Mooring Could Miss Game Vs. Injury-Riddled Jackets

The sophomore sustained the injury in a fall in his apartment off campus Saturday morning. He had surgery Monday and did not practice Tuesday.

"It's always tough for a football team to lose a player due to injury," said UNC coach John Bunting at his weekly press conference Tuesday. "But it is tougher when the player gets injured off the field."

Bunting was optimistic that Mooring will be able to play through the injury in coming weeks, but said he did not expect Mooring to play against the Yellow Jackets.

Jocques Dumas will likely start in Mooring's place, Bunting said. Tommy Davis, Jermicus Banks and Larry Jessup should also see increased playing time.

Bunting Empathizes With Hollings

Georgia Tech running back Tony Hollings, who leads the nation in rushing and is second in scoring, suffered a painful knee injury in Tech's win against Brigham Young on Saturday that reminded Bunting of one of his old football injuries.

"The injury Hollings suffered was exactly what happened to me in 1978," Bunting said. "It was the exact same injury doing the exact same thing. He was attacking a linebacker; I was attacking a running back. Nobody hit me, nobody hit him. It's a freak thing that can happen in football. I was making a radical right hand turn, just like he was doing, and my knee blew out just like his."

An MRI on Monday revealed that Hollings had a torn anterior cruciate ligament and a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. He will undergo surgery in two weeks and is out for the remainder of the season.

"I feel bad for him and at some point I will get in touch with him and let him know that he can make it back from this," Bunting said. "Back when I got the surgery it was a 50-50-type operation, but now you can recover quicker. He will be as good as new once he finishes rehab."

Hollings is the second standout Yellow Jacket to be sidelined this season. Defensive end Greg Gathers is out with a kidney disease.

Both injuries could have a significant impact on the short-term success of the team. The running back position is particularly uncertain, with backup Sidney Ford still out of action due to a concussion.

"We're going to have to wait and see how we handle the tailback situation," said Tech coach Chan Gailey on Sunday. "In the next two days, we are going to evaluate exactly where we are at the running back position, and what we need to do. I would not rule anything out."

Freshman Ajenavi Eziemefe will likely be the starter against the Tar Heels, but he will be hard-pressed to fill the production void left by Hollings' injury.

"The loss of a running back that was leading the nation in rushing was a very serious blow to them," Bunting said. "Those things happen in football, and you've got to go on."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.