Sam Howell  Sam Howell is an American football quarterback for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He is considered one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Howell attended Sun Valley High School in Monroe, North Carolina. During his high school career, he passed for 13,415 yards, 145 passing touchdowns and rushed for 3,621 yards and 60 touchdowns. After a highly publicized recruitment, Howell committed to the University of North Carolina after deciding not to play for Florida State University, his original choice. Howell entered his true freshman season at North Carolina in 2019 as the starting quarterback, and became the first true freshman to start a season-opening game for the Tar Heels. In his first career game against South Carolina, he passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over the Gamecocks. Against NC State, Howell threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns in a 41–10 defeat of the Wolfpack. Howell had a successful true freshman campaign, completing 234 of 388 attempts for 3,347 yards with 35 touchdowns and seven interceptions during the regular season. In the Tar Heels' bowl game, he threw for 294 yards and three more touchdowns, bringing his season total to 38, in the 55–13 win over Temple in the 2019 Military Bowl. He earned Military Bowl MVP for his performance, which also included a two-yard touchdown reception on a trick play. Howell's statistics with regard to touchdowns were records both at Carolina and at the FBS level of competition for a true freshman quarterback. His yardage and touchdown totals were also the highest in the ACC for the 2019 season. At the conclusion of the season, Howell was named to the All-ACC third team. He was also named ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year and consensus freshman All-America. "Source":