Sam Howell
 | |
| North Carolina Tar Heels – No. 7 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class | Sophomore |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | September 16, 2000 Indian Trail, North Carolina |
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Sun Valley (Monroe, North Carolina) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Sam Howell (born September 16, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Early years
Howell attended Sun Valley High School in Monroe, North Carolina. During his high school career, he passed for 13,415 yards, 145 passing touchdowns and rushed for 3,621 yards and 60 touchdowns.[2] After a highly publicized recruitment, Howell committed to the University of North Carolina after deciding not to play for Florida State University, his original choice.[3]
College career
Freshman
Howell entered his true freshman season at North Carolina in 2019 as the starting quarterback, and became the first true freshman to start a season-opening game for the Tar Heels.[4][5] In his first career game against South Carolina, he passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over the Gamecocks.[6] Against NC State, Howell threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns in a 41–10 defeat of the Wolfpack.[7]
Howell had a successful true freshman campaign, completing 234 of 388 attempts for 3,347 yards with 35 touchdowns and seven interceptions during the regular season. In the Tar Heels' bowl game, he threw for 294 yards and three more touchdowns, bringing his season total to 38, in the 55–13 win over Temple in the 2019 Military Bowl. He earned Military Bowl MVP for his performance, which also included a two-yard touchdown reception on a trick play. Howell's statistics with regard to touchdowns were records both at Carolina and at the FBS level of competition for a true freshman quarterback.[8] His yardage and touchdown totals were also the highest in the ACC for the 2019 season. At the conclusion of the season, Howell was named to the All-ACC third team. He was also named ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year and consensus freshman All-America.[9][1] His 3,641 passing yards in 2019 rank second all-time in North Carolina history for a single season.
Sophomore
Going into his second season as a Tar Heel, Howell received significant national attention. He was named to the Maxwell Award, Manning Award, and Davey O'Brien Award watch lists in the preseason. [10] He started the season off slowly against Syracuse and Boston College, but set a career high for passing yards with 443 in the 44-41 loss against Virginia, earning ACC Player of the Week honors in the process. [11] Two games later, against Wake Forest, he broke multiple school records, and set another career high for passing, in the Tar Heels' 59-53 comeback victory. Howell threw for 550 yards and 6 touchdowns, ran for another, and led the explosive Tar Heel offense to a school record 742 yards of total offense in the game.[12]
Howell's performance in the 2020 campaign has put him in position to break several career records for the Tar Heels. As of December 12, 2020, he sits only three touchdowns behind Darian Durant's 68 career passing scores, giving him the mark of second all-time in passing touchdowns at Carolina. Howell currently sits fifth all-time at North Carolina in passing yards.
Statistics
| Year | Team | Passing | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD | ||
| 2019 | North Carolina | 259 | 422 | 61.4 | 3,641 | 8.6 | 38 | 7 | 160.2 | 94 | 35 | 0.4 | 1 | 3 | 23 | 7.7 | 1 |
| 2020 | North Carolina | 237 | 348 | 68.1 | 3,586 | 10.3 | 30 | 7 | 179.1 | 92 | 146 | 1.6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 |
| Career | 496 | 770 | 64.4 | 7,227 | 9.4 | 68 | 14 | 168.8 | 186 | 181 | 1.0 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 2 | |
Source:[13]
Personal life
Howell is the son of Duke and Amy Howell.[14] Howell is a Christian.[15]
References
- ^ a b "Sam Howell, Derek Stingley lead USA TODAY Sports freshman All-America team". usatoday.com. December 13, 2019.
- ^ "Sam Howell Finishes as Highest Ranked UNC QB Recruit Since Bryn Renner". Chapelboro.com. January 24, 2019.
- ^ Sun Valley QB Sam Howell ‘flips’ from one ACC school, chooses another
- ^ "UNC to start freshman Howell at quarterback". ESPN.com. August 26, 2019.
- ^ Observer (Raleigh), Jonathan M. Alexander The News &. "True freshman Howell to start for UNC against South Carolina". Winston-Salem Journal.
- ^ Sam Howell had the best QB debut at Bank of America Stadium since Jake Delhomme
- ^ "UNC defeats NC State 41-10 to become bowl-eligible". ESPN.com. November 30, 2019.
- ^ "How Does Sam Howell's Freshman Season Stack Up vs. Heisman Winners, Other Top QBs?". SI.com. December 10, 2019.
- ^ "Clemson Leads 2019 All-ACC Football Team". TheACC.com. December 3, 2019.
- ^ "Sam Howell named to Manning Award watch list". chapelboro.com. July 31, 2020.
- ^ "Sam Howell, Dyami Brown Earn ACC Player of the Week Honors". chapelboro.com. November 3, 2020.
- ^ "Sam Howell goes off for seven total TDs, throws for 550 yards as North Carolina outlasts Wake Forest 59-53". USAToday.com. November 14, 2020.
- ^ "Sam Howell". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- ^ "2020 FOOTBALL ROSTER". Retrieved 16 November 2020.
- ^ Howell, Sam; Hager, Tom. "Beyond Blessed". Athletes For God. Retrieved 16 November 2020.