season, Bernard increased his rushing yards per game, average yards per carry and receiving yards. He also returned punts for the first time in his college career. On October 27, 2012, Bernard returned a punt 74 yards against NC State in the last 30 seconds of the game to break the tie and win the game. He led Carolina in scoring for the second year in a row and averaged 198.1 all-purpose yards per game, third in the country behind two receivers. The head coaches in the ACC voted Bernard to All-ACC first-team and Bernard was second in player-of-the-year and offensive player-of-the-year voting. He also won the CFPA Punt Returner Trophy for the 2012 season. Overall, he finished the 2012 season with 1,228 rushing yards, 12 rushing touchdowns, 490 receiving yards, five receiving touchdowns, and two punt return touchdowns. College career statistics Professional career Pre-draft On December 14, 2012, Bernard announced that he was entering the 2013 NFL Draft. He was projected by the majority of analysts and scouts to be selected anywhere from the first to third round. He was ranked the fourth best running back and 67th best prospect by NFLDraftScout.com. Bernard was invited to the NFL Combine and completed all the drills and the entire workout. He was satisfied with his performance and decided to only participate in positional drills at North Carolina's Pro Day. Cincinnati Bengals 2013 season Bernard was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round with the 37th overall pick. The Bengals previously traded quarterback Carson Palmer to the Oakland Raiders in exchange for the pick used to select Bernard, and a 2012 1st round pick that was used to select Dre Kirkpatrick. Prior to Bernard, a running back from North Carolina had not been selected in the first two rounds of the NFL Draft since Natrone Means was drafted in the second round with the 41st overall pick by the San Diego Chargers in 1993. On May 23, 2013, the Cincinnati Bengals signed Bernard to a four-year, $5.25 million contract, with a $2.2 million signing bonus and $3.2 million guaranteed. Bernard began his rookie season serving as a back-up to veteran Benjarvus Green-Ellis and began transitioning to a change-of-pace back throughout the season. He made his professional regular season debut in the Bengals' season opener against the Chicago Bears. He finished his first career game with four carries for 22 rushing