The ACC’s leading tackler and the CIAA defensive player of the year headlined an impressive All-North Carolina defensive stat sheet during the 2024 season.
Wake Forest safety Nick Andersen led the Old North State with 122 total tackles. The redshirt junior from Clifton, Va. (Centreville HS) made 56 solo stops and had 66 assists. He earned third-team All-ACC for his efforts, which included six games with double-digit tackles and a game-sealing interception against Stanford.
Johnson C. Smith’s Benari Black recorded the most tackles-per-game of any player in the state. He averaged 11.4 over 10 contests. Voted the CIAA’s top defender, the senior from Charlotte (West Charlotte HS) amassed 114 total tackles, equaling Andersen’s 66 assists, and earning 48 solo hits.
Five North Carolina defensive players reached the 100-tackle plateau in 2024.
Campbell’s Jalen Brooks had a dominating season at the FCS level. The redshirt senior from Knightdale (Cardinal Gibbons) ended up second in the state in total tackles with 118. He was first in the state for a single game, piling up 19 stops against William & Mary.
East Carolina’s Omar Rogers finished with 104 tackles, while Duke’s Ozzie Nichols collected a cool 100.
UNC’s Antavious Lane (North Carolina) had the most solo tackles of any player in the state. He made 60 solo stops, four more than Wake’s Andersen and five more than Campbell’s Brooks.
North Carolina Wesleyan’s Andrew Brown was tops in tackles among D3 players. He had 85 total stops. JaJuan Givens (Greensboro) had the most solo stops among D3 defenders with 55.
The sortable table below includes everyone from North Carolina college football who recorded at least 55 tackles during the 2024 season. Sources: NCAA, conference and individual school official stat pages:
MORE DEFENSIVE STAT LEADERS: All-North Carolina Stat Leaders In Tackles-For-Loss, Sacks And Interceptions
READ MORE: All-North Carolina Rushing Leaders: UNC’s Omarion Hampton leads the way
READ MORE: All-North Carolina Passing Leaders: Jalen Ferguson, Joey Aguilar Break 3,000 Yards
All-North Carolina Stat Leaders | Total Tackles
2024 College Football Season
| TOTAL | PLAYER (SCHOOL) | DIV | GAMES | SOLO | ASSIST | TKL/GM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 122 | Nick Andersen (Wake Forest) | FBS | 12 | 56 | 66 | 10.2 |
| 118 | Jalen Brooks (Campbell) | FCS | 12 | 55 | 63 | 9.8 |
| 114 | Benari Black (Johnson C. Smith) | D2 | 10 | 48 | 66 | 11.4 |
| 104 | Omar Rogers (East Carolina) | FBS | 13 | 43 | 61 | 8.0 |
| 100 | Ozzie Nicholas (Duke) | FBS | 13 | 40 | 60 | 7.7 |
| 96 | Sean Brown (NC State) | FBS | 13 | 50 | 46 | 7.4 |
| 94 | Branson Combs (Wake Forest) | FBS | 11 | 54 | 40 | 8.5 |
| 93 | Dereck Barringer (Barton) | D2 | 11 | 38 | 55 | 8.5 |
| 90 | Jaelin Willis (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | 13 | 39 | 51 | 6.9 |
| 89 | Alex Howard (Duke) | FBS | 13 | 42 | 47 | 6.8 |
| 88 | Dexter Fitzpatrick (Mars Hill) | D2 | 9 | 33 | 55 | 9.8 |
| 88 | Kennypride Toh (Chowan) | D2 | 10 | 41 | 47 | 8.8 |
| 87 | Jojo Pace (Campbell) | FCS | 12 | 45 | 42 | 7.3 |
| 86 | Jack Smith (Johnson C. Smith) | D2 | 10 | 35 | 51 | 8.6 |
| 86 | Zakye Barker (East Carolina) | FBS | 11 | 29 | 57 | 7.8 |
| 85 | Andrew Brown (NC Wesleyan) | D3 | 10 | 40 | 45 | 8.5 |
| 84 | Dylan Hazen (Wake Forest) | FBS | 12 | 36 | 48 | 7.0 |
| 84 | Kade Moledor (NC A&T) | FCS | 12 | 36 | 48 | 7.0 |
| 83 | Omar Goodwin (Methodist) | D3 | 10 | 34 | 49 | 8.3 |
| 83 | Cameron Bergeron (Duke) | FBS | 13 | 46 | 37 | 6.4 |
| 81 | Lavarius Heath-Lewis (St. Andrews) | NAIA | 9 | 53 | 28 | 9.0 |
| 80 | Max Steele (Greensboro) | D3 | 10 | 41 | 39 | 8.0 |
| 80 | Antavious Lane (North Carolina) | FBS | 13 | 60 | 20 | 6.2 |
| 79 | Steven Reid (Mars Hill) | D2 | 9 | 29 | 50 | 8.8 |
| 79 | JaJuan Givens (Greensboro) | D3 | 10 | 55 | 24 | 7.9 |
| 78 | Eric Cooper (NC Wesleyan) | D3 | 9 | 40 | 38 | 8.7 |
| 77 | Jamari Slade (Fayetteville State) | D2 | 9 | 31 | 46 | 8.6 |
| 77 | Justin Fleming (Winston-Salem State) | D2 | 10 | 51 | 26 | 7.7 |
| 77 | Reid Williford (Charlotte) | FBS | 12 | 44 | 33 | 6.4 |
| 76 | Matt Smith (Barton) | D2 | 10 | 30 | 46 | 7.6 |
| 76 | Evan Simmons (Catawba) | D2 | 11 | 44 | 32 | 6.9 |
| 76 | Power Echols (North Carolina) | FBS | 12 | 43 | 33 | 6.3 |
| 76 | Amare Campbell (North Carolina) | FBS | 13 | 45 | 31 | 5.8 |
| 75 | Caleb Curtain (Elon) | FCS | 12 | 44 | 31 | 6.3 |
| 75 | Mike Edwards III (East Carolina) | FBS | 13 | 26 | 49 | 5.8 |
| 74 | Davaughn Patterson (Wake Forest) | FBS | 12 | 28 | 46 | 6.2 |
| 73 | Jaki Brevard (NC Central) | FCS | 11 | 26 | 47 | 6.6 |
| 73 | Evan Slocum (Wake Forest) | FBS | 12 | 38 | 35 | 6.1 |
| 71 | Khalil Baker (Elon) | FCS | 12 | 48 | 23 | 5.9 |
| 71 | Terry Moore (Duke) | FBS | 13 | 45 | 26 | 5.5 |
| 69 | Elijah Casey (Fayetteville State) | FBS | 9 | 33 | 36 | 7.7 |
| 68 | Jakeen Harris (North Carolina) | FBS | 12 | 38 | 30 | 5.7 |
| 67 | DK Kaufman (NC State) | FBS | 12 | 35 | 32 | 5.6 |
| 67 | Jaylen Stinson (Duke) | FBS | 13 | 32 | 35 | 5.2 |
| 67 | Tre Freeman (Duke) | FBS | 13 | 30 | 37 | 5.2 |
| 66 | Dontorian Best (Wingate) | D2 | 10 | 25 | 41 | 6.6 |
| 66 | Brendan Harrington (Appalachian State) | FBS | 11 | 31 | 35 | 6.0 |
| 65 | Botise Manuel (NC Wesleyan) | D3 | 10 | 32 | 33 | 6.5 |
| 65 | Trevor Moffitt (Gardner-Webb) | FCS | 12 | 29 | 36 | 5.4 |
| 65 | Nic Cheeley (Lenoir-Rhyne) | D2 | 13 | 41 | 24 | 5.0 |
| 64 | Charles Alberty (Chowan) | D2 | 9 | 39 | 25 | 7.1 |
| 64 | Kaleb Cost (North Carolina) | FBS | 13 | 45 | 19 | 4.9 |
| 64 | Ja'Marley Riddle (East Carolina) | FBS | 13 | 27 | 37 | 4.9 |
| 63 | Khalil Stimpson (Catawba) | D2 | 9 | 30 | 33 | 7.0 |
| 63 | Baylee Ramey (Brevard) | D3 | 9 | 22 | 41 | 7.0 |
| 63 | Cam Burden (Charlotte) | FBS | 12 | 31 | 32 | 5.3 |
| 63 | Logan Liverman (Campbell) | FCS | 12 | 29 | 34 | 5.3 |
| 62 | Jaylen Hinton (Catawba) | D2 | 10 | 32 | 30 | 6.2 |
| 62 | Evan VanMeter (UNC Pembroke) | D2 | 11 | 44 | 18 | 5.6 |
| 62 | Raquon Hartley (Gardner-Webb) | FCS | 12 | 37 | 25 | 5.2 |
| 61 | Demorian Smith (Elizabeth City State) | D2 | 10 | 34 | 27 | 6.1 |
| 61 | Letraskey Pressley (Louisburg) | JUCO | 11 | 25 | 36 | 5.5 |
| 61 | Antarron Turner (Western Carolina) | FCS | 12 | 26 | 35 | 5.1 |
| 61 | Hayward McQueen Jr (Western Carolina) | FCS | 12 | 23 | 38 | 5.1 |
| 61 | Devon Betty (NC State) | FBS | 13 | 26 | 35 | 4.7 |
| 60 | Malcolm Reed (NC Central) | FCS | 11 | 34 | 26 | 5.5 |
| 59 | Aydan White (NC State) | FBS | 11 | 39 | 20 | 5.4 |
| 58 | DJ Burks (Appalachian State) | FBS | 11 | 29 | 29 | 5.3 |
| 58 | John Tessman (Davidson) | FCS | 11 | 22 | 36 | 5.3 |
| 57 | Eli Davis (Guilford) | D3 | 10 | 33 | 24 | 5.7 |
| 56 | Kamal Bonner (NC State) | FBS | 13 | 23 | 33 | 4.3 |
| 55 | Nick Henderson (St. Andrews) | NAIA | 9 | 26 | 29 | 6.1 |
| 55 | Kyle Arnholt (Appalachian State) | FBS | 11 | 14 | 41 | 5.0 |
| 55 | Bishop Fitzgerald (NC State) | FBS | 13 | 35 | 20 | 4.2 |
To see national leaders from the 2024 season, visit the NCAA’s official stats pages.
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