West Virginia is preparing to face North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. However, the North Carolina that will take the field against the Mountaineers, will be a different team than that got them to this point.
North Carolina will be without quarterback Drake Maye, as backup Conner Harrell will be making his first-career start at the position.
“When you think about him, I think two things stick out. First of all, he’s really fast — he’s a big kid that’s really fast. Second thing is he throws the deep ball really well,” West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said.
For the Mountaineers, they are preparing to face Harrell, who has thrown just six passes this season, after he sat behind Maye. Maye is expected to be one of the first quarterbacks taken in the upcoming 2023 NFL Draft, and opted to now play in the bowl game.
“Maye is special, he really is, he’s going to be the first or second quarterback taken in the draft and he’s special. But also, when you’re playing in these games, there’s going to be some energy around them playing,” Brown said.
“It’s a chance for him (Harrell), it’s an opportunity for him on a good stage. They brought in a transfer quarterback, and I guarantee he’s using this to show hey, you might be bringing a transfer in, but I’m here, and I’m ready to compete, and this is my job. Even though he hasn’t played, he’s really talented.”
Brown said they are going back to Harrell’s high school days to try and find game tape and film to watch. This season, Harrell went 4 for 6 passing, for 71 yards and a touchdown. He also had five rushes, including a 61-yard touchdown rush against Campbell, taking a draw and then breaking a tackle on the way to a score.
Brown said when he looks at Harrell’s tape from his playing days at Thompson High School in Alabama, he sees a versatile quarterback, similar to the skills he sees in his own quarterback, Garrett Greene.
“If you go back and you watch his high school tape, it’s post and go routes he threw really well and they’ve got some big body guys at receiver. Are they going to look the exact same when Drake Maye played quarterback, I don’t know,” Brown said.
“I think they’re not going to ask their o-line to do a bunch of different things, but I think they’re definitely going to have some quarterback run game and I can see them throwing the ball off of some play action stuff and getting the ball downfield. I know he has a lot of confidence throwing the ball on those deep throws.”
West Virginia cornerback Beanie Bishop will be trying to slow down Harrell in the pass game, and said his rushing ability is something they have to look out for.
“Pretty good quarterback. We watched him a little bit, he didn’t really have too many plays this year, so we kind of had to watch his high school highlights. Guy can run, so they might change the game plan up a little bit,” Bishop said.
Either way, Harrell is going to have a strong running back to rely on in Omarion Hampton who rushed for 1,442 yards and 15 touchdowns this season.
“That running back is a really, really, good player. We’ve played a bunch of good tuning backs this year, but he’s as god as anybody we’ve played,” Brown said.
Kickoff for the Duke’s Mayo Bowl is set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday night from Charlotte.
