By R.L. Bynum
North Carolina’s Mikai Gbayor is the ACC Linebacker of the Week after powering a dominant defensive performance that denied Richmond a touchdown on Saturday.
The graduate Missouri transfer from Irvington, N.J., was everywhere in Saturday’s 41–6 rout of the Spiders, racking up six tackles and delivering one of the game’s biggest momentum swings.
Early in the third quarter, he burst through the line for a perfectly timed strip sack, setting up Carolina’s first takeaway of the afternoon as Melkart Abou-Jaoude pounced on the loose ball.
That play reflected a mentality shift Gbayor says the defense has made since the early part of the season.
“We had to move on from the loss,” he said. “We felt that in Week 1, and we moved on from it, but we never forget that feeling, and we don’t want to go back to it.”
The Tar Heels didn’t just move on — they cut loose. The veteran linebacker explained that the change was as much about mindset as it was about scheme.
“It was a mentality shift in that locker room where guys were just like, ‘We’ve got to buckle up,” he said. “We’ve just got to go out there and just have fun and play and not be tense. I feel like [the TCU game], we were a little too tense, and that just led to one thing to another. So, guys went out there, cut loose these last two weeks.”
The results were easy to see in the fourth quarter when Gbayor came up with his biggest highlight of the day.
After CJ Mims jarred the ball free with a hit, Gbayor scooped it up and sprinted 62 yards down the sideline for his first career touchdown and his version of a Lambeau leap in front of the student section.
“I was just trying to get to the ball,” Gbayor said. “CJ was there first. CJ hit the guy, and it was a little loose. I just took it and scored.”
That touchdown capped a defensive effort that has now gone two straight games without allowing an opponent to find the end zone — the first time UNC has done that since 2012.
For Gbayor, that accomplishment is fuel to keep pushing.
“We’ve just gotta keep on going. You know, it’s not the end. It’s still early in the season, and we’re looking forward to doing that to all of our opponents. We just want to shut them out and just play hard football, hard-nose football. And that’s our goal. Is just to continue to elevate.”
Part of that consistency, he says, comes from what happens during the week.
“It’s just a process throughout the week,” he said. “And what we do throughout the week that gets us these results.”
And as for what’s driving this defense forward? Gbayor says it’s accountability and a focus on execution — especially in the most critical moments.
“Every time they get in the red zone, they don’t have to score,” he said. “Anytime they get down there, it’s our job to stop them. We have to stop that team, whoever we’re playing, in that red zone. Nobody’s allowed to score down there.”
With leadership like Gbayor’s, the Tar Heels are aiming to keep that mentality and their perfect defensive streak rolling into next week.
Photo by Joshua Lawton
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