North Carolina coach Butch Davis refused to say Wednesday if Ryan Houston will redshirt this season or play against Virginia Tech on Saturday at Kenan Stadium.

Davis said that may be a “game time” decision.

Asked specifically if Shaun Draughn is healthy and would play, Davis refused to give any hints.

“We’ll release a medical report on Thursday that will give everybody an update on everybody’s health,” he said.

Duke is cancelling its popular “tailgate” for students before the upcoming home football game with Boston College,  the school told students Monday night.

Tailgate is widely popular with Duke students, but is also known for being a drunken revelry. Here is the note Duke Vice President of Student Affairs Larry Moneta sent out Monday night:

Dear students,

Last Saturday, many of us enjoyed a terrific, hard fought victory over Virginia in Wallace Wade Stadium. I want to acknowledge the tremendous effort of our team and wish more students could have been on hand to celebrate this win. Unfortunately, the positive experience in Wallace Wade was dampened by an incident in tailgate…an incident  involving a teenage youth which easily could have been tragic.

This incident has vividly revealed that tailgate as is practiced at Duke must come to an end. It has long lost its value as a pre-football, spirit building activity and has become increasingly dangerous in every iteration. Thus, there will be no student ‘tailgate’ this Saturday in advance of the game against Boston College.

Over the spring, we will work with students, Athletics and many others to develop a new form of football game day celebration….one that will support our student athletes, be safe and healthy, and showcase the pride of “Dear Old Duke”. We will invite your ideas and suggestions and be prepared to celebrate the fall 2011 season with the class and spirit for which Duke is known.

But, before we focus on next year, we have critical games ahead and need your full support of our team. I really hope that you’ll all turn out and cheer on the team to a win over Boston College. With the UNC game over Thanksgiving weekend, this will be the last time this year for most of you to show your support. Please join us in Wallace Wade this Saturday!

Larry Moneta
Vice President for Student Affairs

Ryan Houston is suddenly in a tough position, but the smart choice here is for him to not burn a redshirt year with North Carolina facing just three games on the schedule, plus a bowl.

The Tar Heels may need him, and UNC coach Butch Davis said Monday that he will discuss the situation with Houston this week. Let’s be honest here – when a $2 million a year college football coach says, “Son, we need ya,” it takes a lot for a college kid to say, “Whoa, I’ll pass.”

But this is a situation where returning is a big blow for Houston, and for little gain. N.C. State faces a similar situation with true freshman Chris Hawthorne, a kicker from Raleigh. But as O’Brien pointed out, the Wolfpack has a shot at an ACC title – when you’re playing for a championship, all bets are off.

That’s not the case with UNC. The Heels are too far behind Virginia Tech to have a realistic chance. Houston is a senior who could redshirt because he hasn’t played at all this year. He is faced with giving up a full year as the likely start for three games in a season that’s going to end somewhere like Nashville, Tenn.

Carolina has faced an amazing amount of adversity this year, and the season-ending injury to Johnny White is yet another blow. But playing Houston would be a short-term gain and long-term mistake. It’s in his interests, and UNC’s, for him to remain a redshirt.

N.C. State’s last three games will be played without kicker Josh Czajkowski, who was injured on the Pack’s final kickoff at Clemson Saturday.

Wolfpack coach Tom O’Brien said State will look at junior Ellis Flynt, a former Hofstra kicker, and Chris Hawthorne, who played at Leesville Road in Raleigh, will compete for the job. O’Brien said it might work out that one kicks field goals and other kicks off, depending on how practice goes.

Hawthorne, by the way, is a true freshman – O’Brien mistakenly said he went to Wakefield High – but will not be redshirted because of Czajkowski’s injury.

N.C. State’s game with Wake Forest Saturday is the Wolfpack’s final home game of the season, which means it could well be Russell Wilson’s final home game with the Pack. Wilson is just a junior in eligibility but already has graduated and could wind up playing baseball. So State coach Tom O’Brien said Wilson will be honored with the seniors at the game.

Wilson is always coy about his future and O’Brien wasn’t giving any clues about Wilson’s future at his news conference Monday. Asked when he would discuss the future with Wilson, O’Brien said, “I think afer the season’s over. There are too many things for us to worry about this year than to worry about next year.”

O’Brien has a strong point. N.C State hasn’t won the ACC title since 1979, but will reach the ACC Championship Game if it wins its final three contests. State is at UNC and at Maryland to close the season.

Saturday’s 14-13 loss at Clemson was frustrating for O’Brien and his team. State had a chance to pull ahead in the race for the Atlantic Division title but blew some opportunities and lost a game it really should have won. The Wolfpack is 11th in the ACC in red-zone scoring percentage, getting points just 75 percent of the time. N.C. State has been inside the opponents’ 20-yard line 48 times and scored just 24 touchdowns. State has kicked 12 field goals but missed four times.

“We’re not getting the ball in the endzone,” O’Brien said. “That’s the bottom line. Field goals are good because they are still points. But we have to do a better job.”

Here’s an interesting way to look at it. State has been inside the 20 a total of 48 times, the highest total in the ACC. But State is one of only two ACC teams (Boston College is the other) that has failed to get a touchdown more than half the time it gets in the redzone.

Duke leads the ACC in red-zone offense, with 32 chances netting 19 touchdowns and 11 field goals. North Carolina is second, with 34 chances, 21 touchdowns and nine field goals.

The last time the Carolina Panthers had the first pick in the NFL Draft was the first time they participated, back in 1995. The Panthers feinted interest in Ki-Jana Carter, then traded from No. 1 to No. 5 to draft quarterback Kerry Collins of Penn State.

They picked up a second-round pick in the deal and landed defensive end Shawn King of Northeast Louisiana, a decent pass-rusher who had a marginal career.

But this is a time Carolina must again consider trading down. Watching the Panthers this season is painful, and you can’t help but be jarred by how little talent the team has.  It didn’t help Monday when the Panthers announced that quarterback Matt Moore (shoulder) and linebacker Dan Conner (hip) are out for the season.

The only other Carolina season to rival this one came in 2001, when the team finished 1-15 and George Seifert got fired.

Jerry Richardson hired John Fox, and the turnaround began with the 2002 draft. Carolina had the No. 2 pick and passed on quarterback Joey Harrison to take Julius Peppers.  The rest of that draft was unremarkable,  but Peppers teamed with a terrific 2001 draft – Dan Morgan, Kris Jenkins and Steve Smith were the first three picks – to spark a Carolina turnaround.

The Panthers are not one or two players – or even one good quarterback – from being a winner. The offense is just brutal, even with Pro Bowl level players in DeAngelo Williams, Jordan Gross and Smith. How they can fail to find an effective second receiver to Smith is unexplainable. Carolina’s touchdown-to-interception ratio of 6-to-14 is unheard of in this era of the NFL.

All this means a huge load for the defense, and this is a unit that is substandard as well. Say what you want about Peppers, but at least he demanded double-teams. No NFL line is scared of the current Panther front of Charles Johnson, Ed Johnson, Derek Landri and Tyler Brayton. Carolina has only 12 sacks all season.

Carolina needs talent, and plenty of it. If the Panthers keep their top pick, they need a real force on the defensive front like De’Quan Bowers of Clemson or Marcell Dareus of Alabama. Andrew Luck of Stanford would be tempting, but defense is the better play here.

The smart move, though, would be to trade down and gather good players. UNC’s Robert Quinn might be available a few steps below the top selections. And smart teams can find good receivers in the second round – Carolina did just that once with Muhsin Muhammad. This disaster of a season needs a strong 2011 draft if the Panthers want to be viable any time soon.