Mack Hollins was prepared to leave North Carolina. It was the summer of 2014, months before he would end up leading the Tar Heels in receiving yards and touchdowns. The financial burden of out-of-state tuition was growing, and the end of the lease on his dream was in view.

His self-imposed two-year trial was up. When the Rockville, Maryland, native arrived in Chapel Hill in 2012, he gave himself two years to land a scholarship. A special teams captain in 2013, he still entered summer 2014 collecting student loan debt.

“When I stepped on campus,” Hollins said, “I said if I didn’t have a scholarship in two years I’d be leaving.”

Hollins told Tar Heels coach Larry Fedora he couldn’t afford to remain at North Carolina, where out-of-state fees can exceed $45,000 per year.

A day after telling Fedora, the coach came back with a scholarship for the summer months. Hollins never relinquished it, and now the 22-year-old junior is among the most prolific downfield threats in college football. Among receivers with 20 catches, he’s first with 26.6 yards per catch, almost four yards better than West Virginia’s Shelton Gibson.

No. 17 UNC is 9-1 and can clinch a berth in the ACC title game Saturday in large part to Hollins.

North Carolina isn't getting top-25 credit for beating Pittsburgh, something that hamstrings the Tar Heels from being ranked higher. AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

Wide receivers coach Gunter Brewer said Hollins “can take a top off the defense,” meaning he can clear the last line of defense. Passes targeted for Hollins on average travel 17.5 yards, fifth-highest nationally. He’s No. 1 in yards after catch before contact, so when Hollins hauls in a deep pass the cornerbacks are slow to catch him.

“He’s unique and special in how fast he gets past people and makes something happen,” Brewer said.

Brewer called Hollins a unique case for taking the road less traveled to a star role on a contending team. But Brewer said that fits Hollins, who friends, family and coaches acknowledge is a “different kind of guy.”

Nicknamed Backpack Mack, Hollins always has his Nike bag in tow because he doesn’t like his possessions lying around. His apartment houses his two snakes, a 4.5-foot ball python and an albino sun glow boa, which can grow up to 10 feet. In high school, he bred African Cichlid fish, and after an NFL career he wants to open a fish and exotic reptile store.

At Fork Union Military Academy, teammates like Cardale Jones called Hollins “Google.”

“They said you can ask your son random, off-the-cuff questions and he can answer,” Hollins’ father, Richard, said.

Hollins wasn’t enrolled at Fork Union because he needed to improve his grades before finalizing a scholarship, like several teammates. Hollins entered the rigid military environment on the suggestion of a family friend and a North Carolina assistant coach. He didn’t draw a single college look coming out of high school, and Fork Union can help with that.

North Carolina was Hollins’ dream school after tagging along on his older brother’s college visit. So when he emailed about 100 schools his football highlights in December 2011, UNC was among them.

A few months later, North Carolina offered him a walk-on spot.

Sacrifices were made to fulfill a dream. He took on loans but didn’t help offset costs with a part-time job so he could focus on a scholarship. Richard calls his son “The Ramen Noodle Kid” because there were days Hollins sat in his room hungry after a small Styrofoam cup of noodles and salty broth couldn’t satiate the needs of a Division I athlete. Hollins asked scholarship athletes for a few bucks, a free meal or a used book, anything that prevented him from asking his parents for help.

“He doesn’t ask mom or dad for anything,” Karyn, his mother, said.

The financial stresses were only surpassed by the angst felt on the field. He was a scout-team player his first year, which meant limited opportunities to catch the coaching staff’s eye. And few teammates or graduate assistants are willing to stay after practice to help a walk-on touch up his footwork.

“When you’re a walk-on, you’re bottom of the barrel,” said Richard, a former scholarship receiver at West Virginia. “They don’t pull any punches about that.”

Richard told his son to make his mark on special teams. He demanded his son be the hardest worker, and kick coverage is as much about effort as talent.

Brewer said the coaching staff began taking notice of Hollins during scout-team competitions and on special teams, where he became captain in 2013.

Two years were up at the end of the 2013 season, though. Richard unexpectedly lost his job around that time, and Hollins was preparing to move on before the 2014 summer session. Richard earlier said he wouldn’t let Hollins leave North Carolina without a degree, but he was now entertaining the idea of Hollins leaving.

However, Hollins had proved his worth to the coaching staff. And when presented with the idea of Hollins leaving, Fedora delivered a scholarship.

“It’s much like the NFL. You have to use the scholarships on who’ll bring something to the table,” Brewer said. “Mack brought a lot of things to the table.”

When Hollins told his mother the news on the phone, she was standing in her bedroom. After hanging up, she knelt beside her bed to pray. A few days later, she found eye marks on the sheets. Her mascara ran onto the bed as tears streamed down her face after Hollins’ call.

That part of the sheet is now laminated and sits on the desk in her home office.

“It was so overwhelming,” she said, “because of the journey of how he got there.”