UNC Football program to be without Noah Burnette against NC Central

When the UNC football program took the field for warmups before their contest against NC Central, a major contributor was not with the special teams unit.

While the Tar Heels specialists warmed up, place kicker Noah Burnette stood on the side in street clothes. As reported by Inside Carolina, Burnette had a wrap on his right leg, indicating that he would be unavailable for the UNC football program's non-conference tilt against NC Central.

This is a major development for North Carolina, especially given how Burnette has been close to automatic dating back to last season. Through the Tar Heels first two games, Burnette connected on five of his six field goal attempts, helping put points on the board in two winning efforts for the UNC football program.

North Carolina will also be without center Austin Blaske (who suffered a foot injury), Kaimon Rucker (who already was ruled out) and Darwin Barlow (who missed last week's game as well).

The good news is that Omarion Hampton and Bryson Nesbit both were active participants in pregame warmups and both are expected to play on Saturday night.

Not only will it be interesting to see who handles the place kicking duties this week but the extent of Burnette's injury is also a major storyline to follow. The hope is that Burnette's injury isn't significant, as the UNC football program needs him to be healthy as soon as possible, especially with ACC play just around the corner.