Tar Heels get Bernard back, beat ECU 27-6

Giovani Bernard didn’t make the big plays he’s known for. But he was out there, and made his presence felt.

Not everyone expected Bernard to play against East Carolina on Saturday after he sat out North Carolina’s previous two games with a nagging knee injury.

But when the starting lineups were announced just prior to kickoff of the Tar Heels’ 27-6 win, Bernard’s face popped up on the Kenan Memorial Stadium video boards.

The Pirates, though, were ready for Bernard. They bottled him up, holding him to just 50 rushing yards on 18 carries ­— an average of just 2.8 yards per carry.

Bernard said East Carolina’s defense was definitely focusing its attention on him.

“Going into the game, we didn’t think they were going to be down so much with four down (linemen),” Bernard said. “We watched a lot of film where they were down with three down, and they came out with four and added an extra guy in the box.”

East Carolina made him fight for every yard. Even when UNC tried to free up space for Bernard by running sweeps out wide, the Pirates swarmed to the ball and took away his running lanes.

But Bernard still made a tangible impact on the game.

One of those 18 carries was a 4-yard touchdown that broke the game open midway through the third quarter, pushing UNC’s lead to 24-6.

And as a receiver out of the backfield, Bernard added six catches for 52 yards and another touchdown.

Bernard also made another important, but less tangible impact — ECU’s focus on taking away his space opened up room for quarterback Bryn Renner in the passing game.

Renner finished the game 27-for-43 with 321 yards and two touchdowns, including a 62-yarder to Sean Tapley down the left sideline.

“Obviously they’re going to want to stop (Bernard), and it helps the whole offense,” Renner said. “The O-line can make their blocks quicker, and we can see the open throwing lanes.”

But most importantly, Bernard is fully healthy going forward. He said he would not have played against ECU if he had not felt 100 percent healthy, and he did not suffer any setbacks during the game.

UNC didn’t ease him back into action, either. Bernard got a heavy workload — 24 total touches — and handled it well. He cut sharply and showed good patience waiting for what few holes he got to open up.

Coach Larry Fedora said that once Bernard told him he was ready to go, he didn’t hesitate to give him his usual reps.

“I didn’t give it any thought,” Fedora said. “If (Bernard) tells me he’s going, then he’s going to go to work. I don’t think he wanted it any different way … If he’s out there, we’re going to work him.”

When Bernard plays, the Tar Heels are 2-0. Without him, they are 0-2.

His presence — whether or not he dominates the stat sheet — makes a big difference.

Contact the desk editor at sports@dailytarheel.com.