Coming off two wins with a combined scoreline of 122-13, the No. 5 ranked Miami Hurricanes were flying high against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Up 31-7 midway through the third quarter, Darian Mensah was chasing history, and the Canes looked set to coast to 3-0 on the year.
Fast forward a quarter, and Miami’s back was against the wall as Wake Forest threatened to get within one score of the Hurricanes.
On third down at Miami’s 22-yard line, Wake quarterback Gio Lopez dropped back into the pocket, looking for Jack Foley. Ethan O’Connor read the route, jumping in front of Foley and intercepting Lopez to secure a 33-20 victory over the Demon Deacons despite a second half performance highlighted by injuries.
“Even though it got sloppy at the end, we did play complementary football,” Miami Head Coach Mario Cristobal said. “When you go on the road, and you’re playing in the conference, you gotta find a way to win.”
Miami’s offense displayed its star power in the first half, with highlight performances from Mensah, Malachi Toney, and Mark Fletcher Jr.
The Hurricanes (3-0, 2-0 ACC) struck first with a 14-play, 92-yard drive that ate up the opening seven minutes, ending on a nine-yard touchdown grab from sophomore wideout Joshua Moore.
Wake (2-1, 0-1 ACC) responded right away with an 11-play drive of its own, tying the score at seven through one quarter.
Miami entered with a weakened secondary, with cornerbacks OJ Frederique and Xavier Lucas out with injury. The Demon Deacons exposed this early, and continued to hammer away at the Miami secondary throughout.
“We didn’t perform to our standards,” Cristobal said.
The Hurricanes offense couldn’t be stopped in the first half, though, firing off four-consecutive scores pushing the total to 24-7, with credits going to Elija Lofton with a 21-yard receiving touchdown, Fletcher with a one-yard rushing touchdown, and a Jake Weinberg 27-yard field goal to close the half.
Mensah and the offense didn’t slow down on its first drive of the third quarter, finishing an eight-play, 56-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown catch from Toney. Through six offensive drives, Mensah was pitching a perfect game.
Miami’s quarterback continued his red-hot start to the season, completing each of his first 24 pass attempts — setting a program and conference record, but two shy of the FBS single game consecutive completion record.
The Duke transfer finished the night completing 30 of his 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Mensah’s season completion percentage sits at 89.9% and currently has thrown more touchdowns (11) than incompletions (eight).
Despite the electric three quarters for Miami, multiple players faced in-game injuries. Toney, Fletcher, Brown and Ahmad Moten Sr. all exited the game at different points with their status uncertain moving forward.
With momentum beginning to slow for the Canes, the tide swung in the Deacons favor following a roughing the passer call on Damon Wilson II, which erased a fumble recovery for Miami.
And as the injuries piled up, Wake took the gifted possession and struck quickly — two-consecutive touchdowns to Foley and Carlos Hernandez, putting the Demon Deacons within 11 with 14 minutes left to play.
The offense that put up 303 yards in the first half tallied just 75 yards in the last 30 minutes.
Following Toney’s touchdown, the Canes offense did not score again, punting four-consecutive times and missing on a 54-yard field goal attempt from Weinberg.
“We weren’t as efficient on first and second down and that put us in third-and-long,” Mensah said. “I’ve got to be better.”
Despite impressive pressure from the defensive line, Lopez threw for 312 yards. His two main targets, Foley and Hernandez, totaled for just under 200 receiving yards, both with touchdowns in the end of the third into the beginning of the fourth quarter.
But, the Demon Deacons offense was ultimately quelled by a penalty-induced safety in favor of the Canes, putting Miami up 33-20 — a scoreline which held for the remainder of the affair.
As Miami’s offense sputtered with a pair of punts, Wake Forest quickly drove down the field, only to fail both fourth-down conversions on each possession.
Even so, the final dagger came from O’Connor after Miami failed a questionable field goal attempt from 54 yards.
With Friday’s win, Cristobal became the 18th active head coach to reach 100 career victories.
However, celebrations will be short-lived as Miami turns the page to Central Michigan at home on Sept. 26, possibly facing more injuries to an already-depleted depth chart.
