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North Carolina has college football's best QB who nobody is talking about. Mitch Trubisky should no longer be under the radar.[/h]The ACC is loaded with talented quarterbacks these days, and the guy with perhaps the most impressive stat line of any passer in the country is flying way under the radar.
Mitch Trubisky didn’t come into the season as the preseason Heisman favorite. That was Clemson’s Deshaun Watson. He also isn’t the current top guy on all the Heisman lists. That’s Louisville’s Lamar Jackson. He’s not even the guy many were touting as a first-rounder in next spring’s NFL draft. That’s Miami’s Brad Kaaya.
Trubisky, though, is the guy who just
shredded the FSU defense and snapped the Noles’ 22-game home winning streak, which had been the longest in the country. Trubisky went 31-of-38 for 405 yards with three TD passes against the Noles, sparking a 21-0 lead. He also ran for a fourth touchdown as
UNC won 37-35.
“
It was huge for our program and huge for our kids,” head coach Larry Fedora told FOX Sports Sunday, praising his team’s resilience and grit. “
This was a huge accomplishment for our football team."
The win moved the
Tar Heels to 4-1 and vaulted Trubisky into
my Heisman Top 5. Anyone who scoffed at seeing his name up there should start by looking at the jaw-dropping numbers the 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior is putting up. He’s completing
76 percent of his passes and has a sterling
13-0 TD-INT ratio. He’s also run for four touchdowns.
Fedora’s groomed more than his share of gifted QBs. He said Trubisky is a combination of all the best attributes of his top proteges. Trubisky is level-headed and calm the way former Florida standout Chris Leak was. He has a big arm like former first-rounder Rex Grossman had. He has the same kind of “unbelievable will to win” that former Southern Miss star Austin Davis had, only Trubisky has a bigger arm. He has the kind of wheels to challenge defenses like former UNC starter Marquise Williams had, except Trubisky, a low-4.6 40 guy, is even faster.
Trubisky showed glimpses of this kind of performance last season in limited action behind Williams. He completed an astounding 85 percent of his passes and threw six TDs and zero picks. He also averaged a gaudy 11.81 yards per attempt.
“
He’s just carried it over,” Fedora said. "
The biggest area he’s improved has been leadership wise. He’s really taken that role on. The thing that’s unique about Mitch is that you can’t tell whether he’s having a good day or a bad day by the way he looks. It’s taken me some time to learn how to read him.”
Fedora said that seemingly unflappable presence is comforting to his teammates. It certainly had to have been as UNC rallied for the game-winning field goal in the final minute of the game after seeing their three-touchdown lead chased away in Tallahassee. Fedora’s most proud of how well Trubisky has taken care of the ball, he said.
Trubisky's talents suit the UNC offense well. This year, the Tar Heels have emphasized their drop-back game a little more, but they still rely heavily on their play-action game. Fedora adds that even though Trubisky is completing passes at a staggering rate, it’s not like he’s just throwing all bubble screens. Against Pitt, where he went 35-of-46 for 453 yards and five touchdowns, Trubisky took -- and connected on -- a bunch of downfield shots. Against FSU this weekend, he didn’t go downfield as much but that was because the Noles were playing their safeties a lot higher and not involving them in the run game. Instead, Trubisky just burned them with a lot of intermediate stuff and underneath throws.
“
He’s just very heady,” said Fedora. "
He makes good decisions, he doesn’t get flustered and he really can do it all."
Up next: Trubisky and the No. 17 Tar Heels host No. 25 Virginia Tech, where DC Bud Foster will likely have a few things ready to make things rough for the rival QB.
(FL was up 21-3 at half and let TN come back)
