Backups vie for time on the field

BY BRIANA GORMAN

bgorman@heraldsun.com; 419-6668

CHAPEL HILL -- In the fourth quarter of North Carolina's 40-6 season-opening win over The Citadel on Saturday, starting quarterback T.J. Yates was taken out to give his backups some snaps of game action.

But in a surprise twist, the first quarterback to come off the bench for the Tar Heels was not sophomore Mike Paulus but rather redshirt freshman Braden Hanson. Paulus and Hanson both were listed second on the depth chart, but Paulus was the more experienced after having seen action in four games of the 2008 season.

"The quarterbacks are honestly no different than any of the other positions," Davis said. "We take a look at every single thing that every kid [does], ... and just watching scrimmages, watching blitz drills, watching team performances and those kinds of things, there was just a slight little bit of an edge of that particular time for Braden."

Hanson mostly handed the ball off, but his first throw was intercepted and his second was incomplete. Davis said the plan was to get Paulus in the game -- he warmed up on the sidelines -- but the two muffed punts in the fourth quarter didn't allow that to happen.

"The only thing that I can tell you is that people's evaluation of any of the players is based on how they do," Davis said. "It has zero to do with how they were recruited. It has zero to do with five-star, four-star ranking. It's all about performance.

"On this team, nobody cares what your bio said, they all care, 'Can you help us win?' And if you're the best guy, then that's the way it's going to have to be."

Paulus, who is 6-4 and 214 pounds, was a four-star recruit by Scout.com but went 4-of-13 for 33 yards and two interceptions a year ago. Hanson, who stands 6-6 and 200 pounds, was North Carolina's Gatorade football player of the year in 2007 and a three-star recruit.

But Davis said even though Hanson got in the game first Saturday, that doesn't mean he's the backup for the rest of the season.

"It'll be an ongoing situation, nothing's ever etched in stone," Davis said. "It may change from week to week."

Running strong

As UNC pushes to be known as a running team this season, running back Shaun Draughn has another goal in his sights. He hopes to become the Tar Heels' first 1,000-yard rusher since 1997, when Jonathan Linton ran for 1,004 yards.

Draughn said the mark isn't something he dwells on, but after accounting for 118 of UNC's 261 rushing yards in Saturday's victory he said he thought to himself, "I'm on track."

The junior had 866 yards on 198 carries a year ago, which were the most rushing yards by a UNC back since Linton. Draughn said he wants the ball in his hands, but breaking the 1,000-yard mark will take more than just him.

"It's up to the O-line; it's not up to me," Draughn said. "They open up the holes, and I just run where they are."

Bruce is loose

When UConn visited Chapel Hill a year ago, the Tar Heels' Bruce Carter blocked three punts to help his team win 38-12.

When UNC travels to Connecticut on Saturday, the Huskies will be running a new punt formation.

Coincidence?

"Well a lot of people have been saying [they changed because of me], but I don't know," Carter said with a smile.

The junior linebacker said he hasn't thought about how many blocks he might get against UConn on Saturday, but the new formation should make his job a little tougher. The Huskies will be running an elephant punt scheme, which spaces out the players more.

"It makes it a little bit more difficult, being everybody's spread out," Carter said.