No. 12 University of Miami, fresh off its 52-17 homecoming victory against Virginia, has one of its biggest Atlantic Coast Conference challenges less than a week away.

North Carolina, in the Hurricanes' Coastal Division and led by former UM coach Butch Davis, has been a very unkind host to the Canes.

``Go look up and see if Miami has ever beaten North Carolina at North Carolina,'' UM coach Randy Shannon said. ``I don't think we've ever beaten them there.''

That is correct. The Hurricanes (7-2, 4-2 ACC) lost 33-27 at Kenan Memorial Stadium in 2007, Shannon's first year as coach. They also lost there in 2004, when Connor Barth kicked a 42-yard field goal on the final play for a 31-28 upset of the No. 4 Canes. And a long, long time ago, in 1963, the Tar Heels won 27-16 in mid-November.

``That's more of an incentive than anything,'' Shannon said Sunday of UM's woes at UNC (6-3, 2-3), which defeated Duke 19-6 on Saturday. ``They understand. We'll address it [Sunday] when we come back as a team and go from there.''

Last season, the Canes lost in a 28-24 heartbreaker that was decided in the final minute, and sealed when UNC intercepted a Robert Marve pass in the end zone on the game's final play.

Saturday's game, at 3:30 p.m. (ABC), will again feature a strong UNC defense, Davis' forte. The Tar Heels have the nation's fifth-ranked total defense and No. 11 scoring defense, giving up 15.3 points per game.

``They have some real athletic guys on the defensive front, very good athletes on the defensive line,'' Shannon said. ``And their linebackers are very athletic, too.''

The Hurricanes' leap up four spots Sunday in The Associated Press poll, two spots to No. 15 in the coaches' poll and three spots to No. 14 in the Bowl Championship Series standings was encouraging news, but Shannon said his players are not concentrating on any future scenarios.

``This is a different team,'' Shannon said. ``They don't try to get involved in that too much. They try to control their own destiny and things that they're doing.''

SHANNON: NO INJURIES

Much more encouraging to Shannon: No UM players were injured against the Cavaliers on Saturday.

``It was a first,'' he said. ``As the week goes on we'll know if we're getting anybody back, but right now, I don't know.''

The Canes are in second place in the Coastal Division behind seventh-ranked Georgia Tech (9-1, 6-1).

Tech's lone loss came at UM on Sept. 17. Now UM's only hope for a chance at winning its division is for Georgia Tech to lose Saturday at Duke, the Yellow Jackets' final regular-season ACC game.

Other topics Shannon touched on Sunday:

• Special teams -- he blamed both of Matt Bosher's blocked punts on his punt-protection team, not on Bosher. ``Just broken assignments,'' he said, noting that Bosher is getting off his punts fast enough.

• Tailback Graig Cooper's career-high, 152-yard rushing day -- ``This is the first time he has really been healthy.''

• The defense -- ``Watching film I thought it was probably the best game we've played this season on defense . . . unbelievable.''

Shannon said the changes he implemented last week in limiting practices to an hour and switching Tuesday's session from 5:45 a.m. to 3 p.m. worked as planned.

``It makes a difference this time of year,'' he said. ``You have to make sure you keep them fresh more than anything. The old-school rule was you practice hard all week long and game time it's easy. But you have a lot of injuries and a lot of numbers are down, so you have to make sure you pull back.''

UM's players of the game were: Thearon Collier on special teams for his 60-yard punt return, Cooper on offense and safety Jared Campbell (four tackles, three pass breakups) on defense.

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