Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah (10) gestures towards the fans in the first half against Florida A&M Rattlers at Hard Rock Stadium at Miami Gardens on Thursday, September 10, 2026.
PHOTO BY AL DIAZ
adiaz@miamiherald.com
The Miami Hurricanes got the expected blowout win, the anticipated rout.
A lopsided victory was expected over Florida A&M on Thursday, even if a 77-7 final score and school-record 856 yards of offense might not have been as easily predicted.
Nearly everything went right for Miami in its home opener at Hard Rock Stadium as the Hurricanes improve to 2-0 on the young season, one with national championship aspirations.
But don’t look to the Hurricanes to be patting themselves on the back after that one.
“We never feel satisfied,” offensive lineman Matt McCoy said. “So it’s just like, ‘Yeah, we scored, but let’s spot the ball again. Let’s keep doing it. Let’s keep doing it.’ We just want to make people quit. … Of course, we scored pretty much every drive.
“We want more. Of course, we did a great job, but we just hold ourselves to a higher standard.”
And that high standard will be needed as the season progresses. The Hurricanes thus far have faced the team voted to finish last in the Atlantic Coast Conference in Stanford (winning that game 45-3) and an opponent from the Football Championship Subdivision that was paid $760,000 to play in FAMU. While Miami’s schedule on paper overall isn’t very daunting, it’s about to have an uptick in competition as they get into ACC play. Miami (2-0, 1-0 ACC) travels to play Wake Forest (2-0) on Friday (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
“Every single week,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said, “you better get better.”
Miami has seen that improvement in a few key areas.
The new-look offensive line, which is replacing four starters from last year’s team that reached the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, has begun to build chemistry. The run game piled up 430 yards against Florida A&M after having just 121 against Stanford. Miami quarterbacks have not been sacked through two games.
Quarterback Darian Mensah has been nearly perfect through two games, completing 41 of 45 passes for 653 yards and eight touchdowns without an interception.
And the defense still hasn’t allowed a touchdown through two games, holding Stanford to just two field goals and FAMU scoreless (the Rattlers’ only points Thursday came on a fumble recovery for a touchdown).
But, it’s worth noting, that same defense has only forced three sacks and has not produced a turnover in two games against far inferior opponents as it replaces a slew of key players and deals with injuries. Three of Miami’s top five cornerbacks in Xavier Lucas, OJ Frederique Jr. and Ja’Boree Antoine are all sidelined long-term, leaving defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman to get creative with how he deploys his secondary.
“It is being tested,” Cristobal said.
But this team is fine with being tested. It embraces it, actually. Daily competition in practice is fierce, and it has shown on the field through two games.
Now, they need that to continue as the season progresses.
“When it’s good, it’s good,” Mensah said, “and I’ve got to be ready for adversity to show. We’ve got a good Wake Forest opponent coming up this next week. But yeah, it’s awesome that things are going well. But I think adversity is when your team grows and shows the true colors of your team.”
.JPG)
Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.