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CHAPEL HILL -- Former Cummings standout Brandon Tate is out for the season because of a knee injury, ending his college career and leaving North Carolina's football team without a big-play wide receiver and kick returner.

Coach Butch Davis said Monday that an MRI on Sunday night confirmed the earlier diagnosis of torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee.

"You never know until you get the X-rays and MRIs," Davis said.

Tate injured the knee while returning a punt in the first quarter of a 29-24 victory over Notre Dame on Saturday that helped UNC moved up to 18th in the AP media poll this week. He walked off the field and into the locker room and did not return, and the injury initially was announced as a sprain.

"I made a quick move to my left, moved to the right and saw a gold helmet hit my leg," Tate said. "I thought it was like a bruise or something, real sore on the inside part of my knee. The MRIs told me everything."

Tate scored five touchdowns this season and was leading the ACC with an average of 163.7 all-purpose yards per game. He had 376 yards receiving, 143 yards rushing, 305 yards on kickoff return and 158 yards on punt returns.

"If (he's) not the most explosive player in college football, he's really close," UNC quarterback Cameron Sexton said.

Now Davis is hunting for a replacement for his most versatile player beginning this week at Virginia, where the Tar Heels (5-1, 1-1 ACC) haven't won since 1981. But stepping in for Tate -- who finishes his career as the NCAA's all-time leader with 3,523 combined kick-return yards -- might be too much for one person, Davis said.

"There won't be one guy this week," Davis said. "There may be one guy three weeks from now, or two guys two weeks from now, but it may take a committee of two, three, four, five guys that can come in and do some things for us."