Sophomore QB puts up big numbers in 2-0 start In a league full of first-year starting quarterbacks, North Carolina’s Bryn Renner has been a revelation.
Hitting 42 of 49 passes for 550 yards, the sophomore leads the nation in completion percentage (85.7 percent) and has led the troubled Tar Heels to a 2-0 start less than two months after coach Butch Davis suddenly was fired.
| Up next |
| Virginia at North Carolina |
| When » Saturday, 3:30 p.m. |
| Where » Kenan Stadium, |
| Chapel Hill, N.C. |
| TV » ESPNU |
| Radio » 570 AM |
Against visiting Virginia (2-0) on Saturday, Renner will try to correct the lone flaw he has exhibited so far — his tendency to throw into coverage. Among quarterbacks with at least 25 attempts, he leads the ACC in efficiency rating (183.9). But he also leads the league in interceptions (four).
After Saturday’s 24-22 win over Rutgers, Renner was asked which of his three interceptions he would like to take back.
“All of them,” Renner told reporters, looking disturbed about the question.
Renner’s play has helped steady a teetering program, tarnished by revelations of players receiving impermissible benefits from agents and boosters.
After completing 22 of 23 passes for 277 yards in a 42-10 rout of James Madison in the opener, Renner sought out interim coach Everett Withers for an emotional hug. At the suggestion of Withers, the Tar Heels had dedicated the game to Davis.
“We had Coach Davis on our minds and in our hearts,” Renner said. “Coach Davis built this team. It’s his team.”
A close relationship with his coach is nothing new for Renner. At West Springfield High, he was guided by his dad, Bill Renner, a former Virginia Tech and Green Bay Packers punter. After tiring of the five-hour commute from Northern Virginia to watch his son’s games, Bill Renner took the coaching job at East Chapel Hill High last season.
Last year Renner threw just two passes, backing up senior T.J. Yates, who finished his career with school records in passing yards (9,377 yards) and touchdowns (58). This year the job was his.
Withers was asked how apprehensive he was starting his first season as a coach with an inexperienced quarterback.
“Not at all because of what I’d seen since the day he’d been here,” said Withers, formerly the Tar Heels defensive coordinator. “When I saw the progression he took this spring, I felt really good about Bryn.”
Helping ease Renner into the job has been a line that has four returning starters and averages 319 pounds a man. The unit will be tested Saturday by a team that ranks second in the ACC in pass defense efficiency, thanks in part to a strong pass rush.
In last week’s 34-31 win at Indiana, defensive end Cam Johnson made the key play, ripping the ball from Hoosiers quarterback Edward Wright-Baker and recovering the fumble to set up Robert Randolph’s winning field goal at the final gun.
“They’ve got good players up front with experience, and they’re playing fast. I think that’s what coach [Mike] London wants on defense,” Withers said.
