North Carolina goes into Saturday's game against No. 1 Miami with a defense that has its work cut out for them. But the Tar Heels have some talent on that side of the ball and shouldn't be taken lightly. UNC has held four of their seven opponents to 20 points or fewer while allowing 20.9 points per game this year. Here are the players that Miami will need to look out for on Halloween night.
1. Xavier Lewis, Defensive Lineman
Lewis, a 6-foot, 260-pound sophomore from Raleigh, has become North Carolina's leading pass rusher. He has 39 tackles, 10 tackles for loss and seven sacks this season, ranking fourth nationally in sacks per game.
That is a huge jump from his freshman year, when he recorded eight tackles and half a sack in 11 games. Lewis is an AP first-team midseason All-American and a Lombardi Award watch list selection.
He recorded seven tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks in a win over TCU in Dublin, two sacks against both East Tennessee State and Clemson, and a career-high 11 tackles in the 21-17 upset of Pittsburgh.
Miami's offensive line has undergone changes this season due to injuries, and Lewis' interior pressure could limit the time Darian Mensah has to find Malachi Toney and the other receivers.
2. Derek McDonald, Linebacker
McDonald, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound graduate student from Atlanta, leads the ACC in total tackles with 72 (10.3 per game ranks sixth nationally). He has five games with at least 10 tackles and has earned two ACC Linebacker of the Week awards.
McDonald was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Butkus Award and has set a career high in tackles. He transferred from Syracuse, where he recorded 67 tackles in 2023 and 55 in 2024 before injuries limited him to four games in 2025.
As North Carolina’s defensive signal-caller, he wears the green dot that allows for direct communication with the coaching staff. McDonald posted 11 tackles against TCU, 13 and a forced fumble against Notre Dame, 12 against Pittsburgh, and a career-high 16 against Syracuse, including three in overtime.
3. Greg Smith III, Safety
Smith, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound redshirt sophomore from Riverview, Florida, leads North Carolina with three interceptions and has 42 tackles, four pass breakups and one fumble recovery. His 85.6 Pro Football Focus overall grade ranks 16th among 714 safeties, and his 88.8 coverage grade ranks 11th.
Opponents have posted a passer rating of 34.4 when targeting him. Smith was a four-star recruit at Sumner High School, where he played quarterback and safety and threw for 1,633 yards and 32 touchdowns as a senior. He appeared in five games as a freshman at Florida before transferring to North Carolina for 2025, when he played in all 12 games and recorded 25 tackles.
This season he intercepted a pass and recovered a fumble against East Tennessee State, recorded an end-zone interception in the win over Pittsburgh, and made 10 tackles with two pass breakups against Duke.
Honorable mention
Linebacker Peyton Seelmann, a junior transfer from Richmond, ranks second in the ACC in tackles per game with 64 total. He recorded 120 tackles and earned first-team All-Patriot League honors in 2025.
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