MIAMI GARDENS — Miami quarterback Darian Mensah continued his stellar start to the season, throwing for three touchdowns and rushing for another as the No. 6 Hurricanes cruised to a 52-3 win over Central Michigan at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday night.

“I think we’ve (come) a long way,” Mensah said. “I think we’ve showed a lot of good things, but like (Mario) Cristobal always said, we’ve got a long way to go. Tonight, the story was our pre-snap penalties. Always happy with the win, but you know there’s always still (things to) clean up as well.”

Miami’s first drive stalled due to a 10-yard sack and a penalty, but the Hurricanes (4-0, 2-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) moved down the field on their subsequent drive. Freshman Javian Mallory, who started in place of the injured Mark Fletcher Jr., scored on a 4-yard run to give UM a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.

Quarterback Darian Mensah followed that drive with a touchdown pass of his own, floating an 11-yard pass to Daylyn Upshaw. Saturday’s win was the 22nd straight game Mensah has thrown a touchdown, which is the longest active streak among FBS quarterbacks.

Although the Hurricanes started the game slowly in the first quarter, they pulled away from the Chippewas (2-2) in the second quarter. CMU quarterback Jadyn Glasser could not handle a snap, and Miami recovered the fumble. The Hurricanes turned that into seven points as Mensah connected with star wide receiver Malachi Toney for an 8-yard touchdown. UM scored on its fourth straight drive when Mensah hit Barkate for a 13-yard touchdown pass in the last minutes of the first half.

After throwing three touchdowns, Mensah ended the half with a 5-yard rushing touchdown, sending Miami to the locker room up 35-3.

The scoring continued into the second half, but in an unorthodox way. Marquise Lightfoot forced a fumble on a sack, and Damon Wilson II recovered it and ran it back for a touchdown. The score was overturned by an unnecessary roughness penalty on Lightfoot. Miami appeared to score on a highlight-reel catch from Toney, but it was reversed due to offensive pass interference. Running back Jordan Lyle appeared to score on a short run, but the referees said the signal to start play had not been given.

Lyle tried to score on another short run, but he fumbled into the end zone. Offensive lineman Jamal Meriweather recovered it for the Hurricanes’ sixth touchdown of the game.

The Hurricanes subbed in their backups about midway through the third quarter, and South Broward alumnus Chris Wheatley-Humphrey scored his first career touchdown with a 35-yard run early in the fourth quarter. Wheatley-Humphrey finished with 104 rushing yards — his first collegiate 100-yard game.

“Credit to him,” Cristobal said. “That guy really works his butt off. Really good football player.”

Five takeaways
1. Back on cruise control

Miami’s offense sputtered in the second half in its win against Wake Forest, and UM started slowly on its first drive on Saturday. After that, the Hurricanes went back on cruise control.

After punting on the opening drive, Miami scored on six straight drives. The Hurricanes built a 32-point lead by halftime and rolled to their fourth straight win.

“It feels great,” Toney said. “That’s something we talked about: finishing. So it’s a good job of us going out there and executing what coach (Shannon) Dawson and coach Cristobal and all the coaches instilled in us: going out there and finish playing strong four quarters of football.”

Miami’s defense also excelled. After allowing a field goal on the opening drive of the game, the Hurricanes locked down Central Michigan. The Hurricanes had four sacks, eight tackles for loss and three takeaways. The Chippewas ended the game with 158 yards.

2. Offensive line rotation

The Hurricanes continued looking for the best options to rebuild their offensive line this season. After SJ Alofaituli and Max Buchanan played nearly every snap at guard against Wake Forest, Miami turned back to a rotation on Saturday.

Freshman Ben Congdon and transfer Jamal Meriweather played snaps at left and right guard, respectively.

3. Banged-up ‘Canes

Two key Hurricanes, Fletcher and Ahmad Moten Sr., were held out of Saturday’s game after suffering injuries against Wake Forest.

Defensive end Armondo Blount left the game in the first half and did not return.

Cristobal had positive news on the banged-up players after the game, saying Fletcher and Moten were held out for precautionary reasons as they recover. He also said Blount’s tests during the game were negative.

4. Mensah keeps rolling

The Hurricanes’ star quarterback continued his excellent start to the season.

Before Miami subbed in the backups in the third quarter, Mensah went 23 for 27 for 338 yards, three passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Through four games, Mensah has 14 touchdown passes and only 12 incompletions.

“He spread the ball around pretty good, as well,” Cristobal said. “He extended plays, great pocket presence, protected pretty well. But a couple times, when it got sticky, he found a way.”

5. Penalty issues crop up

The Hurricanes played cleanly in their first two games, but penalties have cropped up in their last two games. After getting penalized for 75 yards against Wake Forest, the Hurricanes had 112 penalty yards on Saturday.

Miami had two touchdown plays erased by penalties: a fumble return by Wilson and a touchdown catch by Toney.

“The penalties certainly were an issue and something that we have to work on and improve,” Cristobal said.