North Carolina is set to start its third quarterback in four games as Jacolby Criswell will take the first snaps Saturday against James Madison, a source told ESPN.
Criswell, who transferred back to North Carolina after spending the 2023 season at Arkansas, had been competing during the week with Conner Harrell.
The Tar Heels lost Max Johnson, a transfer from Texas A&M, to a broken leg in their season-opening win at Minnesota. Harrell replaced Johnson and started the past two games, but he struggled early last week against North Carolina A&T and was replaced by Criswell who had 161 passing yards and a touchdown in a 45-10 win.
"He's made tremendous progress," offensive coordinator Chip Lindsey said this week of Criswell. "He got here late in the summer and he got a lot of reps in fall camp early, but then you had to start getting ready for the first game, and we just felt like at that time, Conner and Max were ahead of him from the standpoint of reps and the offense and so forth. What I've seen especially since Max went down, not that he wasn't preparing before, I've seen a bigger sense of urgency probably on his part."
The 6-foot-1, 230-pound Criswell came to UNC in 2020 but played sparingly over three seasons, although he started one game in 2021. He appeared in four games for Arkansas in 2023, passing for 143 yards and three touchdowns. Criswell then transferred back to North Carolina following spring practice, retaining two seasons of eligibility.
247 Sports first reported Criswell as North Carolina's expected starter for the James Madison game.