New North Carolina starting quarterback Bryn Renner has seen very limited game action, and similarly, many of his potential targets don’t have much experience, either.
With a young receiving corp, Renner will likely lean heavily on senior wide receiver Dwight Jones in 2011.
Jones, who received honorable mention All-ACC honors in 2010, led North Carolina with 62 receptions and 946 yards — a total good for fifth in UNC history.
Also returning to the receiving core will be juniors Erik Highsmith and Jheranie Boyd. Joshua Adams, a redshirt sophomore from Cambridge, Mass., is the only other wide receiver on the roster who is not either a transfer or a true or redshirt freshman.
Highsmith had 25 catches last season and scored three touchdowns, including a 39-yard touchdown catch just before halftime in the Tar Heels’ win in the Music City Bowl.
Boyd opened the season last year with a huge game against Lousiana State — in which he had 221 yards on 6 catches and a touchdown. In that game he set the North Carolina record for the longest play from scrimmage, scoring on a play from its own 3-yard line.
Boyd failed to keep up that pace for the rest of the season and only had 89 receiving yards in the other 12 games.
The new faces will be looking to Jones and the other experienced receivers for leadership this season, and Jones already has a game plan in place.
“We just got to come out and make big plays every day and just move the chains,” Jones said. “That’s our expectation. We know as receivers, we catch the balls. We have to do big things for our offense if we want to win games.”
