Head football coach Tom O’Brien announced Tuesday that sophomore running back Mustafa Greene will miss the rest of spring practice and the 3rd annual Kay Yow spring football game due to a foot injury that will require surgery.
O’Brien would not express what exactly happened to cause the injury, but only said he would not be back until the regular season.
“Mustafa will have surgery sometime this week,” said O’Brien. “He’s got a foot injury. Whenever he has surgery he’ll be back in the fall.”
Greene is penciled in as the number one running back on the team’s depth chart after a brilliant freshman season in which he rushed for 618 yards, caught 30 passes and scored a combined seven touchdowns through the air and on the ground.
But with the Greene injury, redshirt junior running back Brandon Barnes will have the opportunity to showcase his talents in the upcoming spring game.
“When it comes to team sports, whenever the man in front of you goes down, you have to be ready to take advantage of the opportunity,” Barnes said. “So that is what I am doing right now, trying to take advantage of my opportunity and get the best out of it.”
Since arriving in Raleigh three seasons ago, Barnes has had trouble getting on the field. In his freshman season he redshirted the entire year. In the following season, he still struggled to get on the field, backing up Toney Baker and Jamelle Eugene and managing only 79 yards in three games. And then last season, Barnes suffered an injury in the spring that held him out of the entire season last year.
“It has been real hard,” Barnes said. “I love football and I haven’t really haven’t had a chance to play since I have been here, so this will be a great opportunity for me to play this year.”
A year after his injury, Barnes is finally healthy and out to show he can be a solid contributor to the Wolfpack offense.
“He is getting a little better,” O’Brien said. “He is chipping away at it here and there. He is pushing through it.”
Barnes arrived in Raleigh as a prize recruit in Tom O’Brien’s first real recruiting class. The running back from Bunn, Ga. was considered one of the top athletes in the nation, possibly playing either safety or running back.
But in his three seasons Barnes has failed to live up to the potential everyone saw in him during his high school years, which he believes is now providing him with extra motivation heading into this season.
“Everybody wants to prove all of the doubters wrong,” Barnes said. “It motivates me.”
The 3rd Annual Kay Yow Spring Football Game could provide Barnes with a great boost of confidence while giving him the opportunity to cement his position in the Wolfpack backfield even after Greene returns in the fall.
“It is an important spring for him to get through,” O’Brien said. “By the time he got back last fall it was a bit too late, so he just played scout team for us.
“This is an opportunity to show something and knock on wood he has made it this far and we will go from there,” O’Brien said.
