UNC readies for William & Mary, minus Pianalto

North Carolina senior tight end Zack Pianalto is on the road to recovery after getting surgery on his fractured right fibula Friday.

UNC football coach Butch Davis said Monday that the surgery was very successful. Pianalto sustained the regular season-ending injury Oct. 16 against Virginia.

His 95 career catches are the most of any tight end in UNC history, and he is still the team’s leading pass catcher.

“It’s never easy to replace somebody that’s a good football player,” Davis said.

Navy pants bad luck for UNC

They probably weren’t the only reason for UNC’s 33-10 defeat at Miami on Saturday, but it’s worth noting that the Tar Heels are now 1-4 when they wear navy pants. Davis debuted the pants at Rutgers in 2008 in the Tar Heels’ 44-12 win against Rutgers. Since then, the pants have yielded less positive results.

UNC also wore the pants that season in a 16-13 overtime loss at Virginia and its 31-30 loss to West Virginia in the Meineke Car Care Bowl. The Tar Heels also coughed up a second-half lead to Florida State last season, falling to the Seminoles 30-27 in navy.

Week off from the ACC

Saturday’s game against William & Mary was originally scheduled for the season opener, but the teams moved the game so UNC could play against Louisiana State. UNC’s only game against Football Championship Subdivision opposition falls in the middle of a string of seven ACC games.

While some of the banged-up Tar Heels might welcome the respite from Football Bowl Subdivision competition, senior safety Deunta Williams disagrees.

“I love playing top-notch competitors every week,” Williams said. “When I play NCAA, I change my schedule to all top-tier teams, so it’s one of those types of teams for me.”

Williams said he reset his video game alter ego’s eligibility to freshman status, but was disappointed to find out free safety #27 chose to leave school early for the NFL Draft.

Michael Paulus returns

You might forgive William & Mary quarterback Michael Paulus if he throws an interception Saturday — the junior threw to Tar Heel blue-clad receivers in 2008 before transferring after the 2009 season.

Paulus, who went by Mike while at UNC, was pulled from last week’s victory against Delaware in favor of Mike Callahan. Tribe coach Jimmye Laycock said Callahan would start against UNC. This decision has not stopped Paulus from trash-talking his old teammates via text.

“That’s Mike for you,” Williams said. “He was like, ‘On Oct. 30 the Rude Boyz are going to have manners’ and all this stuff. It was kind of funny, but that’s Mike, man.”

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