CHAPEL HILL – College football players around the country are chomping at the bit to get started for the 2010 season.

Two of those very talented young men are entering another season suiting up for the blue and white of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels.

Travis Bond, a 2009 graduate of Bertie High School, will enter his second season as a touted offensive lineman for the Tar Heels after a quality freshman season.

On the other side of the ball is 2007 Hertford County High School graduate Tydreke Powell, who is predicted by many to be a starter on what is likely to be one of the top defensive lines in the country.

This week the Tar Heels released their 2010 media guide which outlines hopes for a successful season and speaks, at least in part, to the fine career the two young men have already had in Chapel Hill and how much more is expected of them.

Powell is the most likely candidate to replace Cam Thomas at Defensive Tackle, according to the guide. It also calls him a “powerful” player.

Last season, Powell played in all 13 of UNC’s football games and was in the regular rotation at defensive end. He recorded 24 tackles, including four tackles for loss and a pair of quarterback sacks.

In key games last year, Powell:

Made a tackle against N.C. State;

Had a four-yard tackle for loss against Boston College;

Had a key pass break-up in the 19-6 win over Duke; and

Posted five tackles against Georgia Tech.

Powell’s best game likely came against Virginia Tech where he not only had a quarterback sack, but caused a fumble in the fourth quarter which set up Carolina’s game-winning field goal.

His efforts in that contest led to him being named Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week.

Those performances came a year after a successful freshman campaign for Powell. In that season, he had 18 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for a loss and one sack as well as a fumble recovery.

The son of Rita Powell, Tydreke Powell is an Afro American studies major.

“You feel like its home and the people are great,” Powell said of Carolina.

On the offensive side of the football, perhaps nobody was better in their freshman season as an offensive lineman than Bond. He played in every game for Carolina and earned his first start in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

Last year, Bond saw 243 snaps on the offensive line including a season-high 69 in the bowl game against Pittsburgh.

Against rival Duke, Bond played 45 snaps and tallied four knock-downs. He notched another trio of knock downs against Georgia Southern.

Ranked the number seven player in North Carolina by SuperPrep while in high school, Bond decided to join Carolina’s football program despite being a four-sport athlete.

He is the son of Sarah Outlaw and Charles Bond and is an exercise and sport science major.

The two young men will join their Carolina teammates in kicking off the season on September 4 when they meet Southeastern Conference foe LSU in Atlanta. They will return to Chapel Hill for the home opener September 18 against Georgia Tech.