Gio is Gio and a win is a win.

Fortunately for the Tar Heels, those two things have to go hand in hand to pull out a beautifully ugly 18-14 victory over Miami for the first road W of the Larry Fedora era.

Carolina did a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong, but only a team with moxie pulls one out when it was there for the losing. Nearly 500 yards of total offense and only 18 points is generally a formula for many mistakes. Take your pick.

Two failed field goals and one interception in the red zone. A second straight game with 15 penalties, this one for more than 150 yards that included consecutive 12-men on the field flags. When it figured out you can only play with 11, the defense warped and bent but, thank goodness, did not break.

Most of all thanks to the human bowling ball known as Giovani Bernard, who finished like he started on his way to 177 yards rushing, 36 receiving and 26 returning.

The biggest mystery surrounding Bernard’s homecoming to Fort Lauderdale, where he starred for St. Thomas Aquinas High School, is how the hell he ever got out of Florida without signing with Miami, Florida, Florida State, Central Florida, South Florida, Florida International or Florida Atlantic? Well, you get the point.

Rumor has it the bigger of those schools thought he was too small. A 5-10, 205-pound all-purpose stud who is Ray Rice small, Emmitt Smith small, more than 500 yards in the last two games small. All those recruiters and recruiting coordinators who still have jobs in the Sunshine State are saying today, “Not me, coach, he wasn’t my responsibility.”

Fedora should send a thank you note to Butch Davis and his staff for snagging this bullet train, among other talented players that are flourishing in the new system.
 

Seemingly, the only thing Bernard lacks halfway through his second season at Carolina is a nickname that’s even cooler than his abbreviated first name. Go-Go? Bam-Bam? The new Choo Choo?

Bernard scored both of Carolina’s touchdowns, picking his hole and then blasting through it to the end zone. The first one set the tone for what looked like a blowout on the beach before the Tar Heels began blowing opportunities to do so. The second one gave the guys in all white the lead they kept for good, precariously protected by Bernard’s last-drive yardage that put Miami into the Hail Mary mode.

Carolina’s secondary gave up 235 passing, mostly to wildly erratic quarterback Stephen Morris, but the DBs kept the Miami receivers in front of them and forced long drives. That’s not the Hurricanes’ MO. The Heels, on the other hand, love lopping off large chunks of yardage quickly, trying to tire out the defense. Bernard is a brilliant weapon in such an attack.

Gio’s golden moment was a drive-sustaining shoe-top catch of Bryn Renner’s lob that only someone so small with such hands of glue could snag off the grass and control while he rolled over twice. With a fresh set of downs, Carolina needed only one snap as Bernard bolted 17 yards for the lead, which became eight when punter Tommy Hibbard caught the ‘Canes napping before the point-after team shifted over.

Hibbard’s two-point pass to Eric Ebron provided a lead that Miami could not match when its own trick play for a tie was slapped with a delay-of-game penalty. The Canes kicked to get within one, the closest they ever were in dropping to 4-3 and 3-1 in the ACC.

It didn’t work last week, but maybe when the Tar Heels prepare for Duke. Fedora had plenty to bitch on following the fabulous offensive display against Virginia Tech, like those 15 penalties, special team gaffes and defensive lapses. He’ll have even more to ride them about this week.

But bottom line, thanks to gyrating Gio, is that Carolina is 5-2 overall and near the top (2-1) of the ACC Coastal Division they cannot win.  Their next two games will also determine the so-called state championship that they CAN win if only they will celebrate it.

When you have so little to play for, it’s a good thing you have a too-small back to lead the way.

Related Stories
‹
Analyze This: Duke Was Better
DURHAM – Carolina’s heart-pounding fourth-quarter loss to Duke Saturday night will be analyzed and picked over like an unsolved crime. Motives. Methods. Missing plays and players.   On a beautiful night in a stadium that has not seen so many people and so much passion in a long, long time, the Tar Heels could not […]
Heartbreak Heels
Larry Fedora got his first taste of the ACC, playing on Tobacco Road and, unfortunately, the culture that has dogged Carolina football for a long time. It may take him three cans of Red Bull to help him swallow all of it.   Sure, the Tar Heels withstood an hour storm delay in a small […]
A Coach's Perspective
Following football in the Triangle will be hard for me this season.  I’m taking a year off from coaching since being fired by UNC.  I won’t be watching many games on TV but will be getting game films weekly to study.  Watching the more sterilized game film copy may ease some of the pain of […]
A New Blue Dawn
Senior Day against Maryland was a pretty typical game for the 2012 Tar Heels. The Terrapins, perhaps motivated by the decision to leave the ACC in favor of the Big Ten, served as a mediocre but spirited opponent. Carolina fans had obvious reasons to be frustrated, as the Tar Heels repeatedly allowed big plays on […]
Heels Good Bet, Sort Of
LAS VEGAS – Well, when in Vegas . . . where gambling is legal. After finishing our final Good Sports show on WCHL before the Maryland-Carolina game, I was intending to go to the hotel sports book and bet on the Tar Heels to cover the 24.5 point spread by which they were favored to […]
Thanks, Amazing Student Athletes
I have been told that if I want to continue coaching, I need to distance myself from what happened at UNC.  One administrator told me that what happened there is “toxic” and only time and distance will make it go away.    I don’t want to distance myself from UNC.  On this Thanksgiving week I […]
'Just Blow The Horn'
I once coached with a guy who grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, and was the ball boy for the Utah Jazz during the prime of Karl Malone’s career.  He told me that Malone didn’t like pre-game warm ups.  In fact, Malone would often come out of the locker room right as the tip […]
Creating An Awful State
Perfect. Carolina left its arch football rival in an awful State Saturday after awakening a dead offense to score 18 points in the fourth quarter and startle the smug Wolfpack, which played most of the second half like it had the game won. Not only did the Tar Heels snap that sickening five-game losing streak to State, […]
Not This Time Either, Duke!
If Duke thinks this is the year to beat UNC, the Blue Devils had better think again. The records are dead even – both teams 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the ACC. And they are mirror images of each other, playing a no huddle, fast-paced offense and an ameba-like 4-2-5 defense. So, it seems like […]
Recruiting Wars
Gio Run” has become a constant chant that builds and builds each Saturday as we anticipate Gio Bernard accelerating through a hole and with one cut, he’s off to the races.  So it wasn’t too surprising when the Hurricanes of Miami saw up close “Run Gio Run.”  Many times.  A monster performance in Gio’s […]
›