WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The trainer’s room inside the Kenan Football Center is starting to fill up again.
An all-too common theme over the previous two seasons, North Carolina appeared on course of distancing itself from the injury-plagued seasons when very few Tar Heels were more than dinged up during fall camp.
Three games into this campaign, however, and it’s starting to happen again.
Senior cornerback Patrice Rene went down for the season during last week’s win over Miami and senior center Nick Polino suffered a serious enough injury that there’s no time table for his return. Add to that senior tight ed Carl Tucker, senior defensive tackle Jason Strowbridge and sophomore wide receiver Antoine Green were also absent from Friday’s 24-18 loss at Wake Forest.
That’s five players who started versus the Hurricanes who didn’t play Friday.
“We’ve got a lot of injuries,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said, following the Heels’ loss at BB&T Field. “We’ve got to go back and get some backups ready to play against Appalachian (State).”
Before doing that, the staff will need to take a head count. In addition to the players already noted, reserve redshirt freshman linebacker Matthew Flint is now out for the season and starting right tackle Jordan Tucker and sarting hybrid linebacker Allen Cater suffered injuries Friday night. He briefly returned before leaving the game again.
Perhaps the player UNC missed the most against the Demon Deacons was Strowbridge, whose versatility makes him one of Carolina’s top players on that side of the ball. UNC struggled stopping Wake’s ground game and putting pressure on quarterback Jamie Newman, and not having Strowbridge on the field was a significant obstacle for the Heels to overcome.
“He’s a pro player,” Brown said. “He’s our best pass rusher, maybe our best defensive player so you really miss him.”
Strowbridge missed practice Wednesday and went through pre-game warmups, but a decision was made he wouldn’t play right before Carolina ran onto the field the final time before the kickoff.
“It was tough not having him out there today, but it’s next man up,” defensive tackle-mate Aaron Crawford said.
And next up for the Tar Heels is an Appalachian State team fully capable of beating a healthy UNC team, so getting some guys back and the reserves game ready is paramount for the Tar Heels.
