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Houston will take over as starter
North Carolina forced to make change at back because of injury to Draughn
AP Photo
Ryan Houston of UNC rushed for a career-high 164 yards against Duke on Saturday.
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Published: November 10, 2009
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina will be dealing with a major adjustment this week in its efforts to sustain a winning streak and gain the one victory needed to secure bowl eligibility.
Shaun Draughn's season-ending shoulder injury is forcing Coach Butch Davis to revamp an offensive backfield already hurting because of injuries. Ryan Houston will start for Saturday's home game against Miami, but additional work lies ahead for everyone.
"It certainly is not an enviable task," Davis said.
Houston, a junior, said that he is ready to start in UNC's last home game of the season, and is confident that he can carry the running workload for the rest of the season and help take the pressure off quarterback T.J. Yates and his young receivers that are struggling to make catches.
"I know the plays," Houston said. "I've known them for going on three years now. I'm not going to hesitate when I'm out there."
Houston showed last Saturday in a 19-6 win against Duke, when Draughn was injured, that he is capable of doing the job. His 164 yards rushing and 37 carries were career highs after he replaced Draughn, who was injured on the game's first offensive play.
Houston's previous high for carries was 18. He was still sore yesterday from the pounding he took from Duke's defense and that he gave back in his bullish running style. He said that he was very sore on Sunday.
"After the game I had a real sharp pain in my chest that was kind of hurting me," Houston said. "I laid down for 10 minutes and it was gone. I don't know if it was the after-effect of getting hit that many times or if it was me being worn down."
Davis and John Shoop, the offensive coordinator, will spend the week plotting any changes to UNC's offense. Davis said that the offense changed at least slightly against Duke, and that some plans of attack couldn't be used after Draughn went out.
Draughn and Houston play the same position, but have different running styles. Draughn is quicker and has a more slashing style. Houston is stronger and pounds away, especially inside.
Davis enjoyed the change that UNC could throw at defenses when switching the backs in games. Yates believes that UNC will have to adjust its running game, but does not anticipate a major shift.
"Maybe a little bit," Yates said when asked how different the running attack would be. "There are some certain things that Shaun did better, as far as speed runs. Ryan obviously doesn't have the speed that Shaun did.
"For the most part in the course of the last game we didn't change the running game up too much. We stuck with the things that Ryan was good at doing. We'll do something to compensate for Shaun not being there."
Houston was always UNC's short-yardage back when Draughn was healthy, and came in when a yard or two was needed for a first down or once the ball moved inside the opponent's 5-yard line. Both he and Davis were unsure yesterday if that role would continue.
Anthony Elzy, a junior, will be the backup. He had been playing fullback but moved to tailback about two weeks ago after Jamal Womble and A.J. Blue, the other backup tailbacks, suffered injuries and were lost for the season.
Elzy is also a power runner. His quickness cannot match Draughn's. Elzy does have experience, however. He spent time at tailback early in his career and had 326 yards rushing on 95 carries after his first two seasons. He has carried twice this season for 12 yards.
Elzy is a sound pass-catcher coming out of the backfield, however. He has six receptions this season for 35 yards. In his first two seasons he caught 17 passes for 159 yards.
Davis said that Elzy's experience will ease the loss of Draughn.
"We're at least not in uncharted territory," Davis said. "We've been practicing him at tailback for two weeks and he played the last two seasons at fullback, so he's very familiar with the offense.
"He's been in games. He's a little bit of an older kid. Academically he's a senior. He's been through the ringer a little bit so it's not like you're taking an unproven and untested freshman and throwing him to the wolves."
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