Tez Walker leads North Carolina Tar Heels past Miami Hurricanes - ESPN

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina coach Mack Brown said all week that Tez Walker would make an already dynamic Tar Heels offense even better.

Everyone saw why on Saturday night. In his first game fully integrated into the offensive gameplan since the NCAA granted him immediate eligibility, Walker had three touchdown catches in a 41-31 win over Miami — helping to push the Tar Heels to 6-0 on the season.

North Carolina has scored 30 or more points in six straight games, and 40 points in each game since Walker became available.

«I am really proud of him,» Brown said of Walker, who finished with six catches and 132 yards. «We have a chance to be a lot better with him in our lineup. Everyone is going to key in on him and it'll change the way people play defense against us. His presence is a game changer.»

Walker waited nearly half a season for this moment. In September, the NCAA denied his final appeal to play this season as a two-time transfer. In the weeks after that denial, Walker worked on the North Carolina scout team while a legal team began reexamining his case on his behalf. Then two days before the Syracuse game last week, the NCAA reversed course and granted his immediate eligibility.

Stunned at the reversal, Walker immediately got to work, cramming in only a specific set of plays for the game against the Orange. He did not start but played, catching six passes for 43 yards. This week would be different.

Simply put, North Carolina does not have a receiver with combination of size (6-foot-2½) and speed to stretch the field and make big plays in the passing game. Earlier in the week, receivers coach Lonnie Galloway said, «His speed, his explosiveness, you have to account for him.»

Quarterback Drake Maye said Walker