{"id":443944,"date":"2026-11-01T02:12:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/443944\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T02:12:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T02:12:13","slug":"mark-fletcher-jr-cements-his-miami-legacy-in-historic-performance-against-north-carolina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/443944\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Fletcher Jr. Cements His Miami Legacy in Historic Performance Against North Carolina"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6b\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/miami\/football\/it-s-about-time-mark-fletcher-jr-gushes-with-excitement-ahead-of-season-opener\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mark Fletcher Jr.<\/a> etched his name at the top of the Miami Hurricanes record books on Saturday, scoring his 36th total touchdown in the Hurricanes\u2019 Halloween matchup against North Carolina.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6g\">He has officially passed Stephen McGuire and Edgerrin James for the program\u2019s career touchdown mark.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">Fletcher, the senior running back from Fort Lauderdale, entered the game with 35 career total touchdowns (33 rushing, 2 receiving), tied with the two past great Hurricanes players. His 31-yard receiving touchdown in the second quarter against the Tar Heels lifted him to 36 total touchdowns, making him the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/schools\/miami-fl\/scoring.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">sole leader in Miami history<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6q\">McGuire (1989-92) and James (1996-98) had previously shared the mark with 35 apiece.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6v\">Fletcher\u2019s touchdown came from a screen pass to the boundary as Miami had excellent blocking that led to the explosive play.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">All love for the Fletcher fam \ud83e\udef6<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa: ABC <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XWCwINXs8o\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/XWCwINXs8o<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Miami Hurricanes Football (@CanesFootball) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CanesFootball\/status\/2116691354889650500?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">November 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">He only had two receiving touchdowns in his career. This third one against North Carolina makes it a memorable one.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7a\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/mark-fletcher-jr-1\/gamelog\/2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Entering Saturday, he had 414 rushing yards and seven touchdowns<\/a> while helping the Hurricanes become one of the best offenses in the country.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7f\">The local product has been a steady force in the Hurricanes backfield since his true freshman season in 2023. After a standout 2025 campaign that included a College Football Playoff run, he returned for his senior year and has continued to produce as one of the ACC\u2019s most physical and reliable runners.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7k\">Miami continues to show that they are a legit national championship contender in a year where a lot of the elite teams have stumbled early and often.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/01m6a9t4a97kprg5ertf.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Fletcher Jr. against UNC\" title=\"Mark Fletcher Jr. against UNC\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7w\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Mark Fletcher Jr. scoring on a 31-yard TD against UNC | John Sexton<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">The Fort Lauderdale native and American Heritage product has been a cornerstone of Miami\u2019s program throughout his four seasons. Fletcher was instrumental in getting Miami back into relevance and back into their winning culture.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"87\">Saturday\u2019s record-breaking performance against a great defense, coached by one of the greatest coaches of all time, is a fitting way to cement his place among the program\u2019s greats.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8c\">He has been the heartbeat of a program that flipped the script, turning years of frustration into a return to the Hurricanes\u2019 winning identity.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8h\">Fletcher didn\u2019t just produce, he helped Miami return to the standard it once set for the entire sport.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8m\">This story will be updated.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8v\">Sign up for our free\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/miami\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">newsletter<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CanesCentralSI\" rel=\"nofollow\">Twitter<\/a>\/X,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61560955043309\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UC2F4Ixo-ZqZfvux_xm01AXw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/miamihurricanesonsi\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@miami_hurricanes_on_si\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">TikTok<\/a>\u00a0for the latest news.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:click=\"q-BuzMUIXO.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"91\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.tiktok.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mark Fletcher Jr. etched his name at the top of the Miami Hurricanes record books on Saturday, scoring&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":443945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-443944","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\/443944","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=443944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/443944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/443945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=443944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=443944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=443944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}