UNC Football: Nathan Elliott named starting quarterback
After news broke on Monday that Chazz Surratt will be suspended for the first three games, Nathan Elliott was named the UNC Football starting quarterback.
The quarterback battle entering this year was going to be one of the most talked about for UNC Football. The battle was set to be between Chazz Surratt, who started a majority of the games last year, and Nathan Elliott, who started the team’s final three games.
However, with the news of Surratt being suspended, along with 12 other players, for selling shoes provided by the school, head coach Larry Fedora announced what many were expecting to hear.
According to Jonathan Alexander of the News & Observer, Fedora said on Monday:
"“Nathan Elliott is my starter going into the Cal game as of this time, yes,”"
Even if Surratt wasn’t suspended, the junior from Texas had a good chance of winning the starting job. He finished the year with 926 passing yards, 9 touchdowns and five interceptions in almost four full games of action. He replaced Surratt in the first quarter of the game against Miami.
The good news is that over the course of the final four games, Elliott improved his passing yard total each game from 173 against the Hurricane to 278 in the season finale against NC State.
The touchdown to interception ratio is a concern however he did throw three of his five interceptions in the first game against the Hurricanes. After that game, he did a much better job of protecting the football.
The good news for the Tar Heels is that this offense can move forward knowing their starting quarterback at least for the first four games of the season. This offense can begin gaining familiarity with Elliott and this should help him continue to build off the improvement of the end of the 2017 season.
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Elliott’s first start will be on September 1st on the road against Cal.