Cedric Gray leads strong defensive showing in 41-31 win over No. 25 Miami

Cedric Gray got a text from his mom Saturday morning. 

“She’s like, ‘You just always play so great versus Miami,’” Gray said. “‘I feel like you’re going to have a good game today.’”

Esther Gray was onto something.

Her son was everywhere on the field for No. 12 North Carolina in its 41-31 victory over No. 25 Miami. The senior linebacker led the Tar Heels’ defense with 10 tackles, bringing his career total to an even 300, and a crucial interception in the third quarter. In his three career games against the Hurricanes, Gray has 29 tackles, three interceptions, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery — all while acting as a vocal leader of the defense.

In the first quarter, with Miami on the doorstep, Gray recovered a fumble. He scooped the ball up in the end zone and started to stumble. Then, he got the wind knocked out of him and was unable to breathe.

Did he have visions of running 100 yards down the field for a scoop and score?

“I did,” Gray said. “And they got shattered real quick.”

But Gray wasn’t fazed, and after getting up to let his teammates know he was alright, got right back to action. Early in the second quarter, he blew up a Miami screen pass that, if it weren’t for his rapid pursuit, might have turned into an explosive play. That’s the leader he has grown to be — loud in his play and in his words.

But when he first arrived in Chapel Hill, he was quiet.

“He didn’t really say too much,” former UNC linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel told The Daily Tar Heel in September. “He just did his part, showed up on time. He didn’t really talk to everybody on the team, usually stuck with the linebackers."

Gemmel is a close friend and mentor to Gray. He said that even when Gray was playing primarily on special teams in 2020, he saw glimpses of the player that he has become.

"You saw at a young age that he took special teams serious," Gemmel said, "So you knew the upcoming years were definitely going to be bright for him."

Fast forward three years and Gray is the heartbeat of the UNC defense.

“He's the motor of the defense," junior defensive back Alijah Huzzie said. "For every drive we go, he brings us to the sideline. He talks to us, motivates us and just continues to push us as a group as a whole and as individuals.”

A Gray-led UNC defense passed its first litmus test on Saturday.

Facing its toughest contest of the season yet — a top-15 FBS team in scoring offense — the Tar Heel defense played just well enough to secure the victory. 

Last year, when Gray was a bright spot on the worst defense in the ACC, things might have been different. Head coach Mack Brown admitted that this is the type of game people would have expected the Tar Heels to lose in years past.

They didn’t though, in large part due to Gray, who opted to stay and play a senior season for UNC rather than going straight to the NFL.

“I love Cedric Gray,” Brown said. “The fact he turned down being a second-round draft choice and came back for all the right reasons is so unlike what’s happening in college football.”

Both Brown and Gray know that there is still work to be done defensively — improving kickoff coverage, limiting explosive plays and reducing penalties — if the Tar Heels hope to keep their undefeated record.

Who will lead that effort?

Cedric Gray.

“I thought it was good that we got up and we didn’t finish the game like we needed to,” Brown said. “Because [Gray will] be all over [his teammates].”

Shelby Swanson contributed reporting to this story

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