Before Johnny White’s selection in the fifth round this year, 11 NFL drafts had passed without a single North Carolina running back receiving a call to the big time.
With 35 more yards, Giovani Bernard could help that become a more regular occurrence.
Assuming Bernard maintains his 107.2 yards per game average, the redshirt freshman should reach the 1,000-yard single-season milestone Saturday at North Carolina State’s Carter-Finley Stadium.
And interim coach Everett Withers said he believes Bernard’s success this season could pique the interest of tailback prospects across the nation.
“I think it’s important that kids know that you’ll turn around and you’ll hand it to your tailback twenty some odd times and let him get yards,” Withers said. “I think it’s important any time you’re recruiting.”
Only 14 UNC tailbacks have reached the 1,000-yard milestone in school history, with the last coming in 1997 by Jonathan Linton.
Before White’s selection by the Buffalo Bills in April, Linton was also the last Tar Heel running back to be selected in the NFL draft. Linton was taken in 1998 — a year after the New York Jets selected fellow Tar Heel and 1,000-yard club member Leon Johnson.
Rushing success has come in spurts like that one throughout the course of the football program’s history. While the Tar Heels saw no running backs rush to the NFL in the past decade, in the 1980’s, six North Carolina tailbacks were drafted. In the 1970’s, four.
In that 20-year span, the Tar Heels also featured 18 seasons of 1,000-yard rushers.
