UNC players suspended for opener against Cal.

The UNC Football team was hit with suspensions today after it was found that 13 players were involved in some way with selling of shoes they got.

This is the article from The News & Observer:

Thirteen North Carolina football players will be suspended by the university for selling school issued sneakers, according to a press release by the school.

Quarterback Chazz Surratt is one of them.

Offensive lineman Brian Anderson, defensive end Malik Carney, wide receiver Beau Corrales, defensive end Tomon Fox, defensive end Tyrone Hopper, offensive lineman Quiron Johnson, linebacker Malik Robinson, Surratt and offensive lineman Jordan Tucker will each sit out four games.

Defensive backs Greg Ross and Tre Shaw will miss two games, and quarterback Jack Davidson and offensive lineman Jonah Melton will miss one.

The NCAA approved a request to stagger certain suspensions, according to the press release.

In January, 15 players on North Carolina’s football team sold school-issued sneakers in exchange for as much $2,500 in cash, according emails obtained by The News & Observer in a public records request.

I checked in with our friends over at TarHeelBlog.com to gain some insight into how hard these suspensions would hurt them. Surrat is the big name as he was penciled in as the Starter at QB. Fox and Carney are their starting DE’s and both are not suspended for the Cal game. Corrales is most likely on the two-deep at WR. The rest of the suspensions are depth.

This will hurt a team already looking to replace talent they lost this offseason, but it also complicates some of the defensive game-planning, for not know which QB to prep for. Will this help or hurt us in the season opener? We’ll find out come September 1st.