Saturday Stat Stuffers: UNC’s Drake Maye throws for 442 yards; Reid, Byrd rush for 200+

One quarterback enjoyed a 400-yard passing day, while two running backs eclipsed the 200-yard rushing mark during Saturday’s college football action involving North Carolina schools.

Those three players — UNC’s Drake Maye, Western Carolina’s Desmond Reid and North Carolina Wesleyan’s Anthony Byrd — headline our list of Saturday Stat Stuffers for Week 6.

Maye came within six yards of his career high in the Tar Heels’ 40-7 romp of Syracuse, completing 33-of-47 passes for 442 yards. The redshirt sophomore tallied three touchdowns, including a 77-yarder to Kobe Paysour.

Reid rushed for 211 yards and two scores on 15 carries before exiting with an injury in the Catamounts’ 52-50 win at Chattanooga. Reid had two of the longest scoring plays of the week, finding the end zone on runs of 70 and 58 yards.

Maye and Reid you may know if you’ve frequented NC Football News this season. But NC Wesleyan’s Byrd is a new name in our weekly look at statewide stat leaders. The junior, who played high school football for Wallace-Rose Hill, galloped for 203 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday’s win over LaGrange — the Battling Bishops’ first ‘W’ of the season.

Byrd rushed for 638 yards a year ago but his season high for a game this season had been 50 yards until Saturday. Getting him untracked is good news for a NC Wesleyan team looking to build momentum in the USA South Conference.

Guilford’s Bailey Baker had the second-best passing performance in the state, throwing for 352 yards and three touchdowns. Catawba’s Preston Brown was third (323 yards, 3 TDs).

NC State’s new starter MJ Morris threw four touchdown passes but also had three interceptions. Barton’s Jaquan Lynch and Brevard’s Ethan Beamish also tossed four TDs. Lynch was turnover free.

NC Central Davius Richard rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another in one of the best multi-purpose games of the weekend. He accounted for 285 total yards.

Quinzel Lockhart of Elizabeth City State had a pass-catching bonanza against Virginia Union. He made nine catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns. One of his scoring receptions was the longest play of the day, covering 95 yards. Eleven receivers in all had at least 100 yards in catches.

—> READ MORE: Most Explosive Scoring Plays From Week 6

Guilford’s Adam Lacy made 18 tackles, including 11 solo stops — tops in the state for Week 6.

NC State’s Payton Wilson made 14 hits and recovered a fumble. Wilson, according to NCSU’s Twitter/X football page, has posted 19 double-digit tackle games in his career. He’s been the Pack’s leading tackler in every game this season, ranks first in the ACC and fourth in the FBS in stops.

Ty French is one of Gardner-Webb’s all-time leaders in sacks. But this week it was teammate Brice Bass harassing the Robert Morris quarterback. Brice had three sacks for 17 yards in losses.

North Carolina (40-7 win), Western Carolina (52-50 win), Brevard (49-28 win) and NC State (48-41 win) kept their kickers busy.

UNC’s Noah Burnette made all four of his field goal attempts and hit four PATs to lead the kicker scoring. For the second week in a row, WCU’s Richard McCollum went 7-of-7 on extra points. His 32-yard field goal as time expired left Chattanooga, which had just scored the go-ahead touchdown moments before, heartbroken at the buzzer.

Brevard’s Hugo Taylor also was 7-of-7 on PATs. NCSU’s Brayden Narveson was 6-of-6, with two made field goals.

Jason Zapata had the longest field goal of the week, booting a 50-yarder in Livingstone’s win over Winston-Salem State.

—> READ MORE: Check Out The Statewide Standings After Week 6

Other notable performances from the weekend:

* Devin Hibbitt (Lenoir-Rhyne): picked off two Limestone passes, had one sack and recorded eight total tackles.

* Chowan as a team picked off three North Greenville passes, including one returned 44 yards by Kmare Carey.

* Ed Dennis of Campbell made two interceptions, returning the two picks 44 yards.

* Devin Vann of NC State had eight tackles, 1.5 sacks, a quarterback hurry and forced a fumble.

* Ed Jones IV of Western Carolina returned a pick 48 yards for a touchdown. He also had seven tackles.

* Mars Hill’s Tristan Rankin returned an interception 21 yards for a score against Erskine. In the season opener against Wingate, Rankin notched the winning TD when he returned a fumble for a score.

* Brevard’s Robert Dorsey forced two fumbles, had a sack, assisted on another tackle for loss and made five stops.

* Jamae Blank and Raydarius Freeman led UNC Pembroke’s defensive efforts in a loss at Frostburg State. Blank had eight tackles, a sack, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Freeman forced a fumble, recovered a fumble, had a sack, assisted on another tackle for loss and finished with seven total stops.

* Despite NC A&T’s struggles, the Aggies have seen solid individual defensive efforts. Janorris Robertson forced two fumbles against Villanova, made a sack and had four tackles.

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Eric Lusk Publisher & Editor

Eric Lusk started NC Football News in 2023. He's an old newspaper guy with a fondness for underdogs, redemption stories and the triple-option offense. He's a proud graduate of Jesse O. Sanderson High School and UNC's School of Journalism. He's thankful for God's mercy, family and second chances.

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