ACC Awards UNC Linebacker with Player of the Week Honors

North Carolina’s Mikai Gbayor was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Linebacker of the Week after helping the Tar Heel defense keep Richmond out of the endzone in its 41-6 victory over the Spiders at Kenan Stadium on Sept. 13

Gbayor finished with six tackles and a strip sack in the third quarter that set up Carolina’s first takeaway of the game. He later recovered a fourth-quarter fumble forced by teammate CJ Mims and returned it 62 yards for his first career touchdown, pushing North Carolina’s lead to 34-3.

It marked Carolina’s first fumble return for a touchdown since 2021, when defensive back Trey Morrison scored on a 66-yard return against Duke in a 38-7 victory over the Blue Devils.

𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞: Week 3

🔗 https://t.co/jMvMwYujRI pic.twitter.com/W9UFUoj9gI
— ACC Football (@ACCFootball) September 15, 2025

Gbayor has been a key part of Carolina’s defensive turnaround, as the Tar Heels have allowed just 235 total yards per game and only nine points over their last two outings. North Carolina has not given up a touchdown in that span — the first time since 2012 the defense has gone two straight games without surrendering one.

ACC weekly honors are selected by a vote of a media panel.

Here is the full video Mikai Gbayor's postgame presser on Sept. 13 along with a partial transcript:

UNC — Linebacker Mikai Gbayor speaking at the podium after North Carolina's 41-6 victory over Richmond on Sept. 13, 2025. | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

On Elevating the Defense

“I mean, we hear a lot from Coach Belichick every day. So I mean, it's nothing I could like specifically point out. But one thing I do know is, when we walk in this facility, we are prepared. We are ready to go, and that's all. He just makes sure we know what to do. We know our job. We know our responsibility, like [Jordan] Shipp said earlier, tough, smart, dependable. You know, we need those kind of guys in the room.”

On the Shifts Within the Defense

"You know, people probably thinking we beat down on, you know, Richmond, but that's a good football team. We just played really great football team. And it's hard to win. No matter where you are, it's hard to win. So every game, the mentality must be to go dominate no matter where you're playing. So coming to this game, we still practice hard. We still did those things. So, you know, we got to keep that mentality of just applying pressure to where we're playing and foot on the neck.”

Holding Richmond to Zero Touchdowns

“Just gotta keep on going. You know, it's not the end, it's still early in the season. And we looking forward to do that to all of our opponents. We just want to, 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. Like I said before.”

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