 Maye in high school, 2018 | |
| North Carolina Tar Heels – No. 10 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Quarterback |
| Class |  |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | August 30, 2002 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) |
| Weight | 230 lb (104 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College |
|
| Bowl games | |
| High school | Myers Park (Charlotte) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Drake Lee Maye (born August 30, 2002) is an American football quarterback. He played college football at North Carolina, winning several awards and honors including 2022 ACC Player of the Year.
Maye was born on August 30, 2002, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He attended Myers Park High School, where he was named North Carolina's football player of the year by MaxPreps. Rated a four-star prospect, Maye originally committed to play college football at Alabama before flipping to North Carolina.[1]
Entering his freshman season third on the depth chart, Maye played little in 2021. He redshirted, appearing in four games over the course of the season, the maximum amount allowed for players desiring to keep their redshirt. When starter Sam Howell was injured and unable to play against Wofford, Maye saw the most extended action of his career to that point. Splitting halves with the other backup, Jacolby Criswell, Maye completed seven of his nine pass attempts for 89 yards and a touchdown, the first of his career. He also registered four carries for 38 yards.[2]
With Sam Howell leaving for the NFL, Maye and Criswell battled for the starting QB spot heading into the 2022 season. After what was described as a very close position battle, Maye won the job and was named the starter on August 22, 2022, five days before the week zero season opener. In his first career start against Florida A&M, Maye completed 29/37 pass attempts for 294 yards and five touchdowns and rushed four times for 55 yards. Maye became the first Tar Heel quarterback to throw for five touchdowns in his first start.[3] The next week, on the road against in-state foe App State, Maye threw for 352 yards and four touchdowns and added 76 yards and a touchdown on the ground in the Tar Heels' thrilling 63–61 victory. In week 2, Maye led the Tar Heels to another win, this time over Georgia State, passing for 284 yards and two touchdowns with a 79.2% completion percentage and 197.7 passer rating, both his highest of the season to date. After a bye week, Maye threw for 300 yards and five touchdowns against Notre Dame in a 45-32 loss at home. The next week, Maye and the Tar Heels responded well to their first loss of the season with a 45-10 blowout of Virginia Tech in Chapel Hill. He threw for 363 yards and three touchdowns and ran 13 times for 73 yards and two touchdowns. His 436 total yards were a season-high, as was his 94.8 QBR.
Through five games Maye had the most total touchdowns (22) in program history and accounted for five total touchdowns in four of them. After the loss to Notre Dame, Maye led the Tar Heels to six straight wins and a 9-1 record through the first ten games of the season, clinching the ACC Coastal Division title with a come-from-behind 36–34 victory over rivals Wake Forest. In the division-clinching win, Maye threw for a season- and career-high 448 yards and three touchdowns, and added 71 rushing yards and a touchdown as well. His 519 total offensive yards were third most in a single game by a Tar Heel quarterback. The team would go on to finish the regular season 9–3 following back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and NC State. The Tar Heels followed that up with another loss, to Atlantic Division champions Clemson, in the ACC Championship to move to 9–4. After the game, Maye shot down speculation that he might enter the transfer portal to chase potentially lucrative NIL deals.
In the Holiday Bowl loss against Oregon, Maye completed 18/35 passes for 206 yards and three touchdowns, tying Sam Howell's single season passing TD record. The 28–27 loss to the Ducks extended UNC's season-ending losing streak to four games, and Maye finished his first full season as the starter with a 9–5 record.
His 4,321 passing yards in 2022 broke the school record for single season passing yards, previously held by Mitch Trubisky. He also tied Sam Howell's record for passing touchdowns in a single season, throwing 38 on the season. Maye's 698 rushing yards on the season led the team, and he was second on the team in rushing touchdowns with seven. He finished 10th place in 2022 Heisman Trophy voting.
Heading into his second season as Tar Heel starting QB, Maye once again received several preseason honors, among them being named Preseason ACC Player of the Year by conference media.[4] Maye worked with a new offensive coordinator in Chip Lindsey, as Phil Longo left for Wisconsin following the 2022 season.
The marriage with Lindsey proved to be successful, as the Tar Heel offense under Maye continued to put up stellar numbers. In wins over Minnesota, Syracuse, and Campbell, Maye threw for over 400 yards. In Chip Lindsey's system, Maye did not have to shoulder as much of the load of driving the offense due to the emergence of running back Omarion Hampton, who himself ran for 1,400-plus yards. However, Maye did score game-winning rushing touchdowns in double overtime wins versus Appalachian State and rivals Duke.
Despite the continued offensive success and preseason hype for Maye and the Tar Heels, they once again sputtered through the finishing stretch, losing four out of their final six games en route to an 8–4 regular season record. Maye finished the 2023 regular season with 3,608 passing yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He also ran for 449 yards and nine scores as well. He was named to the All-ACC second team for his performance in the season. Maye declared for the 2024 NFL Draft following the season and elected to sit out of the 2023 Duke's Mayo Bowl.[5] He finished his UNC career fifth in passing yards with 8,018 and fourth in passing touchdowns and total offensive yards respectively with 63 and 9,227.
|
See also: North Carolina Tar Heels football statistical leaders |
| Season | Games | Passing | Rushing | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Rtg | Att | Yards | Avg | TD | ||
| 2021 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 70.0 | 89 | 8.9 | 1 | 0 | 177.8 | 6 | 62 | 10.3 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 14 | 14 | 342 | 517 | 66.2 | 4,321 | 8.4 | 38 | 7 | 157.9 | 184 | 698 | 3.8 | 7 | |
| 2023 | 12 | 12 | 269 | 425 | 63.3 | 3,608 | 8.5 | 24 | 9 | 149.0 | 112 | 449 | 4.0 | 9 | |
| Career[6] | 30 | 26 | 618 | 952 | 64.9 | 8,018 | 8.4 | 63 | 16 | 154.1 | 302 | 1,209 | 4.0 | 16 | |
Maye's father Mark played quarterback at North Carolina from 1983 to 1987, while brothers Luke and Beau played basketball at the school, with Luke being part of the 2017 national championship team. Another brother, Cole, was a member of the 2017 Florida Gators baseball team that won the national championship.