{"id":392073,"date":"2026-09-06T11:18:32","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T11:18:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/392073\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T11:18:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T11:18:32","slug":"nuggets-thoughts-grades-snaps-for-ums-offense-in-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/392073\/","title":{"rendered":"Nuggets, thoughts, grades, snaps for UM\u2019s offense in opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten nuggets, data points and thoughts on UM\u2019s offense in the aftermath of Friday\u2019s season-opening 45-6 win at Stanford:<\/p>\n

\u25aa Everyone knew how accurate Darian Mensah was before Friday \u2013 a UM staffer kept raving about it throughout closed practices in August – but what we witnessed Friday was ridiculous.<\/p>\n

In finishing 27 for 30 for 401 yards, Mensah went an incredible 12 for 14 on passes thrown 10 yards or more.<\/p>\n

He was 4 for 6 for 143 yards and three touchdowns on passes that traveled at least 20 air yards.<\/p>\n

He was 6 for 6 for 120 yards and a TD on passes that traveled 10 to 19 air yards.<\/p>\n

He was 5 for 5 on throws for 37 yards on passes thrown behind the line of scrimmage and 12 for 12 for 100 yards and a touchdown on passes thrown 0 to 9 yards.<\/p>\n

Stanford had no answers for Mensah; he was 8 for 8 for 156 yards and a touchdown when blitzed, per Pro Football Focus.<\/p>\n

Mensah, who was removed in the third quarter, set UM records for passing yards and touchdown passes by a Canes quarterback in a debut.<\/p>\n

No wonder ESPN\u2019s Louis Riddick – who has been one of Mensah\u2019s biggest advocates – tweeted \u201cHeismansah\u201d during the game.<\/p>\n

\u25aa As draft prospects, Mensah and several other QBs are widely rated behind Oregon\u2019s Dante Moore and Texas\u2019 Arch Manning. But Friday certainly helped his stock.<\/p>\n

He \u201cshowed extreme poise, accuracy, touch, and had consistent answers vs. the blitz,\u201d ESPN No. 3 draft analyst Jordan Reid said.<\/p>\n

Mensah, incidentally, became the sixth player this century to finish a game with a 90% completion percentage, 400 yards passing, five touchdowns and no interceptions. The others: Oklahoma\u2019s Dillon Gabriel, Ohio State\u2019s CJ Stroud, Ole Miss\u2019 Matt Corral, Texas Tech\u2019s Seth Doege and Toledo\u2019s Bruce Gadkowski.<\/p>\n

\u25aa We\u2019re always fortunate to be able to watch greatness, and Malachi Toney certainly qualifies.<\/p>\n

Even former NFL players couldn\u2019t curb their enthusiasm after Friday\u2019s 12-reception, 234-yard epic performance that broke Eddie Brown\u2019s single game UM receiving yardage record.<\/p>\n

\u201cMalachi Toney is truly unguardable,\u201d ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Chase Daniel said. \u201cIf only the Heisman wasn\u2019t a QB award.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESPN personality (and former NFL punter) Pat McAfee said: \u201cMiami\u2019s Malachi Toney on pace to win The Heisman. These numbers are about to be biblical for Baby Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25aa Here\u2019s something else I find remarkable about Toney: He doesn\u2019t have a single drop in 154 career targets. He has caught 121 of those passes with 13 touchdowns. No FBS player in the last 10 years has that many receptions without a drop.<\/p>\n

I have little doubt that if it had been a priority Friday (and no, it shouldn\u2019t have been), Toney could have broken the FBS single game receiving yard record (405, on 22 catches) by Louisiana Tech\u2019s Troy Edwards.<\/p>\n

Nevada\u2019s Trevor Insley owns the FBS season receiving yardage record with 2060, set in 1998.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe burst and acceleration are special, but his route tempo and stemwork are equally impressive,\u201d said longtime draft analyst Dane Brugler, of The Athletic. \u201cHigh pick in the 2028 NFL Draft.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u25aa Toney\u2019s incredible gifts can unintentionally overshadow the rest of UM\u2019s receiver room, but it shouldn\u2019t. Cooper Barkate came as advertised Friday, with four catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n

We love how offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson used a bunch formation with four receivers on one side and Barkate on the other. Barkate was targeted (and caught passes) twice on those plays, and he\u2019s going to consistently beat man coverage.<\/p>\n

Daylyn Upshaw showed great concentration on an over-the-shoulder TD catch, closing with three receptions for 30 yards. Joshua Moore chipped in three catches for 36 yards. It\u2019s easy to see why both of them beat out West Virginia transfer Cam Vaughn, who was jettisoned by the Canes after complaining and wearing out his welcome.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the receiver snaps were allocated on a night that Toney and Barkate got the fourth quarter off: Toney 51, Barkate 45, Upshaw 27, Moore 22, South Carolina transfer Vandrevius Jacobs 15, freshman Somourian Wingo 15, freshman Vance Spafford 8 and freshman Milan Parris 3.<\/p>\n

\u25aa The surprise of the night was five-star freshman Jackson Cantwell coming off the bench, as UM opted for older players SJ Alofaituli and Max Buchanan as starters at guard.<\/p>\n

Cantwell was inserted on UM\u2019s third series, and the Canes were most effective run-blocking in the first half when Cantwell and Buchanan played together.<\/p>\n

Buchanan ended up playing 50 of UM\u2019s 68 snaps (35 at right guard, 15 at left guard). Alofaituli played 41 snaps (all at left guard), Cantwell 34 (including 21 with the other starters and 13 late in the game) and Ben Congdon had 12 late in the game. Georgia transfer Jamal Meriweather played 12 snaps late.<\/p>\n

Alofaituli started for reasons we explained in this piece a week ago.<\/a> He was overpowered on one play early in the game, and PFF rated him 20th of 28 players who suited up on offense for the Canes on Friday.<\/p>\n

Surprisingly, PFF rated Cantwell 26th, Meriweather 27th and Congdon 28th (and last). Buchanan had a good night, and PFF rated him 10th. Alofaituli was rated 20th of 28.<\/p>\n

Buchanan was UM\u2019s top run blocking lineman on Friday, per PFF.<\/p>\n

\u25aa At tackle, UM opted for the experience of Samson Okunlola and Matthew McCoy, as expected, and both had solid nights. PFF rated McCoy 14th and Okunlola 16th among the 28 players who suited up on offense. McCoy was rated UM\u2019s best pass blocker Friday.<\/p>\n

Junior college transfer Jacob Hawks – all 6-9 and 330 pounds of him – played 13 snaps, some on jumbo six-lineman packages, and PFF graded him as UM\u2019s ninth-best player on offense on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u25aa Ryan Rodriguez had a very good night at center; PFF rated him behind only Mensah and Toney among offensive players who logged at least 20 snaps. (Wingo, who had 15 snaps, was third.) Every starting UM lineman allowed exactly one quarterback pressure except Rodriguez and Okunlola.<\/p>\n

Backup center Rhys Woodrow, who struggled with snaps in the spring game, played 13 snaps late.<\/p>\n

\u25aa At tight end, Elija Lofton played 41 snaps, freshman Israel Briggs 13, freshman Gavin Mueller 12 and Owen Ruskavich 6. PFF rated Lofton 17th of the 28 players who suited up for UM.<\/p>\n

Mueller caught a four yard pass in his college debut, and PFF graded his overall work 12th among 28.<\/p>\n

This was a good sign: Lofton and Mueller were UM\u2019s best run blockers on Friday, per PFF.<\/p>\n

UM didn\u2019t use Jackson Carver, back from after missing a year with a knee injury, or Jack Nickel.<\/p>\n

\u25aa At running back, UM gave 32 snaps to Mark Fletcher Jr., 29 to Marty Brown, 11 to Girard Pringle Jr. and 7 to Javian Mallory.<\/p>\n

Fletcher averaged just 3.1 yards on 13 carries, but that was more the byproduct of blocking breakdowns.<\/p>\n

Brown averaged 4.6 yards on eight carries, and Dawson has a good feel for when to use him. Exhausted defenses, who have been on the field awhile, don\u2019t want to see the bruising Brown come into the game; they seldom have an answer.<\/p>\n

UM people have been raving about Mallory throughout training camp, and he showed his excellent burst on a 19-yard run, closing the night with three carries for 31 yards.<\/p>\n

Pringle had a quiet night (six carries, nine yards). Mallory could certainly surpass him, if he hasn\u2019t already.<\/p>\n

Jordan Lyle remains away from the team as he works through his legal issues.<\/p>\n

This story was originally published September 5, 2026 at 9:55 AM.<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Barry Jackson<\/a><\/p>\n

Miami Herald<\/p>\n

Barry Jackson has written for the Miami Herald since 1986 and has written the Florida Sports Buzz column since 2002.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ten nuggets, data points and thoughts on UM\u2019s offense in the aftermath of Friday\u2019s season-opening 45-6 win at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-392073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=392073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/392073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/392074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=392073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=392073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=392073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}