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By MIKE CSRARDINO
Sports Editor
' Torin Dorn knows the question is
coming. He's answered it so many
times before it started during his
senior year in high school, but got
worse than he ever could have
imagined last fall, when the three
word query became the enemy, a
recurring reminder of glory so attai
nable, yet so far removed.
-How's the ankle?"
Dorn smiles thinly. - He has to
laugh, at least inside, or he would go
insane. He answers with eagerness
this time, though, in a manner so
unlike the way he used to respond
to those three words of insinuation.
(Is he really hurting that much? Why
isn't he playing again this week? Is
he just another selfish malingerer?)
"The ankle's fine," North Caroli
na's junior tailback finally says. "I'm
as healthy as IVe ever been. . Right
now I'm just trying to come over some
adversity from the injuries last year.
I'm just praying and hoping for a
healthy year this year, and well see
what happens."
Dorn's sophomore season of
adversity began in brilliant, if mis
leading, fashion. On an overcast
Saturday afternoon in Kenan Sta
dium early last September, Dorn ran
wild through the Illinois defense for
165 yards, and two touchdowns in
three quarters.
"The Illinois game was my best
game, a fun game," Dorn recalls.
"That game was like a running back's
dream. Everything was in a groove.
It was unbelievable; I can't express
it." . .
1
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5:5. ,. .
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1
Junior tailback Torin Dorn has the moves to become another 1,000-yard Tar Heel rusher
But a funny thing happened to
Dorn on his way to the Heisman
Trophy. ' ;
"Everything was so high at one
point, and then one play brought me
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down," Dorn said. "I remember the
exact play. It was the play after I had
run for a 56-yard touchdown, and we
ran the exact same play. I mean it
was like a duplication. The exact
same thing happened, there was one
guy to beat and I was cutting back,
like I did the previously play.
"But this time I slowed up just a
little bit too much and the pursuit
caught up and the linebacker came
from behind and fell on my leg. I
felt the ankle turn over and I just
knew that something was wrong. I
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got to the sidelines and took the tape
off and my ankle started to swell up.
That was the turning point right
there."
The injury to Dorn's right ankle
forced him to miss the next week's
game against Oklahoma, but he
returned the next Satnrrlav tr heln
UNC beat Georgia Tech. Dorn, while
obviously slowed by the injury,
picked up 73 yards against the Yellow
Jackets, mostly on draw plays.
Dorn missed the Navy game, and
reinjured the ankle in practice before
the Auburn matchup. Ditto for the
next three games, too, amid constant
questioning about the status of his
troublesome joint.
"The desire to play was there, but
my ability was very limited because
I couldn't cut, and that was .very
painful," Dorn says. "That's the
hardest part about dealing with
injuries, the desire is there, but getting
into the game you're wondering if
youH be able to perform at 100
percent. That really takes a toll on
a person, but I think I handled it
well."
Dorn's tribulations were similar to
those ne experienced during his senior
year at Southfield (Mich.) High
School. A sprained left ankle kept
him out of VA games, but he still
rushed for 1,239 yards and was
named to virtually every prep Ail
American team. -
Perhaps because his mental out
look was so strong, the 6-foot-l, 200-
Ttt fiicV4 1087 With a
flourish. He came off the bench on
Week No. 9 against Clemson and
rushed for 92 yards and UNC's only
touchdown. The following week at
Virginia he tallied 116 yards and
another touchdown, but in the season
finale against Duke, he was shaken
up on the last play of the first half,
never to return.
Milo McCarthy, UNC's backfield
coach, has worked with some great
players in his coaching career
Sammy Winder at Southern Missis
sippi;, Eric Dickerson, Craig James
and Reggie Dupard at Southern
Methodist. He feels Dora has the
nntentinl tn he as annrl as anv of those
'backs'.-;: " '. :
"Dora v has the greatest asset a
fnnthall nlaver can have the abilitv
1 j
to run," McCarthy says. "He has
outstanding speed. He has a lot of
talent, and as he has the opportunity
to be successful on a consistent basis,
hell gain more confidence in himself,
which is usually what the great ones
have." ; r . -
In describing Dora, McCarthy
reels off a list of attributes that could
just as easily apply to Dickerson or
Winder, who have gone on to star
intheNFL.
"He's a slasher type runner, an
elusive runner," McCarthy says of
u oin. ne nas mc auuiiy 10 i;uuigc
directions and go from one angle to
another angle and not lose a step. And
he's fast enough that when he gets
out in the open he shouldn't be
caught."
Dorn didnt really get a chance to
show off his 4.4 speed in last Satur
day's season-opening loss to South
Carolina: He did pick up 66 yards,
though, on 14 carries.-
Afterwards, like every other player
in the UNC locker room, Dorn
answered the usual questions about
the South Carolina blitz, the amazing
Todd Ellis and what it would take
to get back up for the Oklahoma
.'game.;-, v"?-;a;-'' .:
But. the .one question, nobody iad
r to' ask'was, ""How's the ankle?"