football.

We can only imagine what another Maye will do next season to add to his impressive list of accomplishments.

Next. UNC Football: Tar Heels Land Wide Receiver Transfer. dark

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