Mack Brown believes Drake Maye's left-handed touchdown pass might be the best play he's ever seen

North Carolina head coach Mack Brown didn’t hold back praise for his quarterback. In UNC’s 41-24 win over Pitt on Saturday, Drake Maye completed a ridiculous left-handed touchdown pass just before the half. After the win, Brown raved about the highlight play.

“The play that Drake made with his left hand is maybe the best play I’ve ever seen in college football,” Brown said. ” It’s unbelievable. I sat there and looked at it and I wanted to run it back, and then I looked up at Jumbotron.”

Brown wasn’t the only one who could’t believe his eyes. On the play, Maye rolled out to the left while being hunted by two Pitt defenders. With one Panther clawing at his shoulder, Maye hoisted the ball forward with his left hand, resulting in a seven-yard touchdown pass.

Drake Maye can throw TDs with his left hand too😏pic.twitter.com/Mq2mlbX6mN

— On3 (@On3sports) September 24, 2023

“I told him at that time, ‘Win the game and it will be No. 1 on SportsCenter,'” Brown recalled. “I think it would’ve been No. 1 either way, but I was shocked. I’d never seen him even do that and he just acts like he does it all the time, but he is really a good player.

“I said that may be the coolest play I’ve ever seen in college football and I’ve seen a lot of plays. That was really cool. I’m still shocked that he did it. I don’t even know how he got it from his right hand to his left hand and pitched it… It was an unbelievable play.”

Drake Maye is more than a highlight

While the jaw-dropping throw stuck viewers’ minds, it was just one goodie in Maye’s bag of tricks. In the win, the North Carolina native completed 22 of 30 passes for 297 yards and a touchdown. Further, Maye recorded zero interceptions.

To pile on, Maye was a factor in the ground game, squeezing in to rushing downs in the red zone. The 6-foot-4 QB has had a solid start this season. Through four games, Maye has tallied 1,187 passing yards and five touchdowns. It’s worth noting Maye has also thrown four picks.

Although highlights draw clicks, wins draw awards. Brown wants the latter, and he’s off to a good start. UNC is 4-0 for the first time since 1997. The 72-year-old head coach is happy with his team’s progress.

“I see an older, confident team. They prepared this week, they came up here understanding it was going to be hard, didn’t panic when it was hard,” Brown said. “But also see a team that can get so much better. Part of it’s we’ve got so many new coaches that this will be a great week to reassess our first four games and find out exactly who we are and what we like and what we need to change. It couldn’t be a better time for an open date for us.”