ASHBURN, Va. -- Sam Howell needed to make a choice.
It was a day before North Carolina's 2019 spring game, and the true freshman quarterback was playing rock, paper, scissors to determine which candidate for the starting quarterback job would get first chance at impressing the coaches.
Howell won (he chose scissors), and it was the only opportunity he needed.
Howell was competing with two redshirt freshmen for the job: Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder. Howell's talent was obvious. But coach Mack Brown didn't know how he'd handle the pressure.