Dan Lanning is not one to tip his hand when it comes to personnel. He declined to name a starting quarterback until his first-team offense took the field against Georgia in Week 1. He doesn’t update injury situations if he doesn’t think it provides a strategic advantage to his team.

But the status of his quarterback is one of the biggest storylines heading into the Holiday Bowl against North Carolina on Wednesday. Bo Nix was hobbled over the last three weeks of the regular season, injured late in a loss to Washington. Lanning was asked about Nix’s health on Tuesday at a pregame press conference and said the time off helped.

He expects Nix to not just play, but play his best ball of the season.

“I certainly think he feels a lot better than he did at the end of the season,” Lanning said. “I expect to see him play some of his best football.”

Nix was in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy until injuring his ankle in a 37-34 loss to Washington on Nov. 12. He took the field again a week later to help the Ducks beat Utah, but he was clearly impacted by the ankle. Nix, a devastating runner throughout the season, was much more statuesque against the Utes.

He found the endzone as a runner in six of eight games at one point during the season, and he had at least 50 rushing yards five times in six games. Both of those stretches came to an end with Washington.

Against Utah and Oregon State, Nix finished with negative rushing yardage and was sacked twice. Oregon had given up all of two sacks in its first 10 games.

The Tar Heels are short on depth in the secondary as a result of the transfer portal and bowl opt-outs. They were not a particularly stout defense throughout the season either — 115th nationally in yards allowed per play — so Nix will have a chance to really shine if he’s fully healthy.

And with the announcement he’ll return in 2023, he can use the platform as a way to remind the college football public how effective he can be when he’s 100%.