Darian Mensah delivered another spectacular performance, throwing three touchdown passes, and rushing for another to lead No. 6 Miami to a comfortable 52-3 win over Central Michigan on Saturday night in Miami Gardens, Fla.
The Hurricanes (4-0) won their first four games for the fourth consecutive season as Mensah continued to be impressively accurate a week after setting a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference records for consecutive completions.
Mensah completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards against the Chippewas (2-2), who were held to 158 total yards, including only 21 yards rushing on 25 attempts.
Miami’s leading running back Mark Fletcher Jr. sat out Saturday’s game for precautionary reasons after suffering an upper body injury in last week’s win over Wake Forest. It didn’t affect the Hurricanes’ running game as Miami amassed 201 yards combined on the ground. Reserve running back Chris Wheatley-Humphrey led the way with 104 yards on 11 carries, most of which came on his 35-yard touchdown run, which capped Miami’s scoring with 10:29 left in the fourth quarter. Mensah ran for 21 yards on four carries, including a 5-yard score with six seconds left in the first half that gave Miami a 35-3 lead at the break.
Mensah’s top target once again was fellow Heisman Trophy candidate Malachi Toney, who caught six passes for 120 yards and snared an 8-yard touchdown in the back of the end zone with 9:45 left in the second quarter to give the Hurricanes a 21-3 edge.
Central Michigan scored first on its first drive on a 49-yard field goal by Caden Vanhuis, which capped an 11-play, 40-yard drive.
Jadyn Glasser performed the best among the Chippewas’ three-quarterback rotation as he completed 13 of 15 passes for 88 yards despite throwing an interception to Brody Jennings with 3:16 left in the second quarter. Angel Flores, who started last week’s win against Wyoming, was limited to 20 yards on 5-for-7 passing, and only eight yards rushing as Miami totaled four sacks.
Miami caught a break with six minutes left in the third quarter when Jordan Lyle fumbled the ball into the end zone but offensive lineman Jamal Merriweather recovered for a touchdown to push the Hurricanes’ edge to 42-3. Miami pulled the bulk of its starters at that point.
