Jacolby Criswell named starting quarterback for North Carolina

North Carolina started its third quarterback in four games on Saturday, with Jacolby Criswell taking the opening snaps against James Madison. Criswell, who returned to North Carolina after transferring from Arkansas for the 2023 season, had been competing for the starting role with Conner Harrell throughout the week.

The Tar Heels lost Max Johnson, a transfer from Texas A&M, to a broken leg in their season opener against Minnesota. Harrell stepped in for Johnson and started the next two games but struggled early on in last week's matchup against North Carolina A&T. Criswell replaced him, throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown in a 45-10 victory.

"He's made tremendous progress," offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said this week of Criswell. "He got here late in the summer and he got a lot of reps in fall camp early, but then you had to start getting ready for the first game, and we just felt like at that time, Conner and Max were ahead of him from the standpoint of reps and the offense and so forth. What I've seen especially since Max went down, not that he wasn't preparing before, I've seen a bigger sense of urgency probably on his part."

Standing at 6-foot-1 and weighing 230 pounds, Jacolby Criswell originally joined North Carolina in 2020 but saw limited playing time over three seasons, with one start in 2021. In 2023, he played in four games for Arkansas, throwing for 143 yards and three touchdowns. After the spring practice, Criswell transferred back to UNC, where he still has two seasons of eligibility remaining.