Miami quarterback Darian Mensah isn’t ready to pitch his Heisman candidacy just yet.
If prompted, though, he’ll make the case for Malachi Toney, his teammate.
Hey, that’s just being a good quarterback. Set up your wide receivers for success.
So, let’s hear it.
How would Miami’s star quarterback pitch Toney, Miami’s premier receiver, to Heisman voters?
“If you were watching the (Clemson) game, we had a third down,” Mensah told USA TODAY Sports. “He lays out and makes an amazing catch, kind of roughs up his shoulder, comes out of the game, and then we need him again on fourth-and-2. Makes an even better catch and moves the chains, and we go on to score that drive.
“So, I mean, if you want just a dog, a playmaker, savvy, just one of them ones, Malachi
Toney should definitely be your Heisman vote.”
Mensah and Toney make an elite tandem. Mensah’s 84.2% completion rate leads the nation, and Toney’s 604 receiving yards rank second in the ACC.
The Miami duo will enter the second half of the season as contenders for college football’s top award, which has become a contest of whether anyone can catch frontrunner Jeremiah Smith of Ohio State.
Ahead of No. 3 Miami’s rivalry game against Florida State, Mensah spoke exclusively to USA TODAY Sports and joined the “College Football Unfiltered” podcast through his partnership with JLab, whose headphones play a role in Mensah’s game-day preparation.
“Saturdays, I really just like to relax and focus on the game plan. That's when I listen to a lot of music. I've always got my JLabs on, and I've got the noise canceling on,” Mensah said. “So, I'm really just in my own world on game days and trying not to interact with too many people, to be honest.”
Mensah said his typical game-day playlist includes tracks from popular rappers like Drake.
(You can watch the full conversation with Darian Mensah here, or listen to it here.)
What’s on coach Mario Cristobal’s playlist? Mensah offered a guess.
“Probably just straight rock,” the Miami quarterback said. “Like, heavy metal blasting, for sure, because he's always the most intense person in the room, and he never fails to get me fired up.”
Mensah played at Tulane and Duke before transferring to Miami. This will be his first time playing against Florida State. Mensah admits he “didn't know much about” the FSU-Miami rivalry growing up in California, but he got up to speed after transferring to Miami.
“Going through the practice week and hearing the guys talk about it, this is a huge rivalry,” Mensah said.
Miami will go into this installment of the rivalry equipped with not one, but two, Heisman contenders.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's senior national college football columnist. Listen to his podcast, "College Football Unfiltered." Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami QB Darian Mensah guesses Mario Cristobal music choice: 'Heavy metal.'
