Mack Brown breaks down what Drake Maye must do in run game

Freshman Drake Maye has been electric for North Carolina this season, leading them to a 4-1 record by making plays with his arm and his legs. Maye has been an effective runner for the Tar Heels, but had a scary moment in their last game when he went down after an ambitious hurdle attempt against Virginia Tech.

Thankfully Maye was healthy and fine, and returned to the game finishing with five total touchdowns and their first conference win of the season. Head coach Mack Brown spoke in detail about Maye’s rushing responsibilities for the team and what they’ll look like moving forward following their win over the Hokies.

“Still I’d rather not have him in designed runs for him, and if they are I’d rather them be options where he can get down, but I don’t want him running into a bunch of people,” Brown said. “He’s gonna have a certain amount of scrambles, there’s going to be a quarterback draw that’s necessary to really help recruiting. But I do feel like the fewer times he can have designed runs the better off we are, because we’ve gotta keep him healthy and that’s the other reason we gotta have some running backs step up and make some plays there.”

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Maye currently ranks second on the team in rushing, with 52 attempts for 255 yards and three touchdowns, ranking third in the ACC in quarterback rushing yards. Maye’s a dangerous runner, but even more dangerous as a passer, and Brown understands the importance of the combination of the two in their offense.

“And he moves so well out of the pocket and he can throw on the run so well that he’s saved our offensive line some, we’ve really really bragged on him and DJ Jones has stepped up and saved him, a couple other running backs have saved him, but Drake’s also saved him. Now he’s left a little bit too soon sometimes, but also there’s been times, that 4th and 7 the other day, he’s got two people on him when he throws the ball to Josh (Downs) and completes it for a first down,” Brown said.

Maye currently leads the ACC in passing yards and touchdowns, throwing for 1,594 yards and 19 touchdown passes, which ties Mississippi State quarterback Will Rodgers for the most in the country.

“But no, we do not want him to be a runner, last year we didn’t have any choice with Sam (Howell), we had a lot of designed runs and that was part of the plan,” Brown said. “This year, we’d rather Drake be a thrower and a scramble guy out of the pocket, maybe a quarterback draw every now and then, he can run option where he pitches it and gets down.”

It seems like Brown is trying to cater to Maye’s skillset the best he can, while also trying to keep his young quarterback of the present and future as safe as possible. Brown touched on how Maye can improve on keeping himself safe, and even referenced one of his most well-known former players who did it best.

“But he’s also just got to learn to take better care of himself, Vince Young ran a lot but he never got hit, because he would get down and he would get down fast, and that’s what we’ve got to get Drake to do. And now with your sliding, they’re not supposed to touch him, so quarterbacks can be really safe,” Brown added. “If you’re sliding they have to pull off, we’ve had a couple where he’s kind of been going in head first and it looks kind of like a slide and it was hard to tell, they’re going to hit him then. So it has to be a slide, but if you can perfect the slide you’re not gonna get hit many times as a quarterback unless you’re in the middle of trying to make a first down with some tight yardage.”

Maye’s playing is slowly but surely putting him in the freshman phenom category, but he’ll never be as effective for the Tar Heels from the sideline. Hopefully for North Carolina, Maye can continue to make big plays for them with his arm and legs, but also stay safe and available for them at all times moving forward.