Special teams might see the biggest boost from the return of safeties Da’Norris Searcy, who was cleared to play last week, and senior Deunta Williams, who is coming off a four-game NCAA-imposed suspension this Saturday.

UNC coach Butch Davis says that the return of Searcy and Williams, an All-ACC player, frees up guys to contribute on special teams. “That’s an area we have been absolutely paper thin throughout the first four games of the season,” Davis said during the weekly ACC teleconference. “We were having to burn redshirt years and play young, inexperienced players.”

DB Matt Merletti, who played a very high 70-75 snaps in one game at safety, will be able to return to special teams and play in the secondary in certain packages. Davis says he doesn’t want any member of the secondary to play as many snaps as Merletti has had to play.

Searcy got a lot of work in his first game back and he made a key interception for a touchdown late in the first half against East Carolina to tie the score. “It was emotional for him,” Davis says. “He was ecstatic just that he was going to be able to return to play and then to go out and help win the game – to make a play that not only changed the momentum but changed the score.”

Searcy was also able to provide a lift to special teams as he did a good job returning punts and kickoffs against East Carolina. Williams’ return could provide a similar lift to the defense and special teams this weekend at Kenan Stadium against Clemson.

“Clemson is probably the most talented and complete football team we’ve played against this football season,” Davis says. “They are extraordinarily fast on defense. They rotate guys in and there is no drop off.”

He also pointed to Clemson’s offense led by QB Kyle Parker whom he says gives them a lot of leadership and playmaking ability. He will be testing the Carolina secondary.

While the starting safeties are back, the starting cornerbacks are still out. “Our corners are a work in progress,” Davis said. “We have kids out there that didnt even think they were going to play this year.” He says they have huge new roles and their challenge is to get better each week.

One of the starting cornerbacks, Kendrick Burney, will be back from an NCAA suspension in two weeks.

Injury report: Senior Greg Elleby, who moved from offensive guard to defensive tackle after all the suspensions, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee against East Carolina and has been lost for the season.

Meanwhile, senior linebacker Quan Sturdivant, who is a leader on defense, is expected back this week after sitting out last weekend with a thigh injury.

The leader of the agency that polices doping by Olympic athletes have been honored by the University of North Carolina General Alumni Association with a Distinguished Young Alumni Award.

Travis Thompson Tygart ’93, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo., oversees a nonprofit organization that investigates Olympic athletes suspected of using performance-enhancing drugs; reaches out to young athletes and elite amateurs to educate them on making healthy, ethical choices; and funds research related to deterring drug use in sports.

After receiving a degree in philosophy at UNC, Tygart earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1999 and became outside counsel to the agency when it was formed in 2000, shortly after the Sydney Olympics. He became USADA’s director of legal affairs in 2002 and CEO in 2007.

Besides high-profile investigations of athletes and organizations, such as the BALCO laboratory in San Francisco, the Jacksonville, Fla., native has testified before Congress several times about broader issues related to illegal use of performance-enhancing drugs and the pressures on those who want to compete fairly without jeopardizing their health or compromising their integrity. His testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 2008 helped achieve Senate ratification of the UNESCO anti-doping convention, an international treaty against doping in sports.

Tygart returns to UNC at least once a year to speak to journalism, law and philosophy students on ethics issues.

Since 1989, the GAA’s Distinguished Young Alumni Awards have recognized alumni aged 40 or younger whose accomplishments have brought credit to the University.

Carolina Hurricanes’ coach Paul Maurice decided to remove captain Eric Staal from the team’s exhibition game against SKA St. Petersburg in Russia Monday in the second period as a safety precaution.

Hurricanes’ players and coaches were upset by what they believed were deliberate low blows by the Russian team, which defeated Carolina 5-3 in the exhibition game.

“It seemed like they were getting awfully close to his knees and there wasn’t enough concern out there,” Maurice said. “He’s a star NHL player and should be playing in the National Hockey League.”

Maurice said he expected a lot of fights and a lot of bs, and that’s just what happened.

The players, many of whom have played against Russians in youth and junior hockey, weren’t surprised by the rough play but they took exception to the hits to knees.

Staal, who came away with a cut under his eye, said that he received two low hits. “He kind of dove at my knees,” said Staal, who was lifted shortly thereafter. “I’m a big guy, I can take a hit, but when the guy lunges at your knee when you’re going full speed, you can blow an ACL.”

Several fights ensued after that as Hurricanes’ Jay Harrison and Joni Pitkanen were both tossed from the game.

Maurice said that the team bonded and built chemistry as a result of the game and its altercations.

The Durham Bulls were chosen as the favorite North Carolina-based professional team by Capital Sports readers in an online poll.

The minor league affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays got 57 percent of the vote compared to the second-place finishing Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL which got 21 percent of the vote.

There were not as many responses to this unscientific poll as last week’s poll about whether or not Butch Davis would be back next season as UNC’s coach. That plays into the common thought that this is a college sports area and that fans of pro teams often like teams outside of North Carolina so they weren’t inclined to vote.

Still, the results were interesting. In a separate poll, the Carolina Panthers of the NFL were chosen as the least favorite NC-based pro team with 36 percent of the vote. The next least favorite teams were soccer’s Carolina Railhawks and the NBA’s Charlotte Bobcats which each got 27 percent of the vote.

The Railhawks didn’t get a single vote as favorite NC-based pro team while the Carolina Mudcats and Durham Bulls didn’t get a single vote as least favorite NC-based pro team.

Many fans of the Mudcats and Bulls enjoy the experience of going to the games but I doubt as many of their fans follow the players and standings as much as Hurricanes’ fans do. But that’s just an educated guess.

Ok, so the Carolina Panthers aren’t very good this year but they really had a chance to steal one in New Orleans… and they should have.

Despite being winless and using a rookie quarterback and being without injured Steve Smith, the Panthers were within John Kasay’s field goal range, just barely at the 36-yard-line, with time running out.

But then they ran a slow-developing, deep-in-the-backfield running play to DeAngelo Williams that lost four yards. Even then, at 57 yards, the Panthers had a chance to win it on a long field goal.

But the Saints predictably blitzed QB Danny Clausen who was sacked for another four-yard loss. The Panthers elected not to try a miracle 61-yard field goal attempt and failed on a fourth-down pass. Saints 16, Panthers 14.

It was right there for the Panthers as the Saints have not been playing like Super Bowl champs. The Panthers would have been better off running a couple of off tackle dive plays and try a 50-yarder than running those two slow plays that went backward.

It doesn’t get easier for the 0-4 Panthers as they play the 3-1 Bears next week without their star receiver Steve Smith, who is expected to be out with a high-ankle sprain. The Panthers have a bye week after the Bears game.

The talk was all about Redskins quarterback Donovan McNabb coming back to Philadelphia to face his old team, the Eagles. But it was a first-quarter, 53-yard punt return by Garner’s Brandon Banks that was the key to the Redskins 17-12 win Sunday.

Banks, who is only about 5-foot-7 and 150 pounds, took a punt at his own 8-yard line and sped down the left sideline all the way to the Eagles 39-yard line setting up the Redskins’ first score of the game.

The Redskins scored another TD on a McNabb to Chris Cooley and held off the Eagles. John Riggins, former Redskins’ great and host of his own radio and TV program, said that Banks’ punt return was the key play of the game for the Redskins.

That’s hard to argue as it gave the Redskins the momentum early which lasted until the last few minutes when the Eagles made it close.

Banks made the Redskins’ squad at the first of the year but was placed on the practice squad until Sunday when he made his NFL debut in fine fashion.

“I feel good, but I still feel like I should have scored on that play,” Banks said. “But you know, we won so that’s all that matters at the end of the day, so I’m happy.”

In practice during the week leading up to the game, Banks played the roles of Eagles Michael Vick, who was injured during the game, and DeSean Jackson.

Few could have imagined that he would have made an impact in the real game. Banks also ran a few plays at wide receiver.

Banks, who went undrafted out of Kansas State, was a two-time all-conference football selection at Garner High School and was named to the USA Today’s All-USA high school track and field team in 2006.