Mack Brown explains why British Brooks didn’t play vs. Appalachian State

North Carolina squeezed out a 40-34 double overtime battle against Appalachian State on Saturday without its most experienced running back in British Brooks.

Despite this, the Tar Heels ended up rushing for over 300 yards on the afternoon. While they missed Brooks — they looked just fine compensating for his absence. Head coach Mack Brown revealed the extent of Brooks’ injury after the victory.

“He’s one of the toughest guys on our team and [last] Sunday they told me he’s got a bruise and I thought he’ll play,” Brown said postgame. “I mean, he’s the toughest guy on the field, and then he didn’t practice Tuesday and did a lot of stuff on Wednesday, but didn’t get hit — he wasn’t ready to do that. And then Thursday, he was still stiff.

“I think he’ll be fine for Sunday, but we knew that Omarion [Hampton] has done a great job, and we knew that Caleb Hood is really, really good. We saw him in this game last year. We know Elijah Green can play; he’s been a starter. So, we decided why put a guy out there that hasn’t been hit all week that might fumble because of some pressure on the leg if it’s close, and so that’s the decision we made. And we didn’t make that decision until game time.”

During the season opener, Brooks was given the bulk of North Carolina’s carries, taking 15 attempts for 103 yards as the team’s leading rusher.

Fast forward to Saturday, and sophomore Omarion Hampton proved why he was a top-10 recruit in the 2022 class. He was given 26 carries for 234 yards and three touchdowns on the night and now leads the team with 271 total yards and five total scores. As a true freshman one season ago, he put together a 401 yard season and is well on his way to eclipsing that in 2023.

What does that mean for Brooks, though? The sixth-year Tar Heel veteran missed the entire 2022 season with a leg injury and has less than 600 career rushing yards to his credit. His Week 1 performance was the second time in his career he’s amassed at least 100 rushing yards in a single game. Now, his injury has led way for Hampton’s breakout performance — and it’s hard to believe the sophomore wouldn’t be the first running back on the field during Week 3.

That remains to be seen, and Brown has an entire week to recover before they host Minnesota in the final game before beginning conference in Week 4. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET live on ESPN.