No. 5 Miami built a huge cushion at Wake Forest on Friday night, then spent the second half making things far more uncomfortable than they needed to be before escaping with a 33-20 win in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The Hurricanes were rolling early. They led 24-7 at halftime and stretched that advantage to 31-7 midway through the third quarter. At that point, Miami had completely controlled the game, outgaining Wake Forest 303-88 in the first half alone.
From there, the night got messy.
Wake Forest answered Miami’s early dominance with a 23-9 second-half run and clawed back into the game. The Demon Deacons had even returned a punt to around midfield while trailing 31-20, but a holding penalty wiped it out. Miami then added the final points on a safety when Wake was flagged for holding against Damon Wilson II in the end zone.
Darian Mensah was the steadying force for Miami throughout the night, completing 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns. Malachi Toney was his favorite target, finishing with 12 catches for 114 yards and a score. Mark Fletcher also did his part on the ground, turning 16 carries into 85 yards and a touchdown.
Miami opened the game with a statement drive, marching 94 yards in 12 plays before Joshua Moore caught a nifty strike over the middle for the first touchdown. Wake Forest responded with a 12-play, 75-yard drive of its own to keep the game from slipping away immediately.
The Hurricanes pushed back in the second quarter when Lofton slipped free from the back side. With the safety following the other receivers, he found a wide-open lane and scored on a 21-yard touchdown.
The next Miami possession brought a much more troubling moment. Marty Brown burst for 32 yards down to the 1-yard line, then appeared to suffer a significant knee injury.
He had to be carted from the sideline to the locker room, and Mike Monaco described the injury on the broadcast as “gruesome”. Fletcher finished that drive with a touchdown to make it 21-7, and Miami added a field goal before halftime after some clock management issues.
Mensah opened the night on a tear, going 24-for-24 before finally throwing his first incompletion. That tied what was believed to be Miami’s record for consecutive completions to start a game, matching Carson Beck.
Even with the win secured, the second half left plenty for Miami to sort through. After the Hurricanes went up 31-7, they became mistake heavy and execution light on both sides of the ball, especially in the secondary. Their pass rush still created problems for Gio Lopez, forcing him to step up or scramble and helping produce three sacks, the safety, and several holding calls.
Miami got the result. But after the way the back half of the game unfolded, there was plenty to clean up.
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For Wake Forest fans, the play was a reminder of just how strange the modern roster landscape can be when an older, seasoned defender is crashing into a younger back from the 2024 recruiting class. The hit itself was legal and part of the action, but the reaction around it showed how much the age and experience gap has become part of the conversation whenever Miami is involved in a physical game. [Read more 🡒]