North Carolina's Josh Downs heads to locker room with apparent injury

The North Carolina Tar Heels are in a dogfight with rival Wake Forest, and they might have lost star quarterback Drake Maye‘s favorite target on the night. It is unclear what happened, but on a first and ten from the Demon Deacons’ 15-yard line, Maye threw an incomplete pass to Gavin Blackwell. After the play, in the endzone, you could see star wide receiver, Josh Downs, lying on his back in the endzone, waving for somebody to help him. After being evaluated briefly on the sideline, the star wideout was seen heading back to the locker rooms.

As previously stated, the junior wide receiver from Suwanee, GA, has been the go-to man on Saturday. Midway through the third quarter, Downs has already recorded eight catches for 101 yards and three touchdowns.

Downs returns

Downs headed back to the locker room with what appeared to be his left hand holding his lower back. However, since then, he has returned back to the field and has caught a pass on the Tar Heels’ most recent drive.

North Carolina is in a decisive battle with Wake Forest as the fourth quarter gets underway and currently trails 34-33. Maye has given the Demon Deacons’ defense all they can handle, but the same can be said for Wake Forest’s quarterback Sam Hartman. In a tale of head-to-head stats, Hartman has completed 16 of his 24 pass attempts for 264 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Maye has thrown the ball 45 times, completing 29 passes for 402 yards with three touchdowns passing and one rushing.

This game is critical for North Carolina’s season. A win tonight punches their ticket into the ACC championship game as the Atlantic division champions. It also keeps them as a one-loss team, keeping their hopes for a College Football Playoff berth alive.