Leading up to Saturday's 56-7 win over Mercer, Sam Howell had heard the rumblings that he was on the cusp of breaking the North Carolina single-season record for touchdown passes.
But he didn't know, he insisted, how many he needed.
So, when the freshman rolled out to his right and connected with Jake Bargas for a 4-yard score early in the second quarter, he acted no differently than he had after any of his previous 30 touchdown passes. Neither did his teammates. That, however, didn't last long.
Moments after returning to the sideline they looked up at the videoboard, which displayed a graphic stating that Howell had just passed Mitch Trubisky's school record of 30 touchdown passes.