UNC entered the Holiday Bowl as a 14.5-point underdog against Oregon. Drake Maye, Carolina’s would-be Heisman contender came into this game without his offensive coordinator and top two receivers: Josh Downs had opted out to prepare for the NFL and Antoine Green was a late scratch due to injury.
Despite playing without his full arsenal, Maye put on a first half display that made true believers out of any college (or NFL) fan watching Fox last night.
All of Maye’s three touchdown passes were throws in-between defenders, and usually deep into his reads. On his first to Andre Greene (the freshman’s first career TD catch), Maye pump faked to Kobe Paysour running the underneath route, and got Trikweze Bridges to sit on it, freeing space in the back corner of the end zone for Greene to make a play in single coverage against Dontae Manning.