Wolfpack and Heels lose important players

Saturday:
North Carolina 2-1, 0-1 at Miami 2-1, 0-0

Saturday
South Florida 4-0 at N.C. State 2-2

It was a tough day for football injuries at N.C. State and North Carolina.

The Wolfpack’s absurdly bad luck continued with Monday’s revelations that quarterback Russell Wilson and linebacker Nate Irving are out for Saturday’s game against 13th-ranked South Florida and will miss an uncertain amount of time thereafter. Coach Tom O’Brien didn’t specify the nature or severity of the injuries, citing ACC policy consistent with federal privacy laws.

Meanwhile, in Chapel Hill, the Tar Heels learned that quarterback T.J. Yates has a broken left ankle and is expected to miss at least six weeks of action.

Back in Raleigh, it was fair to wonder if the Wolfpack, which has seen 11 projected or actual sidelined already in 2008, is vulnerable to a meltdown.

“My job is to make sure that doesn’t happen,” O’Brien said. “Maybe they’ll start to believe me when I tell them it’s going to stop somewhere. It sure hasn’t yet.”
*****from Rob Daniels, www.news-record.com*****