Darian Mensah set Miami and ACC completion records Friday as the Miami Hurricanes defeated Wake Forest 33-20 in Winston-Salem, N.C. The ACC road win improved Miami to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in conference play, while Wake Forest fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC. The victory also marked the 100th career win for Miami head coach Mario Cristobal.
Mensah completed 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. He set Miami and ACC records with 24 consecutive completions in a single game and 35 consecutive completions across multiple games. Malachi Toney caught 12 passes for 114 yards and one touchdown, while Mark Fletcher Jr. carried 16 times for 85 yards and a score and surpassed 2,500 career rushing yards.
Miami opened the game with a 14-play, 92-yard touchdown drive that lasted 7:33. Mensah finished the possession with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Moore, and the Hurricanes later scored 24 unanswered points to build a 31-7 lead with 8:56 remaining in the third quarter. Mensah added a 21-yard touchdown pass to Elija Lofton, Fletcher scored on a 1-yard run, and Jake Weinberg made a 27-yard field goal before halftime.
On Miami’s first drive of the second half, Mensah connected with Toney for a 2-yard touchdown. Wake Forest then answered with two consecutive touchdowns, including scoring passes from Gio Lopez to Jack Foley and Carlos Hernandez, to cut the deficit to 31-20.
Lopez completed 29 of 46 passes for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Miami was held to one second-half score, punted on four consecutive possessions and had a field-goal attempt blocked as Wake Forest threatened to complete the comeback.
Ethan O’Connor ended that threat with an interception of Lopez with 2:30 remaining at Miami’s 22-yard line. The play gave Miami its first takeaway of the season and helped the Hurricanes preserve the 13-point win.
“We’ve got a lot of growing up to do and a lot of learning to do as well,” Cristobal said. “But that being said, proud of the effort because no one ever stopped fighting, no one ever stopped working and you get yourself a 13-point win on the road.”
Mensah credited Miami’s offensive line for his record-setting performance but said the second half showed the Hurricanes still have work to do. “I think it’s just a testament to my o-line. I think they played an excellent game up front,” Mensah said. “But to be honest, I can’t even be that happy about it with how the second half went. …”
“We just weren’t as efficient on first and second down, and so that put us in third-and-long and that’s where obviously, the defense wants you,” Mensah said. “So, I’ve got to be better at just being more efficient on first and second down. … I definitely would feel 10 times worse if we lost the game, so, yeah, happy to win. The whole goal is to go 1-0 and we did that today. So, proud of our guys, proud of our fight and our grit to close out the game.”
Miami will play Central Michigan next week. The source identifies that game as next Saturday but does not provide an exact date.
FSB Take
Miami’s first-half execution produced a 31-7 advantage, and Mensah’s record-setting accuracy led the offense throughout the early stages. The second-half slowdown allowed Wake Forest to cut the margin to 11 points, but O’Connor’s late interception preserved the ACC road win. Miami will carry a 3-0 record into its game against Central Michigan while continuing to address the offensive issues that surfaced after halftime.
Source: Original report