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SCOUTING THE TAR HEELS

Coach: Butch Davis (63-33 in eight seasons overall, 12-13 in two seasons at North Carolina)

2008 record: 8-5 overall, 4-4 ACC; lost to West Virginia 31-30 in Meineke Car Care Bowl

Home field: Kenan Stadium (60,000), Chapel Hill

KEY QUESTIONS FOR NORTH CAROLINA

What's the deal with WR Dwight Jones?

First, the sophomore from Burlington who starred at Cummings learned to run all over again.Jones was fast to begin with, but the Carolina coaching staff noticed some flaws in hismechanics and worked with him to eliminate wasted movement when he ran. The result? Hegot faster and was penciled in as a starter coming out of training camp. But just three daysbefore today's opener, Jones sat out practice with pain in his right knee. It didn't get better,and he had arthroscopic surgery Friday. Jones, who played in three games last year, willlikely miss the first three weeks of the season while recovering from the surgery.

Did anyone else get hurt in training camp?

It was a cruel, cruel summer for the Tar Heels, who had a laundry list of injuries during training camp. Among them: OT Carl Gaskins, a sophomore who played in five games last year, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and will miss the season; DB Matt Merletti, a junior and a captain on special teams, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and will miss the season; TE Ryan Taylor, a senior from Winston-Salem, sprained the medial collateral ligament in his right knee and will be out until at least the third week of the season. Merletti's loss might be the biggest. He made 11 tackles and recovered two fumbles on special teams last season, and he was competing for playing time at safety.

How many of the No. 21 Tar Heels' games are on national TV this year?

At least three. The home game against East Carolina will be on ESPN or ESPN2. And toward the end of the season, North Carolina plays back-to-back Thursday night games on ESPN: at home against Florida State on Oct. 22, then at Virginia Tech on Oct. 29. The Heels also have games set for ESPNU and something called ESPN360.com, plus a bunch of TBAs.

Who's ahead heading into the season: offense or defense?

Without question, the defense. The Tar Heels' offense lost its top three receivers — and six of its top eight — from last season, and now Jones will miss the first few weeks. On the other side of the ball, however, North Carolina has nine of 11 starters back from a year ago. Of those nine, five players have been named to watch lists for national awards: LB Quan Sturdivant, LB Bruce Carter, DT Willy Austin, CB Kendric Burney and FS Deunta Williams.

2008 RESULTS
McNeese State — W, 35-27
at Rutgers— W, 44-12
Virginia Tech— L, 17-20
at Miami— W, 28-24
Connecticut— W, 38-12
Notre Dame— W, 29-24
at Virginia— L, 13-16 (OT)
Boston College— W, 45-24
Georgia Tech— W, 28-7
at Maryland— L, 15-17
N.C. State— L, 10-41
at Duke— W, 28-20
West Virginia (Meineke Bowl) — L, 30-31

2009 SCHEDULE
Sept. 5: The Citadel, 6 (espn360.com)
Sept. 12: at Connecticut, noon (ESPNU)
Sept. 19: East Carolina, noon (ESPN)
Sept. 26: at Georgia Tech
Oct. 3: Virginia
Oct. 10: Georgia Southern
Oct. 22: Florida State, 8 (ESPN)
Oct. 29: at Virginia Tech, 7:30 (ESPN)
Nov. 7: Duke
Nov. 14: Miami
Nov. 21: at Boston College
Nov. 28: at N.C. State
All kickoff times TBA unless noted

NORTH CAROLINA INFO

Tickets: $50 single games (The Citadel, ECU, UVa sold out). Call (800) 722-4335.

Official athletics Web site: tarheelblue.cstv.com

Local radio affiliates: WTHZ-94.1, WBAG-1150, WLXN-1440, WSYD-1300

Coach's call-in radio show: 7 p.m. Wednesdays, WTHZ-94.1, WBAG-1150

Coach's TV show: Inside Carolina Football airs Saturdays at 9 a.m. on Fox Sports Carolinas

DEPTH CHART
Players listed by number, name, height, weight and class year.

OFFENSE

Left tackle
72 Kyle Jolly 6-6 310 Sr.
67 Greg Elleby 6-5 295 Jr.

Left guard
64 Jonathan Cooper 6-3 295 R-Fr.
74 Sam Ellis 6-5 285 Jr.

Center
69 Lowell Dyer 6-4 295 Sr.
65 Cam Holland 6-2 300 So.

Right guard
70 Alan Pelc 6-6 325 Jr.
76 Travis Bond 6-7 320 Fr.

Right tackle
66 Mike Ingersoll 6-5 300 Jr.
73 Brennan Williams 6-7 285 Fr.

Tight end
17 Zack Pianalto 6-4 255 Jr.
80 Ed Barham 6-3 265 Jr.

Wide receiver
8 Greg Little 6-3 215 Jr.
34 Johnny White 5-10 205 Jr.

H-back
33 Christian Wilson 6-3 235 So.
84 Vince Jacobs 6-7 235 Jr.

Fullback
4 Bobby Rome 5-11 245 Sr.
6 Anthony Elzy 5-10 215 Jr.

Tailback
20 Shaun Draughn 6-0 210 Jr.
32 Ryan Houston 6-2 245 Jr.

Quarterback
13 T.J. Yates 6-3 220 Jr.
7 Mike Paulus 6-4 215 So.

Placekicker
11 Casey Barth 5-11 180 So.

DEFENSE

Defensive end
92 E.J. Wilson 6-2 280 Sr.
90 Quinton Coples 6-6 275 So.

Defensive tackle
9 Marvin Austin 6-3 305 Jr.
91 Tydreke Powell 6-3 300 So.

Defensive tackle
93 Cam Thomas 6-4 325 Sr.
97 Aleric Mullins 6-3 305 Sr.

Defensive end
42 Robert Quinn 6-5 270 So.
94 Michael McAdoo 6-7 245 So.

Linebacker
47 Zach Brown 6-2 225 So.
48 Kevin Reddick 6-3 230 Fr.

Linebacker
52 Quan Sturdivant 6-2 235 Jr.
36 Kennedy Tinsley 6-0 220 Jr. (Dudley HS)

Linebacker
54 Bruce Carter 6-3 230 Jr.
57 Dion Guy 6-4 225 R-Fr.

Cornerback
12 Charles Brown 5-10 205 Jr.
23 Jordan Hemby 5-10 190 Sr.

Cornerback
16 Kendric Burney 5-9 190 Jr.
37 LeCount Fantroy 5-11 185 So.

Strong safety
21 Da'Norris Searcy 6-0 210 Jr.
28 Jonathan Smith 6-2 210 Jr.

Free safety
27 Deunta Williams 6-2 210 Jr.
10 Melvin Williams 6-0 200 Sr.

Punter
39 Grant Schallock 6-7 225 Jr.