Anxiety is starting to build at North Carolina.
Everyone in the football program, starting with Coach Butch Davis, is eager to open the season on Saturday.
"I've been anxious since training camp (started)," Quan Sturdivant, a junior linebacker, said. "All we've done since training camp is hit each other, so it's time for some fresh meat."
UNC will begin its third season under Davis against The Citadel at 6 p.m. at Kenan Stadium.
UNC doubled its wins total last season to eight and will try to build on the progress and the program's first bowl game in four years. The players are confident that the team can contend for the ACC championship.
Davis told his players in a recent meeting that training camp was productive, but said yesterday that he needs to evaluate the team in game conditions.
"Are we where we need to be? Absolutely not," Davis said. "This game hopefully will be a great measuring stick as to who's going to be the playmakers, who's going to be dependable, who's going to be accountable, and who we can count on every single play to be in the right spot and make plays and catch the football."
Davis will put his most experienced starting units on the field. The defense, expected to be the team's strength, will start nine seniors and juniors. The offense, led by quarterback T.J. Yates, will also start nine seniors and juniors.
Yates said he has never felt more confident heading into a season.
"I don't have any (concerns) right now," he said. "There's definitely things that we can work on during this week that help us get better prepared against The Citadel. There's some things we have to fine tune and make absolutely sure that we want to put in the game plan, and there's definitely some film left to be watched."
Davis has settled on his top receivers -- junior Greg Little and sophomore Dwight Jones.
They will be backed by Johnny White, a junior who is playing his third position, and Joshua Adams, a freshman who enrolled for last year's second semester and participated in spring practice.
"Almost after that, all the rest of them are total unknown commodities," Davis said. "Todd Harrelson is a redshirt freshman, so he's never really played in a game. The rest of the freshmen have been practicing and at times they done some good things, and at times they've looked bewildered, deer in the headlights."
Davis is pleased by the progress in the passing game. Yates will likely play most of the game, if not all. Davis could not say that he has intentions to use either backup quarterback, Mike Paulus or Braden Hanson.
Sophomore Zach Brown won the starter's job at weakside linebacker but is being pressed by freshman Kevin Reddick. Davis said that Brown and Reddick might split playing time in the opener.
A fifth defensive back for obvious passing situations is not clear. Matt Merletti, a junior, would have been the fifth defensive back but is out for the season after injuring a knee. Davis is unsure if the fifth back will be Charles Brown, Melvin Williams or Jonathan Smith.
Davis said that Brown is the obvious choice because he played the fifth defensive-back position last season. He is the starter at one cornerback position, however, and moving him to the fifth back spot would mean starting Jordan Hemby in his place at cornerback.
Da'Norris Searcy, a junior strong safety, and Kendric Burney, a junior cornerback, are the top two players for the punt-returner's job.
The punter's job is almost a dead heat. Davis said he doesn't want to rotate punting Grant Schallock and C.J. Feagles in the opener but both could play.
"We've reached the point that you need to play a game to kind of measure where are you at this stage of the season," Davis said. "You need to play a game to kind of make some final evaluations."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement