How UNC football's Josh Downs has become one of the top receivers in the country

North Carolina receiver Josh Downs is a confident football player.

"I really don't feel like anybody can guard me, per se,'' Downs said last Saturday.

Those aren't just words in Downs' case. He can back them up with plays and statistics from the last two seasons.

The junior from Suwanee, Georgia, is coming off a sophomore season in which he set the UNC single-season record for catches (101) and receiving yards (1,335). And despite missing two games with an injury this season, Downs leads the Atlantic Coast Conference in receptions (63) and is tied for first in touchdown catches (8).

Just last week in a 31-28 win against Virginia, the 5-foot-10, 175-pounder produced a career single-game best 15 catches — one shy of the school mark of 16 held by Charlie Carr (1966), Quinshad Davis (2012) and Ryan Switzer (2016). The effort, which also included 166 yards receiving and a touchdown, earned Downs ACC Wide Receiver of the Week honors.

MAYE MAKING PLACE:How does Drake Maye's start for UNC football match up with the ACC's best QBs of all time?

BOWL PROJECTION:Clemson loss could knock UNC football out of Orange Bowl opportunity

ACC POWER RANKINGS: Why NC State made a huge jump and Clemson is No. 1

"He's a phenomenal player,'' UNC's history-making redshirt freshman quarterback Drake Maye said about Downs. "He's got a knack for getting open. ... He doesn't like being covered, so he's going to do his best and he usually finds a way to get open. So, just find No. 11.''

Downs seems to be hitting his stride at a pivotal time for the Tar Heels (8-1 overall, 5-0 ACC), who are ranked No. 14 nationally in the latest USA Today Sports AFCA Coaches Poll and 15th in the College Football Playoff rankings. They need one win with three regular-season games left heading into a game at Wake Forest (6-3, 2-3) on Saturday (7:30 p.m., ESPN2) to clinch the ACC's Coastal Division title and earn a berth in the ACC championship game.

It's taken some time for Downs to re-establish himself as one of the nation's top receivers this season. He seemed on his way to picking up right where he left off last season in the season opener against Florida A&M when he made nine catches for 78 yards. But after securing his second touchdown catch against FAMU, Downs left the game with an injury to his left knee.

Downs would sit out the next two games before returning to action in the fifth game against Notre Dame. He has produced more than 100 yards receiving and scored at least one touchdown in four of the six games since his return.

"I'd just say God blessed me with a lot of quickness and change of place movements,'' Downs said about his success. "It's just years of work put in. I've got to give credit to my dad there. He taught me I had to be quicker and faster.''

And here's where Downs' story takes an unusual turn.

His father is a former running back for North Carolina's arch-rival N.C. State. Gary Downs was a versatile four-year performer for the Wolfpack, racking up 1,642 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns between 1990-93. Gary Downs went on to play six seasons in the NFL and his sister would marry ex-Tar Heel and NFL cornerback great Dre Bly.

Bly is now the defensive backs coach for UNC, while Gary Downs is the running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at East Tennessee State.

So growing up, Josh Downs was exposed to both programs.

"I was definitely an N.C. State kid,'' Downs said last season. "I kept up with everything N.C. State — football, basketball. But when my uncle got hired here (UNC), everything changed.''

UNC head coach Mack Brown has been the beneficiary of that change of heart. He's seen Downs develop rapidly into one of the best receivers in school history. Downs enters Saturday's game at Wake Forest ranked sixth on the school's career receptions list with 171 (Ryan Switzer holds record with (244), 10th in receiving yards with 2,147 (Switzer leader with 2,907) and is tied for fourth with 19 touchdown catches (Quinshad Davis leads with 25).

"He doesn't drop the ball, he can get open. They can't cover him man-to-man. It usually takes two (defenders),'' Brown said. "He's elusive and he's hard to tackle. And Josh is so competitive. If you're not throwing it to him most of the time he's mad because he wants the ball in his hands.''

Maye intends to keep making that happen as the Tar Heels move toward the Coastal Division title.

"We just keep building that connection between us,'' Maye said. "It's been nine games now and he missed two of them. I'm just going to keep that connection going.''

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC football's Josh Downs has become one of the nation's top receivers