Sept. 14, 2004

Chapel Hill, N.C. ----- University of North Carolina senior offensive lineman Skip Seagraves will likely miss the remainder of the season with a broken bone in his left foot head coach John Bunting announced on Tuesday.

A native of Burlington, N.C., Seagraves fractured the cuboid bone in his left foot in the fourth quarter of Carolina's loss to Virginia on Saturday. An MRI on Monday afternoon revealed the fracture. His foot will be placed in a stabilizing boot and will not require surgery. UNC's medical staff estimate he will be out of action for 8-10 weeks.

Bunting said Carolina would investigate the possibility of Seagraves receiving a sixth year of eligibility.

"We will pursue every avenue," he said. "Skip was injured in pre-game warm up before the first game. We weren't sure if he was going to be able to play. He played almost the entire game with a bad foot. Somewhere in the fourth quarter (against Virginia), he was in tremendous pain.

"This young man really has a lot of ability and a tremendous work ethic. He's worked hard to have a great career here at Carolina. I certainly think he has the ability to play at the next level. I'm hopeful that we'll be able to get that extra year and he'll be able to come back and play."

Seagraves has played both tackle and guard during his Carolina career, starting 26 games overall. He started all 12 games at right tackle in 2003, but moved to right guard for the first two contests this season.