Senior QB Marquise Williams enters the 2015 season poised to make a further dent into the UNC record book. The combination of Williams dual threat capabilities and Larry Fedora's fast paced spread offense has already spawned some gawdy numbers. With at least 12 games left in his college career, Williams has a chance to place his name prominently in the Tar Heel records.
Career total offense
The UNC record for total offense by an individual is Darian Durant's 9630 yards from 2001-2004. Williams is presently fourth in UNC history with 6403 yards.
This is probably the most easily attainable of the records in the book. Williams already set a single season record for total offense with 3856 yards last season. He needs only 3227 yards to top Durant's career number which in theory should be doable.
Total offense for a game
This is a record Williams already holds the top two spots in with 469 yards versus Old Dominion in 2013 and 463 yards versus Georgia Tech last season. In fact Williams owns half of the spots in the top ten on this particular stat in UNC history including three of the top four. Williams has four games where he has posted over 400 yards of total offense. The question is how many more of these types of games can Williams post this season with an primed and experienced offense?
Career passing yards and touchdowns
This record is probably a bit outside of Williams' range. The senior enters the season with 4893 passing yards in his career and 37 touchdowns. The passing record is 9377 by T.J. Yates from 2007-10. That means Williams would need a herculean effort of 4484 yards to eclipse Yates. In other words Williams would need to produce almost as many passing yards in one season as he has in his first three. If Fedora's offense fulfills even his wildest Red Bull fueled fantasies, 4400 passing yards from Williams doesn't seem likely.
The touchdown mark might be doable. Williams needs 32 to break the career touchdown passing mark held by Darian Durant. The UNC record for passing touchdowns in a single season is 28 by Bryn Renner in 2012. 32 touchdowns would have the effect of breaking both of those records but is it possible? Williams career high for touchdown passes in a season is the 21 he threw last season. Williams certainly has the receivers to post a big number for touchdown passes however his dual threat capability, especially in the red zone may hurt the pursuit of this particular record.
8000 yards passing, 2000 yards rushing in a career
While the passing record might not be doable, Williams does have a chance to post an interesting statistical double in passing and rushing yards. At present, Williams has thrown for 4893 yards in his career. He would need 3107 yards to hit 8000 and finish fourth on the all time passing list. Williams career high in passing yards for a season is 3068 set last season which is fourth best in UNC history. Assuming he can slightly exceed that number, Williams should hit 8000 yards.
On the rushing side, Williams has 1510 yards rushing for his career. He has over 500 yards rushing in each of the last two seasons. Based on that it stands to reason Williams could hit 2000 yards or more in his career as a rusher. 2000 yards would put Williams 13th all-time in UNC history for career rushing yards within striking distance of Shaun Draughn's 2070 yards in 12th.
Williams would easily be the first Tar Heel to post these two numbers simultaneously. If that happens he would exceed 10,000 yards of total offense for his career.
Ultimately the more important stat is wins by the team but in pursuit of those wins Williams might be able to do some spectacular things individually. The pieces are all in place for the offense to really hum this season. There are quality playmakers all over the field and the offensive line should be improved. With all the right parts in place coupled with experience, this could be the season Fedora's offense really takes off.
