Auburn football: UNC QB Sam Howell could present problem for Tigers

Bo Nix may have been the five-star wunderkind but it was UNC who had the best freshman quarterback in college football last season. The gem of the Tarheel’s 2019 recruiting class, Howell took the starting job as a true freshman last year and absolutely ran with it.

When asked who led the ACC in passing yards per game, you’d probably guess Clemson phenom Trevor Lawrence. However, it was actually Howell who tossed over 280.1 yards per game. Wel,, how about passing touchdowns? Howell led the conference in that too as he put up 38 passing touchdowns compared to Lawrence’s 36.

On the year, Howell also only threw seven interceptions and while the Tarheels’ pass-happy system (32.5 passing attempts per game) certainly helped him statistically, Howell enters the 2020 season as one of the country’s most underrated quarterbacks.

Although they lost that game, just look at Howell’s tape on the road against Virginia Tech where he threw for 348 yards and five TDs (with no interceptions) and you’ll see why Auburn will have its hands full against UNC.

Behind Howell, redshirt sophomore Jace Ruder is a former four-star dual-threat quarterback who appeared in two games last season.