Well, that was…..something….that happened, I guess.
The No. 5 Miami Hurricanes jumped out to a 24-7 halftime lead over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Friday night in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They pushed that lead to 31-7 midway through in the third quarter.
And then, a 2025 FSU game happened.
The Hurricanes, who outgained Wake 303-88 in the first half, completely went into a shell on both sides of the ball, allowing the Demon Deacons to go on a 23-9 second half run to get back into the game.
In fact, it was 31-20, and Wake had returned a punt deep inside Miami territory before a holding call nullified it. Miami tacked on a safety on a holding call on Damon Wilson II in the end zone for a safety and the game’s final points.
But anyways, cart before horse there, a bit.
Darian Mensah was masterful for the Hurricanes, going 30/34 for 220 yards with three touchdowns. Malachi Toney had 12 catches for 114 yards and a touchdown. Mark Fletcher turned 16 carries into 85 yards with a touchdown.
Miami jumped out with a 12 play, 94-yard drive to open the game, finishing with a nifty strike over the middle to Joshua Moore for a 7-0 lead. Wake answered with their own 12-play drive, going 75 yards for a touchdown to show this game could be a fight.
The Hurricanes would answer early in the second quarter. Lofton released from the back side, and with the safety trailing the receivers going the other way, he was wide open for a 21-yard touchdown.
Then, on the next drive, disaster struck. Marty Brown ripped off a 32-yard run down to the 1-yard line, but he appeared to suffer a significant knee injury and had to be carted from the sideline to the locker room. Mike Monaco called the injury on the broadcast as “gruesome”, so that’s never good. Fletcher finished it off for a 21-7 lead. The Canes would tack on a field goal after some clock management issues to end the half.
Mensah was an incredible 24/24 before throwing his first incompletion, which tied (I believe) Miami’s record of consecutive completions to start a game with Carson Beck.
But after Miami went up 31-7, the Hurricanes were mistake heavy and execution light in all phases, particularly in the secondary. Miami’s pass rush was effective and regularly forcing Gio Lopez to step up or scramble. The Canes finished with three sacks, a safety on a holding call in the end zone, and a number of other holding calls drawn. So hats off to them for that.
Still, so, so much to clean up. Have to be better in the second half, or they won’t run the table to Charlotte this year without a doubt.
