Howell to start getting 1st-team QB reps for UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina coach Mack Brown says true freshman quarterback Sam Howell will start working with the first-team offense in preseason practices.

Brown said Sunday that Howell's consistency had given him an edge in a three-way competition with redshirt freshmen Cade Fortin and Jace Ruder. The plan is for Fortin and Ruder to split reps behind Howell with just less than two weeks to go until the opener against South Carolina in Charlotte on Aug. 31.

Howell was a touted in-state recruit who flipped his commitment from Florida State to UNC shortly after Brown's return for a second stint in Chapel Hill.