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Oregon State University tailback Yvenson Bernard a unique talent

OSU tailback a unique talent: Bernard forgoes baseball, soccer to star for Beavers

12/29/2006 12:00:00 AM MST

Yvenson Bernard says he was born with soccer in his blood. And he was a noted baseball player -- he was a 30th-round draft pick by the Minnesota Twins out of Boca Raton (Fla.) High School in 2003.

But when an uncle introduced him to football, all the other sports paled in comparison.

"He dragged me out and told me, 'Let's go play some Pop Warner,' " Bernard said. "I didn't know anything about football. My family is Haitian. But I'm glad he did it."

Bernard, a junior tailback for Oregon State, now is one of the premier runners in college football (Sports Illustrated tabbed him the 12th best back in the nation on Oct. 26). He will be an explosive, versatile weapon for the Beavers today when they play Missouri in the 73rd Annual Brut Sun Bowl.

A player who is known to get stronger as the game progresses, the 5-foot-9, 204-pound Bernard earned first-team All-Pac 10 honors this season after averaging 100.8 yards a game (second in the conference and 15th in the nation), and scoring 12 touchdowns.

And he did that while missing the watershed victory over No. 3 USC in October, and the two following games, with an ankle injury.

"It's been a good season, but I feel like I could have done better," he said. "I wasn't 100 percent."

Bernard will go into today's game completely healthy.

"I got over all of my injuries, and I love it," he said. "I feel a lot better right now. And I feel like everybody else has been given an opportunity to get better also. I just can't wait to get on the field. I'm too eager."

Oregon State head coach Mike Riley certainly is happy that Bernard is back.

"He's the best runner we have, he's the best blocker we have, he's one of the smartest players we have," Riley told the Oregonian. "I mean, he's got all the stuff."

So, would Bernard ever leave football to concentrate on baseball? Probably not. But the Oregon State baseball team, which won the NCAA Division 1 championship this season, sure makes it tough to not think about.

"I would definitely want to go out (for baseball)," he said. "Especially with our team. They're national champs. Who wouldn't want to be part of that?"

But for now, it's all football, all the time for Bernard, a merchandising management major. And he'd like to improve on a season that already has been memorable in so many ways.

And though the Beavers and Tigers have been cordial with one another through Sun Bowl week, the tailback expects that to end abruptly at noon today.

"It's going to start as soon as we hit the field," he said. "You're going to see some anger. We've been calm because we know we have to be calm. No one wants to be kicked out before the game."

And when it's all over, he will look back at '06 with fondness.

"A few times, I was sitting at home after one of those regular-season games thinking, 'Wow, it has been a great season.' "