DEFENSIVE BACK – Tim Scott, North Carolina, CB, Fr., 5-11, 180, Fredericksburg, Va. Cornerback Tim Scott tied for the team lead with nine tackles and intercepted a pass in the East Carolina red zone and broke up another pass in North Carolina’s 35-20 win at East Carolina. After the interception, the Tar Heels scored two plays later to take an early 7-0 lead.
ROOKIE – Giovani Bernard, North Carolina, TB, Fr., 5-10, 205, Davie, Fla. Redshirt freshman tailback Giovani Bernard rushed for 146 yards on a career-high 24 carries and scored a touchdown in Carolina's 35-20 win over ECU. He became the first UNC player to rush for 100 yards in three straight games since Natrone Means in 1992. Bernard had 102 vs. Virginia (Sept. 17) and 155 at Georgia Tech (Sept. 24). Bernard, the leading freshman rusher in the nation, is averaging 109.6 rushing yards and has 548 yards on 78 carries. Bernard had 113 of his 146 yards in the first half as Carolina built a 28-3 halftime lead. Bernard now has seven rushing touchdowns, which equals the total of last year's leading rusher Johnny White.
I think the ACC figured they better toss Gio Bernard some kind of weekly award considering his body of work over the past three weeks. Bernard was named rookie of the week and may have a hard time breaking through the "offensive back" category considering that also includes quarterbacks. Tim Scott was named defensive back of the week becoming the second member(the other was Matt Merletti) of the Tar Heel's rather woeful defensive backfield to be tabbed in the weekly honors. That is either ironic or a perfect illustration of how useless INTs and tackles are as a standard for this reward. The Scott INT was important but it should be noted that his tackle total was higher because UNC allowed receivers to catch the ball in the first place.
Yes, I am probably coming off a tad negative talking about a Tar Heel winning a weekly award. Obviously Scott compared better to other DBs in the ACC hence the award. Still, I think we would rather UNC players being named defensive back of week following an solid performance by the secondary as a whole.