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College Football

Pack's Wilson to miss three more games; Tar Heel Bernard returns

Sep 3, 2012

RALEIGH, N.C. — Heading into the second week of the football season, there are questions of player availability at University of North Carolina and North Carolina State University.

During press conferences Monday, the teams discussed when C.J. Wilson and Giovanni Bernard would return.

The Wolfpack's Wilson sat out Friday's opener against Tennessee and will miss the next three games before he is eligible to play this fall. He can return Sept. 29 when N.C. State visits Miami.

Wilson, who graduated in December, is working toward a graduate degree, but did not pass the minimum six credit hours necessary in the spring semester to maintain eligibility. Because he made progress in the summer semester – earning a 3.4 grade point average for 12 credit hours – the NCAA only suspended him for four games.

"He didn't do what he had to do," said head coach Tom O'Brien. "He had some family issues and some other things on his mind. He thought he could pull it out but he didn't have six hours."

Wilson has started the past two years and works on the side opposite David Amerson, who had an ACC-record 13 interceptions last season but struggled against Tennessee. O'Brien said Amerson called it the worst game of his career.

"He was in better spirits yesterday because he was really low after the game," O'Brien said. "You have to give the kid credit for taking accountability. We didn't lose because of him."

Week 2 isn't as glamorous for the Wolfpack as they travel UConn, but O'Brien said he knows he doesn't want the psychological blow of starting 0-2.

"We have to win a football game," he said.

Tar Heel Bernard felt discomfort in his left knee and left Saturday's game against Elon after scoring three times in the first half. He said Monday that his knee is fine.

Head coach Larry Fedora said he has no plans to limit his star player and that Bernard will continue to return punts for Carolina.

"We're going to load him up. I want him to touch the ball as many times as possible," he said.

Fedora wants to see some improvement from his team as they travel to Wake Forest. 

"We want to go fast," he said.

The team will get its first road test this week against a team that struggled to beat Liberty last week. The focus continues to be on playing Fedora football, no matter who the opponent is.

• Reporters: Mark Thomas, Mandy Mitchell
• Web Editors: Jodi Leese Glusco, Bridget Whelan