CHAPEL HILL — Casey Barth, who played in three games before aggravating a groin injury and missing the rest of the season, has been granted an additional year of eligibility and will be able to play for North Carolina in 2012.

Updated: 3:00 p.m. with UNC release

North Carolina senior Casey Barth won't kick again this season but he hopes to come back next year and kick for the Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels are looking into the possibility of seeking a medical waiver to redshirt Barth, according to a UNC  release on Thursday afternoon. He kicked in UNC’s first three games, but will miss his fifth straight, at Clemson, this weekend.

North Carolina interim coach Everett Withers said this morning the Tar Heels will likely hold kicker Casey Barth out for Saturday's game at Georgia Tech, because of a groin pull.

The senior had been playing with a sore thigh since training camp. He kicked the first two extra points during Saturday’s win against Virginia, before being replaced by Thomas Moore. Moore, a freshman, was listed as the starter on Monday’s two-deep roster.

“I think it’s just a culmination of a lot of different things,’’ Withers said of Barth's injury. “I think it’s just more of a strain. ... We felt like to get him for the long run, to not put him out there on the field.”

CHAPEL HILL – Last season, North Carolina’s Casey Barth proved he could make the big kicks when his team needed them the most – booting, for example, a game-tyer, then game-winner, against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl.

Now, the fourth-year starter wants to prove he make the long ones, too.

Barth, a senior from Wilmington, spent the offseason working to get more distance on his kickoffs and field goals, trying to show the coaches that he can kick the latter farther his career high of 49 yards. As a result, interim head coach Everett Withers has allowed him to practice from longer distances during training camp.

The result: “I really am comfortable from 53, 54, 55 … and if my coaches aren’t yet, I hope they’re getting there,’’ Barth said.

Josh Czajkowski didn’t merely make a near-miraculous return from a hamstring injury that was originally thought to be season-ending. The N.C. State kicker had a 47-yarder among his two field goals and three extra points in a 29-25 win over North Carolina.

“I told him on Thursday he should have done this a long time ago,” N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien said. “No, I did. I said, ‘You should have pulled your hamstring a long time ago,’ because he’s smooth. … He’s kicking the ball better, he feels better, there’s a much better rhythm the way he’s doing it.”

RALEIGH -- Down a point and with 4:44 left in the game, UNC kicker Casey Barth had hoped he was about to knock through another game-winning field goal.

Barth's 21-yarder on the last play of the Virginia Tech game on Oct. 29 gave the Tar Heels a 20-17 road win. He was poised to add another game-winner to his resume on Saturday but his 38-yard attempt barely got past the line of scrimmage.

North Carolina coach Butch Davis said Wednesday he “absolutely” still has confidence in kicker Casey Barth, despite the fact that the sophomore has missed two field goals from inside 40 yards this season.

But has Barth’s confidence been shaken?

While UNC walk-on Casey Barth is preparing to share kicking duties against McNeese State tonight, his older brother Connor, UNC's kicker from the previous four seasons, will continue to look for an NFL kicking job.

According to the Kansas City Star, the Chiefs have chosen Nick Novak after a tight kicking competition. 

"The told me that if Nick doesn't do as well as they think he will, I should stay ready,'' Barth, an NFL rookie, told the paper.

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates said he knew his shoulder was recovering well from offseason surgery earlier this summer when he overthrew wide receiver Hakeem Nicks — 65 yards down the field.