Newz(AP) — It was well into the third quarter, and Darian Mensah was a perfect passer off to a record-setting night while having fifth-ranked Miami’s offense humming yet again.In the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes' defense had to take the lead.Mensah connected on his first 24 passes on the way to setting Atlantic Coast Conference records for consecutive completions, while Miami's defense came up with four straight fourth-quarter stops to beat Wake Forest 33-20 on Friday night.“I think a ton of credit goes to the defense for just bowing up and executing at a high level,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said.The defense carried the Hurricanes home on a night that started with the offense rolling along with a vibe of near inevitability, starting with Mensah putting pass after pass on the numbers and hitting receivers in perfect stride to make big plays downfield.Mensah completed 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including a 9-yarder to Joshua Moore on the game's first possession and a perfect-execution throw back to the left side on Elija Lofton's 21-yard score.Menah added a short TD throw to star sophomore receiver Malachi Toney as Miami (3-0, 2-0) took a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see its prolific offense grind to an abrupt halt with four straight three-and-outs while seeing multiple players get banged up.That ultimately gave the Hurricanes' defense its chance to step up as Wake Forest tried to rally.“I have a lot of faith in our defense, they give us some trouble in practice,” Mensah said. “So for them to go out there, it's no surprise. Them dudes over there are all ballers."Gio Lopez threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns for the Demon Deacons (2-1, 0-1), including a perfect throw to the back right corner of the end zone for Carlos Hernandez on a 17-yard strike that pulled Wake Forest to 31-20 with 14:56 left.But from there, Miami pressured Lopez in the end zone to draw a holding penalty for a safety.
Then, after Wake Forest drove all the way to the 13, the Hurricanes again pressured Lopez into an inaccurate throw on fourth down in the end zone.Miami freshman JJ Dunnigan followed by rushing around the end to harass Lopez into another hurried and off-target throw on fourth down with 5:24 left. Then Ethan O'Connor picked off Lopez's pass at the 2:24 mark in the red zone, effectively ending this on… The Hurricanes star completed his first 24 passes vs.
(AP) — Darian Mensah connected on his first 24 passes on the way to setting Atlantic Coast Conference records for consecutive completions, and fifth-ranked Miami's defense came up with four straight fourth-quarter stops to beat Wake Forest 33-20 on Friday night.Mensah completed 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including a 9-yarder to Joshua Moore on the game's first possession and a perfect-execution throw back to the left side on Elija Lofton's 21-yard score.Menah added a short TD throw to star sophomore receiver Malachi Toney as Miami (3-0, 2-0) took a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see its prolific offense grind to an abrupt halt with four straight three-and-outs while seeing multiple players get banged up.That ultimately gave the Hurricanes' defense its chance to step up as Wake Forest tried to rally.Gio Lopez threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns for the Demon Deacons (2-1, 0-1), including a perfect throw to the back right corner of the end zone for Carlos Hernandez on a 17-yard strike that pulled Wake Forest to 31-20 with 14:56 left.But from there, Miami's defense pressured Lopez in the end zone to draw a holding penalty for a safety. Then, after Wake Forest drove all the way to the Miami 13, the Hurricanes again pressured Lopez into an inaccurate throw on fourth down in the end zone.Miami freshman JJ Dunnigan followed by rushing around the end to harass Lopez into another hurried and off-target throw on fourth down with 5:24 left. The defense's play late offered a positive in a relatively close game compared to a pair of blowouts to open the year.Wake Forest: The Demon Deacons were chasing a rare win against the nation's elite.
They entered Friday with a 1-68 mark against teams in the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll, with the only win coming against No. One culprit in this setback: 13 penalties for 137 yards, including two that negated big fourth-quarter punt returns.Mensah's marksMensah ultimately completed 35 straight pass…
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