Josh Cabrera caught the pass a few steps behind the line of scrimmage. The rising redshirt junior wide receiver started running, headed for Fetzer Field’s left sideline during North Carolina’s spring game. His blockers had held, so there was an opening.
Donnie Miles met him there.
Miles, a rising redshirt senior safety, could have just forced Cabrera out of bounds with a push. Or he could have gone for the legs, like most 5-foot-11 defensive backs would do when tackling a 6-foot-3 wideout in an exhibition game.
There’s a problem with that mindset, though. It’s the exact opposite of what Miles — and UNC’s entire defense, for that matter — wants to do.
“You can’t say, ‘I want to be a big hitter, I want to be physical,’ and not live it,” Miles said. “You’ve got to do that every day.”
Miles sped up as the distance between him and his teammate shrank. Then there was a collision. A resounding crack of pads — the type of sound that would have a retired 1980s linebacker reminiscing about his glory days.
The hit stopped Cabrera in his tracks and sent him to the ground. Miles bumped helmets with his teammates. The fans let out a collective gasp.
“It was great to see,” rising junior linebacker Andre Smith said. “You have to practice how you’re going to play in a real-life game.”
