CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Austin Blaske, who has earned the reputation as North Carolina’s best and most versatile offensive lineman, has been lost for perhaps two months due to a non-contact foot injury suffered in training camp, multiple sources told Inside Carolina on Sunday.
Sources said the foot is broken, and the sixth-year senior is expected to miss the Tar Heels’ first four games of the approaching college football season, though Blaske and the team are awaiting further evaluation and thus a full diagnosis. An optimistic outlook in terms of the recovery timeline, sources said, would have Blaske returning for UNC’s ACC league opener on Oct. 4 against Clemson, the conference’s preseason favorite.
Blaske started at center for UNC last season. He has worked at center, guard and tackle since new coach Bill Belichick took over the program, amid the Tar Heels’ ongoing search to put together their five most cohesive components on the offensive line.
Troy transfer Daniel King and Rice transfer Chad Lindberg could factor more in the mix on the interior during Blaske’s absence. When UNC began training camp last weekend, Blaske was at right guard during practice drills with the first-team, alongside Holy Cross transfer Christo Kelly at center. Sources said Sunday that UNC’s depth chart along the offensive line remains in considerable flux ahead of the new 2025 season, which opens in three weeks on Sept. 1 against TCU.
Belichick and the Tar Heels picked up total of eight additions to the offensive line on the transfer market across the winter and spring portal cycles. The veteran Blaske (6-foot-5, 310 pounds) entered the transfer portal on Dec. 9, then removed his name two days later, when UNC’s surprising hiring of Belichick became confirmed.
He started at center in 12 games last season, missing only Carolina’s Sept. 14 defeat of NC Central due to a high-ankle sprain. He played 780 offensive snaps during the 2024 season, per data from Pro Football Focus (PFF). He didn’t allow a sack last season and gave up five pressures, marking the lowest pressure rate allowed among UNC’s starting group. His PFF pass-blocking grade ranked second on the Tar Heels’ offensive line, behind only right guard Willie Lampkin, the All-ACC first-teamer.
Before joining Carolina in January 2024 as a transfer addition through the portal, Blaske played in 15 games across three seasons (2021-23) at Georgia. He was a member of the Bulldogs’ back-to-back College Football Playoff national championship teams for the 2021 and 2022 seasons.
