Will UNC play a backup QB?

CHAPEL HILL — When he was asked Monday whether he'd try to work a back-up quarterback into Saturday's game against McNeese State, North Carolina coach Butch Davis said he didn't know.

"We're just trying to get a first down,'' he said.

But considering what happened to N.C. State's starting quarterback Russell Wilson on Thursday night, a concussion, it will be interesting to see if UNC gives its backup signal callers a few snaps late in the game, if the Tar Heels get a good cushion. Just in case.

Although UNC's quarterbacks have been fairly durable the last few seasons, it is rare these days that a starter can make it through a whole year without getting hurt. 

Darian Durant made every start behind center in 2003 and 2004, but still missed chunks of games for one hurt or another. The fact that starter Matt Baker made it through the entire 2005 season without missing a game is still eyebrow-raising, considering how many times he got hit. (And even Joey Bozich, his back-up at that point, had to take a couple of snaps when Baker sprained an ankle during one game.)

UNC rotated quarterbacks in 2006, so injury concerns were less of an issue. But even though freshman T.J. Yates started every game last year, he played the end of the season with what was later diagnosed as a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.

So far, there remains a great big "or" on UNC's depth chart at back-up quarterback, between redshirt freshman Mike Paulus and junior Cameron Sexton. Paulus, a highly-regarded recruit, has yet to take a collegiate snap. Sexton was part of that ill-advised quarterback rotation in 2006, and has played only one quarter — the fourth quarter of UNC's season-opener against James Madison last season — since.

Yates had surgery in December to repair his shoulder, and says he is now back to 100 percent. But will he stay that way all season?

Coaches and fans certainly hope so. But then again, State's fans and coaches hoped the same thing for Wilson, too.