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North Carolina will have to play the rest of college football's regular season without Zack Pianalto, its starting tight end, because of a broken right leg.
Pianalto suffered the injury to his fibula at the ankle joint last Saturday late in the first half of a 44-10 win at Virginia. Team doctors will decide later this week if surgery will be needed.
Coach Butch Davis of UNC said yesterday that he does not know if Pianalto, a senior, can recover in time to play in a bowl game if the team gains eligibility, but did say that Pianalto's absence is a significant personnel loss.
"He's our leading receiver this year, both in yards and in receptions, so I think that speaks to the fact about how valuable that particular player and that individual is to this offense," Davis said. "We've got to find a way to manufacture catches and yards from somebody else."
Pianalto has 30 catches for 311 yards and one touchdown, which he scored on the possession before he was injured. He ranks No. 5 among ACC receivers in receptions a game (5), and ranks No. 2 nationally in the category among tight ends.
This season is the third consecutive in which Pianalto has been injured and been forced to miss games. Since the 2008 season, UNC is 14-5 in games with Pianalto playing and 6-7 in games in which he did not play.
He has caught 94 passes in his career, the most ever by a UNC tight end. He is the favorite receiver of T.J. Yates, UNC's quarterback.
"He's going to be hard to replace," Yates said. "It's tough for him because it's happened so much to him. It's kind of bad luck. It just seems to be that whenever he gets a touchdown he gets hurt that play or soon afterwards. I just feel for him."
Ed Barham, a senior, was listed yesterday as the starting tight end for Saturday's game at Miami. Nelson Hurst, a sophomore in his first UNC season after transferring from Mississippi State, was listed as the backup.
Barham has three catches for the season for 27 yards, all against Virginia. Nelson has no catches but has played.
Davis said that Ryan Taylor, a senior from Mount Tabor High School who has played tight end at UNC, has a defined role now at H-Back and likely would not move positions. Davis left open the possibility yesterday that UNC would play four receivers against Miami. Yates hopes that Taylor can help fill the void left by Pianalto's absence.
"I know Ryan's going to do a good job filling in for him," Yates said. "He's a strong, athletic guy who can catch the ball. We're going to have to change up a little bit schemewise just to kind of make up for that loss, but I think we'll be good with it."
Kendric Burney, a senior cornerback, still has not received clearance from school officials to play at Miami, Davis said. Burney's six-game suspension by the NCAA for violating agent-benefits rules is over, but UNC is looking at another matter that might force him to miss the game.
Davis will talk to Ryan Houston, a senior tailback, about redshirting this season and returning for a full season in 2011. Houston missed UNC's first five games while the NCAA and school officials determined his eligibility.
Houston was cleared late last week, but did not play at Virginia. Davis said that he was trying to meet with Houston yesterday afternoon to discuss the matter.
"I think I know his wishes," Davis said. "I think in a best-case scenario in a perfect world he would like to return (next season), and in reality it would probably make some sense. He's already missed six games, and if has an opportunity to play a full 12- or 13 games next season, that's probably the best thing."
