Observations from 2nd UNC football scrimmage

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — UNC’s football team wrapped up its second major scrimmage of the pre-season on Saturday afternoon in Kenan Stadium. The secondary highlighted the day’s action with several forced turnovers. However, with just two weeks left before the Tar Heels' season opener versus McNeese State, the defensive backfield has been more of a question mark instead of an exclamation point.

“Right now we’re trying to make some hard decisions at the cornerback position to try to find out who the starters are going to be,” head Coach Butch Davis said. “I think Kendric Burney has probably solidified himself. He’s played very, very good. All the rest of them are basically unknown commodities. Jordan Hemby has never really ever played in a game. Johnny (White) and Richie (Rich) are new to the position. They’re battling to compete at the position.

“Another guy we haven’t talked a whole heckuva lot about this fall has been Tavorris Jolly. Tavorris is one of those players that maybe the light has come on. Sometimes guys kind of languish in a little bit of ambiguity early in their career, not knowing exactly how to compete and what to do and what does it take to win. So he’s had a nice camp. He’s put himself silently in that mix of ‘Could he be somebody we could count on?’ Right now, we’re still a ways from naming starters.”

Charles Brown, who started nine games last season in the secondary, has been slowed this preseason with an ankle injury. He suffered the injury at the beginning of training camp. He practiced on Saturday for the first time in almost a week. Although Davis said he’s not able to run and cut and is only operating at 75-80-percent, the Tar Heels head coach is hopeful he’ll be fully recovered in time for the beginning of the season.

It’s not all doom and gloom in the secondary, though. The unit provided some big hits during the scrimmage that resulted in turnovers.

“If there’s been one really bright spot with our corners in the struggle to try to figure out who the starters are going to be, they have tackled very well,” Davis said. “Maybe at least two of the fumbles that were forced were caused by the secondary tackling and gang tackling.”

As for how the scrimmage was conducted, Davis had his first-string offense go against the second-string defense, and the first-string defense battle the second-string offense.

“You want to see how your second team players would have to play,” Davis said. “If they go into a ball game as a replacement for a starter, they have to play against somebody else’s best players.”

On the offensive line, the left guard position is still up for grabs. Apparently, there are two players who could wind up starting for the Tar Heels.

“We took Bryon Bishop and Alan Pelc and kind of split the reps with the first and the second unit with both of those guys to see how they play,” Davis said “I love the competition. I love the fact that they both want to be the guy.”

Speaking of offensive lineman, Davis likes Lowell Dyer’s ability not just at center, but as the team’s extra-point and field goal snapper. Dyer’s size and accuracy has set him apart in that role.

Dyer’s versatility won’t carry over to deep snapper. Mark House has a slight lead over Trevor Stuart for that job.

Also on special teams, Davis hinted that he might utilize a couple of different kickers this season. Davis said he’s looking for the right guy for the right kick. In other words, UNC could have one guy kicking extra-points and short field goals and another kicking-off and attempting longer field goals. This situation could be resolved next Saturday.

At quarterback, back-ups Cam Sexton and Mike Paulus split reps with the second and third units. Freshman Braden Hanson took 15-20 reps with the third-team offense, too.

One of the more pleasant surprises in camp might be Shaun Draughn. Draughn was a standout running back at Tarboro High School. As a senior, he rushed for 21 touchdowns and over 1,450 yards. However, after red-shirting in 2006, he played his first season in Chapel Hill at safety. This year, the sophomore will be back in familiar territory: the offensive backfield.

“By his own request, (Draughn) requested to be given an opportunity to go to running back,” Davis said. “As a new coaching staff, we didn’t have the privilege of seeing him in high school and watching him actually play running back. He’d been a defensive back for a couple of years…But his heart and his passion was to be a running back. He’s done a very, very good job. He’s learned the offense for the most part. He can go in and execute the runs, the passes and the protections. He’s exciting.”

On the injury front, wide receiver Cooter Arnold and safety Melvin Williams suffered ankle sprains. Their x-rays came back negative, and Davis didn’t seem to think that either player would miss a significant amount of time.