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UNC quarterback Max Johnson calls touchdown pass with brother Jake a 'special moment'
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- UNC quarterback Max Johnson calls touchdown pass with brother Jake a 'special moment'
UNC quarterback Max Johnson didn't plan to enter Monday's 48-14 loss against TCU , particularly after Johnson began the game as QB2.
After a third-quarter back injury to North Carolina starter Gio Lopez , head coach Bill Belichick thrust his now 6-year veteran into action.
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Johnson played most of his night in garbage time, but thrived immediately upon entry, completing nine of his 11 passes for 103 yards and a late, third-quarter touchdown.
Who caught Johnson's touchdown, which proved to be the Tar Heels ' only second-half score? None other than his brother Jake, who also transferred to UNC from Texas A&M , ahead of the 2024 college football season.
"We threw a couple touchdowns when we were together at Texas A&M ," Max said during postgame media availability. "I honestly didn't even know he (my brother) was in the game. I knew the play was called, we had a tight end there, I didn't know it was Jake at first. And then once I threw it to him, it was, what a special moment. Just to celebrate with him, it felt like we were little kids again playing pee wee football, just going out there and celebrating. We gotta come to work next week and put on a better show."
Jake's touchdown reception was also his first at North Carolina , as Jake caught just two passes for 21 yards a season ago. Jake's 2023 campaign in College Station was his best to date, when he hauled in 24 passes for 235 yards and four scores.
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With Charlotte rapidly approaching on Saturday, Belichick is now faced with a tough decision for his Week 2 starting quarterback . The hope is Lopez fully recovers from Monday's back injury, but Johnson looked better running the Tar Heels ' offense in Week 1, especially after a broken leg forced him to miss nearly all of 2024 – and spend most of the offseason recovering.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC QB Max Johnson felt like a kid' throwing TD pass to brother Jake
