Report: North Carolina updates status of Sam Howell for Duke's Mayo Bowl

North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell will play for the Tar Heels in their upcoming Duke’s Mayo Bowl appearance against South Carolina, according to a report from ESPN’s David Hale.

Howell, who missed his final home game against Wofford with an upper-body injury, returned to the lineup last week for North Carolina’s stunning loss to NC State, which saw the Wolfpack score two touchdowns in 26 seconds to pull off a win. Howell projects as a top-seven quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft, so many questioned whether the Tar Heels’ signal caller would call it a career one game early and prepare for the draft, especially considering that he’s already solidified his resume as the best quarterback in UNC history.

Howell entered the 2021 season with Heisman Trophy hopes, but he ultimately fell short as UNC struggled. Through 11 games, Howell has completed 62.7 percent of his passes for 2,851 passing yards, 23 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while also taking 170 rushes for 825 yards and 11 rushing scores. He will finish his collegiate career atop most every major passing category. Howell ranks No. 1 in North Carolina program history in passing yards (10,078), No. 1 in passing touchdowns (91), No. 1 in total offense (11,074) and No. 1 in total touchdowns (110).

UNC head coach Mack Brown, who returned to Chapel Hill for his second stint as head coach in 2019, managed to flip Howell’s commitment from Florida State to North Carolina. Howell, at the time, was a four-star prospect in the 2019 recruiting class, via the On3 Consensus ratings. He also was the No. 6 quarterback in the class, and No. 2 overall prospect in North Carolina. Howell enrolled early in January 2019 and quickly beat out Cade Fortn and Jace Ruder for the job, making him the Tar Heels’ starting quarterback for the next three seasons.

In Howell’s freshman year, 2019, he was named the ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year and ACC Overall Rookie of the Year, in addition to his selection on the Freshman All-American team. He started all 13 games at quarterback and set the FBS true freshman record and UNC school record with 38 touchdown passes, while leading UNC to a 7-6 record and a 55-13 win over Temple in the Military Bowl. One year later, Howell — as a sophomore — set several more records, including a single-game passing yards record (550) and single-game passing touchdowns record (six), as North Carolina erupted for 59 points in a win over Wake Forest. UNC finished the abbreviated COVID-19 season with an 8-4 record and lost to Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl, but Howell led the Tar Heels to a season-high ranking of No. 5 in the AP Poll, a ranking the program had not reached since 1997.