Gio Bernard returned a punt 74 yards with 13 seconds left to lead the North Carolina Tar Heels to a 43-35 stunning victory over rival NC State despite Wolfpack quarterback Mike Glennon throwing for a career-high 467 yards and five touchdowns.
Five straight years of futility against NC State? Gone thanks to Giovani Bernard, who etched his name into rivalry lore with a phenomenal game-winning 74-yard punt return for North Carolina.
– Joe Ovies, 99.9 The Fan
Why not punt the ball out of bounds, instead of high and deep to Bernard? The dynamic back already had 230 yards of offense and two touchdowns, although he hadn’t returned a punt since injuring his right ankle early in the third quarter.
– Luke DeCock, News & Observer
If we punt the ball, put it up in the air and hang it up there and get down there and cover it so he makes the fair catch, that was the idea,” O’Brien said. “That’s what we intended to do.
– Tom O’Brien, NC State coach
I still can’t believe it, I’m still shaking right now. After (the return), I started crying. I couldn’t hold my emotions back.
– UNC’s Gio Bernard
Haunted by an NCAA investigation that began 28 months ago, which resulted in probation and a bowl ban this season, North Carolina has struggled generating positive news in any form. Add that it had lost five consecutive games to the Wolfpack, who hadn’t made any bones about flaunting their recent domination in the series on billboards around the state, and the flood of emotion is understandable.
– Andrew Jones, Fox Sports Carolinas
In a game that had all the highs and lows of the traditional UNC-N.C. State rivalry contest, nobody would have guessed that the game would have been decided by a punt return. Fedora told his team all week, and for much of the game while walking the sideline, that the result would come down to the final possession. It nearly came down to the final play.
– Justin Hite, Rocky Mount Telegram
(UNC coach Larry) Fedora had the UNC locker room filled with red ribbons, posters and other N.C. State material as reminders of the Wolfpack’s dominance. His team responded with its best offensive output against N.C. State since scoring 52 in the 1996 victory.
– Aaron Beard, Associated Press
This wasn’t just a regular win. This wasn’t us going out and playing against any other school. This was a team we wanted to beat and we’ve been harping on beating all year.
– UNC senior defensive tackle Sylvester Williams
Carolina planted a larger-than-life Choo Choo statue outside the door where coaches and players enter the stadium, a bronze reminder of golden possibilities. Runners Don McCauley, Amos Lawrence, Kelvin Bryant and Leon Johnson starred on the same field, and the Tar Heels became bowl regulars under Coach Mack Brown, but the promise flickered again recently under scandalous downpours. Bernard reached down for one last run Saturday and, incredibly, got the flame going again.
– Lenox Rawlings, Winston-Salem Journal