Jelani Thurman’s breakout year at North Carolina just picked up another stamp of approval.
On Tuesday, Nov. 2, the Tar Heels tight end was named to the Pro Football Focus ACC Team of the Week after a big showing against No. 1 Miami. Thurman finished with five catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns, giving UNC a much-needed red-zone weapon in a game where quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. did plenty of damage against the Hurricanes’ defense.
Thurman’s rise has been one of the clearest developments in UNC’s offense this season. The junior transfer from Ohio State had not really had a chance to show what he could do on the field until this year, and now he sits second on the team in receiving yards. If he decides to come back for a fifth and final season, there’s a real case that his ceiling is still climbing.
The numbers around his production are hard to ignore. Thurman has scored six receiving touchdowns this season, which is three more than wide receiver Jordan Shipp, even though Shipp leads the team with 45 receptions and 587 yards. Edwards Jr., the Wisconsin transfer, has found Thurman in the end zone six times already, and that total stands out on a team that has 15 passing touchdowns overall.
He’s also matched the combined touchdown total of the next three leading receivers - Shipp, Trech Kekahuna and Shamar Easter. Thurman’s 12.1 yards per catch is the lowest among that group, but he has still piled up 38 receptions, which is easily the second-highest total on the roster.
This wasn’t even his first two-touchdown game of the season. Thurman also did it against No.
3 Notre Dame, and his best outings have come against elite competition. Across those two games against teams ranked No. 1 and No. 3, he has totaled 10 catches for 120 yards and four touchdowns.
UNC now turns its attention to Week 10 and a trip to UConn. If the Tar Heels want to reach their first bowl game under Bill Belichick, they need to handle business against the independent Huskies. A loss there would be a major setback, especially with the memory of a ranked win over Pittsburgh still fresh.
Thurman couldn’t carry UNC past Miami, but his season keeps adding up to something bigger. The production is real, the role is growing, and PFF’s weekly honor just adds another line to a breakout campaign.
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Kaleb Cost Just Gave UNC's Secondary A Needed Reality Check
Kaleb Costs return gave North Carolinas secondary a timely boost in a recent matchup with Miami, and it came with a clear reminder of how little margin there is against top receivers. After missing time with injury, Cost was back on the field and part of a unit that kept Malachi Toney in check for much of the game, even if the Miami wideout still finished with seven catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns.
Cost spoke afterward about what it meant to be back, while also giving Toney his due as a difficult cover. For UNC, the bigger takeaway may be the standard it has to sustain from here, with preparation and consistency becoming the key words for a defense that needs its secondary to keep answering the bell every week. [Read more 🡒]
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For North Carolina, the assignment is straightforward even if the execution is not: keep Osborne from turning scrambles and designed runs into the kind of momentum that can tilt a game. After letting Miami expose some issues, the Tar Heels need a cleaner showing against a team that can attack in a way they have already shown some trouble handling. If UNC wants to steady its season, this is the sort of matchup where the defense has to answer first. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Win Exposed A Frontcourt Concern Fans Cant Ignore
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For a team with conference play looming, that kind of imbalance is hard to ignore. The hope was that transfer Cameron Fens could help stabilize the post and add some needed size, but eligibility issues have kept that option off the table for now, leaving UNC to sort through its frontcourt questions the old-fashioned way. [Read more 🡒]