A look at four probable new starters for UNC in the Orange Bowl after stars opt out

The No. 13 UNC football team will take on No. 5 Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl on Saturday in the Tar Heels’ first major bowl game in 70 years. There’s just one catch.

Actually, four catches.

Star wide receiver Dyami Brown, two-time All-ACC linebacker Chazz Surratt, and the thunder-and-lightning running back duo of Javonte Williams and Michael Carter all announced they’d forgo the game to begin preparing for the 2021 NFL Draft. 

With some of the team’s most familiar top performers gone, let’s take a look at the players head coach Mack Brown will need to step up and fill those recently emptied shoes.

British Brooks and Josh Henderson

The backfield combo of Williams and Carter had a record-breaking 2020, finishing the season with a combined 2,957 total yards and 33 total touchdowns en route to All-America honors for both players. Nobody else on the team comes even close to those numbers, with sophomore quarterback Sam Howell standing as the team’s third-leading rusher.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo said in a press conference that despite the two stars opting out, he didn’t want to “reinvent the wheel” against the Aggies, instead relying on the tactics he knows will work. Carter’s elusive speed and Williams’ monstrous runs certainly made moving that wheel a lot easier, though, and the Tar Heels don’t really have another back with as much game-time experience.

Walk-on junior British Brooks and sophomore Josh Henderson will likely be Longo’s two main backfield choices. Both were high school standouts: Brooks, a two-time All-Big South Conference selection from Ashbrook High School in Gastonia, and Henderson, who was named New Jersey Prep Player of the Year as a senior at the Hun School.

Mack Brown said Brooks and Henderson have been taking heavy reps in practice all year to prepare for moments like this, but that doesn’t change the fact that they’ve only registered a combined 21 rushing attempts for 92 yards on the season. Only time will tell if the two relatively untested backs can hold their own against one of the best rushing defenses in the country.

Eugene Asante

The inside linebacker partnership of Surratt and junior Jeremiah Gemmel proved solid throughout the Tar Heels’ run to the Orange Bowl. With Surratt out, that spot will now fall to his presumptive heir: sophomore Eugene Asante.

Asante was a 247Sports Composite four-star recruit from Virginia in the class of 2019. He got reps in all 13 games of his first-year season, with his best performance coming during a blowout of Mercer, where he led the team with eight tackles. He even registered a tackle during UNC’s 55-13 win over Temple in the Military Bowl as a true first-year.

The 2020 season also saw him continue to get playing time in every game, including a season-high seven tackles during the win over Virginia Tech. Yet, despite all that playing time, the Orange Bowl will be one of his first starts for UNC.

Still, co-defensive coordinator Jay Bateman said this week that he believes Asante might be the best backup on the entire roster. Asante might not have the accolades that Surratt has, but this game could be his first step towards earning them.

Khafre Brown

When it comes to replacing UNC’s leading receiver in Brown, Longo doesn’t have to look far. In fact, he probably won’t even have to leave the Brown family, with younger brother and redshirt first-year Khafre Brown likely acting as one of the younger receivers who will have to fill his older brother’s role alongside senior Dazz Newsome.

The younger Brown brother has been productive for the Tar Heels all season, notching an efficient 297 yards and two touchdowns on just 13 receptions. His shining moment came during the game against Virginia, where he caught a pass on a slant route near midfield and blazed past defenders all the way to the end zone for a 76-yard score. 

Brown’s teammates know how good he can be, with sophomore wideout Emery Simmons referring to his speed as “explosive" in an Orange Bowl press conference. If he can prove his skill in this game, he might be just the person to fill the hole Dyami left on offense.

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