234 days after the Miami Hurricanes heartbreaking defeat in the national championship against the Indiana Hoosiers at Hard Rock Stadium, the No. 7 ranked Canes returned to “the Rock” for their home opener Thursday night against the Florida A&M Rattlers Sep. 10.
After annihilating the Stanford Cardinal in last week’s matchup on the road in a brutal 45-6 rout, Miami’s faithful welcomed the Rattlers into its house — just to remind them they were not welcome with a 77-7 trouncing.
The scoring outburst tied a program record for the Hurricanes, matching Miami’s 77-point high set against Savannah State in 2018, and set a single-game record for total yards with 856, eclipsing the record of 750 yards previously set against Ball State in 2024.
After getting control of the ball with 13:32 remaining in the first quarter, the Canes exacted immediate control over the game. On the third play of the opening drive, running back Mark Fletcher Jr. ran 46 yards to carry the ball past the Rattlers loose defense for the first touchdown of the game.
Fletcher scored again later in the quarter, climbing up Miami’s all-time leaderboard as the sixth-highest career rushing yards and fifth-highest for rushing touchdowns — he ended with 105 yards and two touchdowns.
In the same quarter, it took quarterback Darian Mensah only one play to score again — launching a 55 yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Joshua Moore.
In only his second game wearing Miami’s signature orange and green, Mensah’s chemistry with this team so far this season cannot be understated. The Duke transfer has completed 41 of his 46 attempted passes, alongside 653 passing yards and eight touchdowns.
“I want to play well,” said Mensah. “Canes fans were super supportive of me when I first got here, so to kind of give that back to them on the field means a lot to me.”
Two of those touchdowns fell to the hands of Malachi Toney and Cooper Barkate, who combined for 413 yards and six of Mensah’s touchdowns.
Named ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year back in July, Mensah has been hailed as the man to lead Mario Cristobal’s offense back to the Natty at the end of the season. Tonight’s carnage against FAMU further supported that belief.
Mensah finished his night completing 14 of his 15 throws for 252 yards and three touchdowns before sitting out in the second half.
“It’s pretty effortless,” Mensah added. “We’ve got a bunch of studs in the back field.”
Upon exiting halftime up 49-0, the Hurricanes opted to test the depth of their bench.
“We had an opportunity to play a lot of our guys and see how they fit and what their roles will be going forward,” Head Coach Mario Cristobal said.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Nickel had a big night, throwing three touchdown passes and 144 yards.
The first, to freshman Samourian Wingo — who scored his first collegiate touchdown — and the second to South Carolina transfer Dre Jacobs.
“He’s an explosive guy, an elite human being,” said Cristobal about Wingo. “He’s one of those guys we have identified that in critical times of the game, he can be counted on.”
Miami added two more touchdowns courtesy of a 21-yard receiving touchdown from Vance Spafford and an impressive 52-yard rushing touchdown from Javian Mallory.
Mallory, a freshman from West Boca High School, made the most of his opportunities with two rushing touchdowns and a team-leading 142 rushing yards.
“No one can slack in this running back room,” said Mallory postgame. “We want each other to be the best.”
This fall, the Canes are no doubt eager to return to the national championship stage. Their performance so far this season shows they see that path to redemption clearly and intend to prove that their appearance in last year’s final game of the post-season was no fluke.
With the way Mensah is meshing with his fellow Hurricanes, it’s clear that the Canes are shaping up to be quite the threat to the other teams they’re set to face off against this season.
And to those teams, it might be time to bolt your doors and install some storm shutters — the Hurricanes are ready to tear down your house.
Miami travels to Wake Forest on Friday, Sep. 16 to take on the Demon Deacons. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C.
