UNC QB Bryn Renner: Hard hit did not affect play against Wake Forest

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina quarterback Bryn Renner said on Monday that the hard hit he endured on Saturday at Wake Forest didn't affect his play.

"I just want to clear that up for everybody," he said, adding that any mistakes he made after that play weren't a result of it.

The nasty collision happened early in the second quarter of Wake's eventual 28-27 victory. On a 3rd-and-goal play from the Demon Deacons' 1-yard line, Renner scrambled to his right and attempted to break through the goal line.

But Wake safety Duran Lowe stopped Renner short. Renner collided at full speed with Lowe and another Demon Deacons defender, and the hit knocked Renner to the ground for several moments. The collision solicited an audible "ooooooh" in the press box at BB&T Field, and a hush fell over the crowd while UNC medical personnel tended to Renner on the field. He eventually walked off without much assistance, and sat out the next play - a 1-yard touchdown run from A.J. Blue that tied the game at 14.

Renner returned for UNC's next possession. He ran for a loss of two yards, threw an incomplete pass and then fumbled when Hasan Hazime sacked him. Hazime recovered the fumble, and Wake turned the turnover into a touchdown a few plays later.

UNC coach Larry Fedora on Monday defended his decision to put Renner back into the game after that jarring hit.

"After going back and evaluating it, it [had] nothing to do with his head," Fedora said. "I mean, there was no contact to his head. He got the wind knocked out of him. And got hit pretty good. Actually, the two guys that made contact with themselves - it was a pretty violent hit on each other.

"[Renner] didn't get the most of it, I can assure you. He really came out of it fine physically."

Renner said he passed two concussion tests after the collision. He took one in the moments after sustaining the blow, and another at halftime.

Asked what those concussion tests entail, Renner described them this way:

"The basic protocol - months backwards, hand to nose. Things like that. Walk in straight lines. It's almost like a sobriety test - I've seen one on TV, I haven't taken one. I don't want to put that out there, but I've seen it on TV."

Renner has had a concussion before. He suffered one last season at N.C. State.

"This year, it was a different type of thing," he said. "It was more my ribs, and getting the wind knocked out of me."

- Andrew Carter

UNC football: Giovani Bernard watch continues

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina sophomore running back Giovani Bernard said exactly one week ago that he felt “great.” This was after Bernard had left the Tar Heels’ season-opening victory against Elon with an apparent knee injury.

Bernard sat out the second half of that game, which wasn’t a surprise, anyway, given the lopsided score. And then he sat out the entirety of UNC’s 28-27 loss against Wake Forest on Saturday.

By then, Bernard’s absence wasn’t necessarily a surprise; rumors had spread on various Internet forums that suggested maybe Bernard wasn’t as healthy as Bernard and coach Larry Fedora were letting on. Plus, Bernard appeared to be limited in practice last week.

The question now, of course, is when will Bernard be back? This weekend at Louisville? The following weekend at home against East Carolina? Asked earlier today about Bernard’s status, Fedora said this:

“Yesterday, he moved around really well – said he felt good. So we’ll see tomorrow when he gets out on the field. But he felt good yesterday, I know that, moving around. He did everything everybody else did.”

Of course, we’ve heard that before. At least we’ve heard an iteration of that before.

Fedora last week gave no indication that Bernard’s status for the Wake game was in doubt. And that wasn’t a surprise, either, given Fedora’s reluctance – or, in some cases, his refusal – to provide injury updates.

Fedora earlier today basically repeated what he said on Saturday when asked why Bernard hadn’t played. Had Bernard endured setback during practice last week? Had he simply been too overconfident that he’d be able to bounce back from whatever injury he suffered against Elon?

“I think maybe a little of both,” Fedora said. “… He wants to get out there. He wants to be out there every snap, you know. It’s like during camp. You might have the threes out there and all of a sudden you see him, he’s out there with them. I’m like, what are you doing? Well, I want to play. I want to get all the reps.

“So that’s just – that’s him. He wants to be out there. I don’t think he’ll ever – I know every time I talk to him, he’s like, yeah, I’m ready, I’m ready, I’m ready. Just before the game just didn’t feel right. So I don’t want to put him in that situation.”

So there you have it. Will Bernard play against Louisville? Definitely maybe. Or is it maybe definitely?

Perhaps we’ll just see on Saturday.

- Andrew Carter

Thunderstom delays UNC-Wake Forest game

The game has been delayed by a severe thunderstorm. Get updates from Andrew Carter on Twitter:@_andrewcarter.

At 3:20 p.m. it was announced in the press box that the game will start at 4:15 p.m. Players back on field at 4.

UNC at Wake Forest: Live from the press box

WINSTON-SALEM — And welcome to BB&T Field, which will always be Groves Stadium to me. We’re a little less than two hours from North Carolina’s game here today against Wake Forest. And of course, it is the ACC opener for both teams.
As I look out over my laptop and out of the press box, I see puffy gray clouds and a pale blue sky. Rain and thunderstorms could be a possibility today, folks. Brace yourself for the possibility of the two most dreaded words for any college football beat hack: lightning delay.
Let’s hope not.
In the meantime, a couple pregame thoughts here from Winston-Salem:
--Giovani Bernard. Will he play or won’t he? Increasing speculation surrounding Bernard suggests that the injury that forced him out of the game against Elon might be more serious than both he and coach Larry Fedora have indicated. That wouldn’t be surprising, given Fedora’s policy of not disclosing much – or anything, really – about injuries. I asked Tar Heels football spokesman Kevin Best about Bernard’s status and he replied with, “He’s here.” But will he play? And if he does, will he be limited? We’ll soon find out.
--Obviously, the Demon Deacons should represent a more difficult test for the Heels, who weren’t tested during their 62-0 victory against the Phoenix last week. But how much more difficult? Wake’s offense struggled last week against Liberty, an FCS team that led the Deacs in the second half. Wake’s offensive line is a work in progress, and the Tar Heels should have an advantage there. But the Deacs are sound defensively, and it’ll be interesting to see how the Heels’ spread offense responds to their first challenge of the season.
So there you have it.
As I wrote yesterday, I think UNC prevails today. I said 30-23, but wouldn’t be surprised if it were more lopsided. We shall see ...

--Andrew Carter

UNC releases first injury report of season - RB Gio Bernard not listed

CHAPEL HILL — Given it's playing a conference opponent on Saturday, North Carolina earlier today released its first injury report of the season. And, as you might expect, it was not all that revealing.

The Tar Heels listed five players who will be out for the game against Wake Forest on Saturday:

Connor Gonet, FB
T.J. Leifheit, OL
Darius Lipford, LB
Miller Snyder, PK
T.J. Thorpe, WR

No surprises there. UNC released no one as “probable,” “questionable” or “doubtful.”

Keep in mind that the ACC’s policy on providing injury reports is nothing more than a suggestion. The league has suggested guidelines about how member schools should release injury reports for conference games, but there is no hard rule about any of it.

In fact, at the top of the ACC’s injury report guidelines is this phrase, according to UNC football team spokesman Kevin Best: “This is not an ACC rule subject to enforcement.”

Which is why it’s not surprising to see that UNC’s injury report doesn’t include any probables, questionables or doubtfuls. If it did, perhaps running back Giovani Bernard, who suffered an apparent minor knee injury last week against Elon, might have been listed.

UNC coach Larry Fedora has gone on the record as saying that he won’t discuss injuries, unless a player suffers a season-ending one. Barring that, he won’t provide updates on injured players. Which, of course, his right.

But my question: Why have these injury reports at all? If it’s not an ACC rule, per se, then why even have the soft guideline about releasing them? A question for the conference office …

- Andrew Carter

UNC 62, Elon 0: Reviewing the first win of the Larry Fedora era

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina cruised to a 62-0 victory in coach Larry Fedora’s first game. Here’s a breakdown of the Tar Heels’ victory.

Three things to take away from UNC 62, Elon 0:

1. The Heels get it. They get it on offense. They get it on defense. At least the base concepts of both, that is. UNC kept it pretty simple on Saturday but the results were extremely impressive, nonetheless. The sloppiness that we’ve seen out of some teams early in the college football season wasn’t evident at Kenan Stadium on Saturday – at least not when it came to what UNC did. The Heels committed just three penalties and looked like they knew what they were doing.

2. The offense is fast, indeed. UNC ran 74 plays on Saturday – 12 more than it averaged last season – and coordinator Blake Anderson still described the tempo as slow. The Heels were on pace to run more than 80 plays before Fedora called off the dogs late in the third quarter. Yes, it was against Elon, an overmatched FCS opponent. But still.

3. UNC might have been better defensively than offensively. And that’s saying something, given how sharp the Heels were on offense. But the UNC defense registered its first shutout since 1999 and Elon got into UNC territory just twice. Phoenix receiver Aaron Mellette, an FCS All-American, had just two catches for 9 yards. He averaged 149 receiving yards per game last season.

THE PLAY

UNC led 17-0 early in the second quarter and already was well on its way. That’s when Giovani Bernard returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown. It put the Heels ahead 24-0 and the rout was on.

THREE STARS

1. Bernard. The sophomore running back finished with 203 yards rushing and scored in three ways – running, receiving and on the punt return. He left before halftime with an injury and didn’t return but Fedora didn’t sound concerned about his status going forward.

2. Bryn Renner. The UNC quarterback completed 14 of his 21 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns. He showed a command of the offense and limited his mistakes, outside of a first-half interception.

3. Sylvester Williams. The senior defensive tackle finished with two sacks and tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage that led to a key turnover after Elon had driven to the UNC 15-yard line.

THE MATCHUP

UNC’s secondary struggled at times a season ago against prolific passing offenses and gifted receivers, and Mellette gave Elon its best chance to be competitive. The Heels, though, completely owned the matchup and never allowed Mellette any room to operate. Mellette, a senior who was named to every preseason FCS All-American team there is, finished with two catches for 9 yards – his least productive game since his freshman year.

NOTEWORTHY

--UNC set an ACC record with 260 punt return yards. The previous ACC record was 227 yards, set by Clemson in 1987. UNC’s  previous record of 225 punt return yards had stood since 1937.

--The 62 points were the most points, by far, that UNC has ever scored in the first game under a new coach.

--The 62 points were also the 11th-highest point total in school history, and three short of tying the school record.

UP NEXT

UNC plays at Wake Forest next week in a game that starts at 3 p.m. It will be the Heels’ first game at Wake since 2007.

UNC leads Elon 41-0 at halftime

CHAPEL HILL — During the days leading into his first game as North Carolina’s head coach, Larry Fedora expressed doubt. He said he didn’t know what to expect out of the Tar Heels in their season opener against Elon.

UNC during the first half here on Saturday at Kenan Stadium might have exceeded even Fedora’s most optimistic hopes. The Tar Heels have scored on seven of their nine possessions and hold a 41-0 halftime lead against the Phoenix, a lower-division FCS team from the Southern Conference.

After UNC hired Fedora last December, he promised an up-tempo, exciting style of play. The Heels delivered in the first half. UNC gained 300 yards on their first 30 plays, and sophomore running back Giovani Bernard scored the Heels’ first three touchdowns – one on a run, one on a pass reception and one on a 70-yard punt return.

Bernard’s first touchdown came on a 59-yard run down the left sideline. He received a path-clearing block from Sean Tapley, and then Bernard tight-roped the sideline, stayed in bounds and outran the Elon defense.

That was a common sight throughout the first half: the Heels simply outrunning the overmatched Phoenix.

Bryn Renner completed 12 of his 19 attempts during the first half for 184 yards and two touchdowns. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Jheranie Boyd gave UNC a 31-0 lead with 9:48 left to play in the first half.

The Heels’ only mistake of the half came when Renner threw an interception with about seven minutes to play in the half. Elon took over on its own 32-yard line, but the Phoenix couldn’t capitalize in the turnover.

UNC also debuted its 4-2-5 defense, which held Elon to 92 yards on 36 plays – an average of less than 3 yards per play. The Phoenix made it as far as the Heels’ 20-yard line, but Sylvester Williams tipped Thomas Wilson’s pass, which Jabari Price intercepted off the deflection.

Bernard, meanwhile, finished the half with 203 all-purpose yards, including 93 rushing yards on 9 carries. He left the game late in the first half with an undisclosed injury and his status was unknown.
Overall, UNC finished the half with 336 yards on 43 plays – an average of nearly 8 yards per play.

--Andrew Carter

N.C. State likely to face pro-Tennessee crowd at Georgia Dome

Less than 2 hours to kickoff and the players from Tennessee and N.C. State are in the Georgia Dome but not yet on the field. The Wolfpack will wear all red — jerseys, pants and helmets — for tonight's season-opener against Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff. There will be more orange in the stands, though. Tennessee sold 27,843 tickets, from its allotment of 31,000, according to Kickoff officials, compared to 15,734 for N.C. State. The game is not expected to be a sellout. Both Clemson and Auburn, who play Saturday night at the Georgia Dome, sold out their 31,000 allotment. N.C. State is coming off of an 8-5 season and Tennessee was 5-7 a year ago. The Vols are a 3-point favorite. The teams have played three times before but not since 1939.

UNC to keep defensive play-calling a secret

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina has utilized a kind of co-defensive coordinator approach with Dan Disch and Vic Koenning, both of whom have similar titles and similar roles in leading the Tar Heels defense.

Disch is technically the team’s defensive coordinator. And Koenning is the associate head coach for defense.

So who’s going to be calling the defensive plays for the Heels?

UNC coach Larry Fedora would rather not say.

“We have a plan,” Fedora said earlier this week. “It’s already established how we’re going to do that defensively. It’s not something that I want to tell everybody how we’re doing it. I would prefer that our opponents have to try to figure out how we’re doing what we’re doing over there. For a variety of reasons.”

Disch and Koenning both worked together at Illinois, and Fedora after the 2010 season hired Disch to be his defensive coordinator at Southern Miss. Disch’s coaching background is in the defensive secondary, while Koenning ascended through the ranks as a linebackers coach.

Both Disch and Koenning have played an equal role in installing UNC’s 4-2-5 defense, and Fedora said that both will be working from the sideline – and not in press box – on game days. As for who will be calling the plays, well, it appears that will remain a mystery.

“I can tell you that all four guys on the defense have as much input to what’s being done as I do,” Fedora said. “So they’re all doing it. Now, how it’s being spit out and how it’s being transferred to the players, is a whole other deal, and I would rather not divulge how exactly we’re doing that.”

--Andrew Carter

ACC video preview: Clemson's Dabo Swinney

The ACC Digital Network previews Clemson football with head coach Dabo Swinney: