By The Tobacco Road Scribe
Winston-Salem, NC – No. 5 Miami spent most of Friday evening showing why it entered the season as an Atlantic Coast Conference championship favorite. Then Wake Forest spent the closing stages showing why the Hurricanes’ pursuit of that championship remains a work in progress.
Quarterback Darian Mensah completed his first 24 passes and threw three touchdowns, Malachi Toney caught 12 passes for 114 yards, and Miami built a 24-point lead before withstanding Wake Forest’s second-half comeback for a 33-20 victory at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium.
The Hurricanes improved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the ACC by controlling the line of scrimmage, producing four long scoring drives and playing turnover-free football before an announced crowd of 32,147. Wake Forest fell to 2-1 and 0-1, but the Demon Deacons made the final margin more respectable – and the final quarter more uncomfortable for Miami – behind quarterback Gio Lopez’s 312 passing yards and three touchdowns.
For Miami, the main point was the win. The larger story was how much the game changed. The Hurricanes led 24-7 at halftime and 31-7 midway through the third quarter, then managed only two points over the final 21 minutes, 56 seconds. Wake scored on consecutive second-half possessions, moved inside the Miami 20 on another and stayed alive until Ethan O’Connor intercepted Lopez with 2:24 remaining.
The result therefore offered two readings at once. Miami looked precise, balanced and overpowering while constructing its lead. It looked vulnerable and conservative while protecting it. Both versions matter as the Hurricanes move deeper into conference play.
Miami sets the terms with a 92-yard opening drive
Miami’s first possession was less an opening statement than a complete outline of its offensive plan.
Starting at its 8-yard line after a kickoff-return penalty, the Hurricanes traveled 92 yards in 14 plays and consumed 7 minutes, 33 seconds. Mensah completed eight passes on the series, Mark Fletcher Jr. converted a third-and-1 with a 6-yard run, and the offense overcame its own illegal-block penalty after reaching Wake territory.
On second-and-7 from the Wake 9, Mensah found Joshua Moore across the middle for the touchdown. The drive combined short throws, inside runs, tempo changes and patience. Miami did not need a single explosive play. It simply stayed ahead of the chains and forced Wake’s defense to tackle repeatedly in space.
Wake Forest answered with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that established the competitive tone. Lopez completed six passes, including a 15-yard gain to Kamrean Johnson, before returning to Johnson for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:22 left in the first quarter. The response tied the game at 7 and demonstrated that Wake could move the ball when it kept Lopez upright and avoided penalties.
That balance did not last.
Miami immediately drove 80 yards in six plays. Mensah hit Toney for 28 yards, then found tight end Elija Lofton uncovered for a 21-yard touchdown 1:53 into the second quarter. The play reflected one of Miami’s recurring advantages: Wake’s defenders had to account for Toney’s movement and the Hurricanes’ outside receivers, creating room for Lofton to release into the secondary.
The Hurricanes followed with a seven-play, 79-yard touchdown march. Wake helped the possession with a roughing-the-passer penalty, but Miami supplied the decisive play when Charmar “Marty” Brown ran 32 yards to the 1. Fletcher scored two snaps later to make it 21-7.
Brown was injured at the end of the long run and required assistance from the field area. On the ESPN broadcast, play-by-play announcer Mike Monaco described the injury as “gruesome.” No definitive diagnosis was immediately available, making his status one of Miami’s most important follow-up issues.
Mensah’s accuracy turns possession football into control
Mensah’s final passing line – 30 completions in 34 attempts for 220 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions – was striking for its efficiency rather than its explosiveness. His longest completion covered 28 yards, and he averaged 6.5 yards per attempt. Yet Wake rarely forced an inaccurate ball or a truly dangerous decision.
The Miami quarterback completed his first 24 attempts, an ACC record for consecutive completions to begin a game, and extended a streak across games to 35 straight completions, the second-longest run in Football Bowl Subdivision history, according to Reuters’ national roundup. The opening streak ended late in the second quarter, but by then Miami had built command of the game.
The value of the run went beyond the record. Miami converted manageable third downs, avoided turnovers and repeatedly created favorable situations for Fletcher. Mensah’s ball placement allowed receivers to turn short throws into useful gains, even though Wake limited the Hurricanes to only one completion longer than 21 yards.
Toney was the central target. He caught 12 passes for 114 yards and a touchdown, accounting for 40 percent of Miami’s completions and nearly 52 percent of its passing yardage. His production came through volume and versatility: quick throws near the line, intermediate catches against zone coverage and a 28-yard gain that helped set up a score.
Mensah also spread three touchdown passes among three players. Moore scored from 9 yards, Lofton from 21 and Toney from 2. Lofton added five catches for 39 yards, while Daylyn Upshaw caught four passes and Cooper Barkate four. Seven Hurricanes recorded a reception.
The passing performance continued an extraordinary start to Mensah’s season. Through three games, he has completed 71 of 79 passes with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. That is an 89.9 percent completion rate. The schedule will grow more demanding, but his early combination of accuracy, touchdown production and ball security has already made him one of the most consequential players in the ACC race.
Four long drives build a 24-point cushion
Miami’s 24-7 halftime advantage reflected domination by sustained possession, not a collection of quick strikes.
The Hurricanes’ first four scoring drives covered 92, 80, 79 and 70 yards. They ran 37 offensive plays on those possessions and controlled the ball for 17:50. Jake Weinberg finished the fourth drive with a 27-yard field goal as the first half expired.
That closing possession mattered because Wake had briefly slowed Miami. After Fletcher’s touchdown, the Demon Deacons forced the Hurricanes’ first punt and produced three consecutive three-and-outs of their own. Miami regained possession at its 20 with 3:54 left, and Mensah methodically moved the offense to the Wake 10. The Hurricanes settled for three points after using a timeout with 35 seconds remaining, but they still carried a three-score lead into halftime.
Miami then absorbed Wake’s opening possession of the third quarter, which lost 10 yards and ended in a punt. Taking over at its 44, the Hurricanes moved 56 yards in eight plays. Fletcher began the drive on the ground, Mensah connected with Barkate and Toney, and a pass-interference penalty placed the ball at the 2. Mensah found Toney for the touchdown and a 31-7 lead with 8:56 left in the third.
At that moment, Miami had scored on five of its first six meaningful possessions. It had established the run, protected Mensah and forced Wake into a pass-heavy comeback. The game appeared close to decided.
It was not.
Wake Forest finds space and changes the pressure
Wake’s comeback began with tempo and a more aggressive passing approach.
Lopez led a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive after Miami went ahead 31-7. Facing third-and-10 from the Miami 23, he found Jack Foley for a 23-yard score with 4:06 left in the third quarter. The two-point try failed, but the possession gave Wake life.
After Miami went three-and-out, the Demon Deacons moved 63 yards in seven plays. Lopez completed passes to Carlos Hernandez, Deuce Lawrence, Foley and Will Loerzel, then opened the fourth quarter by finding Hernandez for a 17-yard touchdown. In 7:25 of game time, Wake had cut a 24-point deficit to 11.
Lopez finished 29 of 46 for 312 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. His 63.0 percent completion rate trailed Mensah’s 88.2 percent, but he created the game’s largest pass plays. Foley caught six passes for 118 yards, including a 49-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Hernandez made 10 catches for 69 yards and a score, while Johnson caught the first-quarter touchdown.
Wake’s late production exposed stress in Miami’s secondary. The Hurricanes’ pass rush often forced Lopez to move, but the quarterback repeatedly found intermediate windows when he had time to reset. Miami permitted 15 passing first downs and three touchdown passes. O’Connor and freshman JJ Dunnigan tied for the team lead with eight tackles, an unusually busy night for two members of the secondary.
The comeback also revealed a difference between total yardage and situational control. Wake outpassed Miami 312-220 and finished only 44 yards behind in total offense, 378-334. But many of the Deacons’ yards came after the deficit reached 24, when they had little choice but to throw. Miami’s early balance and later red-zone resistance carried more weight than the final passing totals alone.
The line of scrimmage remains Miami’s foundation
The most decisive statistical margin came on the ground.
Miami rushed for 158 yards on 34 attempts, an average of 4.6 per carry. Wake managed only 22 yards on 16 attempts, or 1.4 per carry. Fletcher led the Hurricanes with 85 yards and a touchdown on 16 rushes. Brown added 35 yards on two carries before leaving the game, and freshman Javian Mallory supplied 23 yards on seven attempts.
Wake’s running backs did not have the same room. Lawrence gained 27 yards on six attempts, but Ty Clark III managed 3 yards on three carries. Sack yardage left Lopez with minus-8 rushing yards. Because the Deacons could not establish a conventional running game, Miami’s edge players were able to attack the pocket with fewer conflicting responsibilities.
The Hurricanes recorded three sacks for 19 yards and five tackles for loss. Damon Wilson II and Marquise Lightfoot had one sack apiece, while Armondo Blount and Ahmad Moten shared another. Dunnigan was credited with three quarterback hurries, and Zechariah Poyser broke up two passes.
Miami’s pressure produced the strangest and perhaps most important score of the night. After Wake closed to 31-20, the Hurricanes punted and pinned the Deacons at their 10. On third-and-10, Miami’s rush collapsed the pocket and Wake lineman Tolu Olajide was called for holding in the end zone. By rule, the penalty resulted in a safety, pushing the margin to 33-20 with 13:11 remaining.
The two points did not put the game away, but they interrupted Wake’s momentum and forced the Deacons to kick the ball back to Miami. They also illustrated why the Hurricanes’ front can influence a game even when it does not record a conventional sack.
Penalties erase Wake Forest’s margin for error
Wake Forest’s 13 penalties for 122 yards were not a side note. They were one of the game’s defining factors.
The Deacons committed a face-mask penalty during Miami’s opening touchdown drive and a roughing-the-passer foul on the possession that ended with Fletcher’s score. Holding wiped out a 16-yard completion during Wake’s third-quarter touchdown drive. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty followed Foley’s touchdown, and another came after Hernandez scored.
The cost became especially clear during the attempted comeback. The safety came from holding in the end zone. Another holding call, on a third-quarter play, erased a Wake completion. Late in the fourth quarter, a holding penalty turned third-and-14 into third-and-24 before the Deacons failed on fourth down.
Miami was not clean, committing seven penalties for 75 yards. A roughing-the-passer call nullified a third-quarter fumble recovery that would have ended a Wake scoring drive. Two penalties on the ensuing kickoff pushed the Hurricanes back to their 12 and helped Wake regain possession quickly. Those mistakes contributed to the dramatic change in momentum.
Still, the difference was substantial. Wake was penalized six more times for 47 more yards. Against a top-five opponent that protected the football, the Deacons could not afford to surrender that much field position or erase that many positive plays.
The official Wake Forest box score also showed Miami’s superiority in several related categories: a 23-20 edge in first downs, a 33:24-26:36 advantage in possession, a 4-for-4 night on red-zone scoring opportunities and three sacks to Wake’s one.
Miami’s offense disappears after its final touchdown
The concern for the Hurricanes is not that Wake scored 20 points. The concern is how completely Miami’s offense stopped functioning after Toney’s touchdown.
Following the drive that made it 31-7, Miami’s next five possessions ended with four punts and a blocked 54-yard field-goal attempt. The Hurricanes ran 22 plays for 26 yards during that closing stretch, according to State of the U’s film review. They did not make a first down on four of the five possessions.
Some of the slowdown was strategic. With a multi-score lead, Miami reduced risk, leaned on the run and tried to make Wake consume time. Some resulted from the injuries that affected Brown and apparently limited Toney late. But the pattern still created unnecessary pressure on the defense.
Miami had chances to end the game more cleanly. After the safety, the Hurricanes received the free kick with a 13-point lead and 13:11 remaining but went three-and-out for minus-1 yard. Wake then drove 64 yards and reached the Miami 14 before Poyser broke up a fourth-down pass intended for Hernandez.
The Hurricanes again went three-and-out, gaining 1 yard. Wake received another opportunity with 7:14 left. Miami’s defense forced a turnover on downs, and the offense took over at the Wake 42, but it gained only 6 yards before Zach Lohavichan blocked Weinberg’s 54-yard field-goal attempt.
One more Wake possession followed. Lopez moved the Deacons from their 36 to the Miami 22 before O’Connor intercepted a third-and-10 pass at the 4. Only then could Miami drain the final 2:24.
That sequence explains why a 13-point win can feel secure on paper but uneasy in real time. Miami never faced a one-possession margin, yet it repeatedly gave Wake a path to create one. A stronger opponent may turn those chances into a different result.
The Hurricanes did enough to win comfortably by the scoreboard; they did not sustain the level of execution expected from a top-five team.
Wake Forest earns respect but misses its opening
Wake’s performance was neither a moral victory nor a collapse. It was evidence that the Demon Deacons can threaten strong opponents, paired with a clear account of why they did not complete the upset.
Lopez responded after a difficult first half and delivered two second-half touchdown drives. Foley emerged as a vertical threat, Hernandez became a dependable high-volume target, and the defense prevented Miami from scoring an offensive point over the final 21:56.
The Demon Deacons also kept competing after falling behind 31-7. They produced 246 of their 334 yards after halftime and reached Miami territory on four fourth-quarter possessions. The fourth-down stop at the 14 and O’Connor’s interception, rather than a lack of opportunity, ended the comeback.
But Wake’s deficiencies were too large to overcome. The running game produced only three rushing first downs. The defense allowed Miami to score on five of six early possessions. Penalties repeatedly harmed both units. Lopez’s final interception ended the last credible threat.
Wake had entered as a heavy underdog and was seeking its first victory over Miami since 1944. The Demon Deacons showed they could make the Hurricanes uncomfortable, but they could not reverse the series’ modern direction. Miami had won the previous meeting 42-14 in 2024 and now owns another conference victory in Winston-Salem.
What the result means in the ACC race
September conference games do not decide the ACC championship, but they shape the margin for error available later.
Miami is 2-0 in league play and has avoided the early upset that can haunt a contender in tiebreaker scenarios. The Hurricanes have also found a highly efficient answer at quarterback. Mensah’s command, Toney’s production and the offensive line’s ability to support both phases give Miami a championship-level foundation.
The defense’s run control travels well. Holding Wake to 22 rushing yards made the Deacons one-dimensional, and the pass rush remained disruptive even while the secondary conceded production. If Miami can pair that front with more consistent coverage – and if its offense can close games with first downs – the Hurricanes will remain among the league’s most difficult matchups.
The health of Brown and Toney warrants attention. Brown’s injury looked serious enough to change the running-back rotation immediately, while Toney’s importance was visible in both the statistics and Miami’s late decline. Fletcher handled the lead role effectively, but depth becomes more important as the schedule tightens.
For Wake Forest, the loss places greater weight on the rest of the conference schedule. The Deacons demonstrated that their passing game can generate explosive plays against a nationally ranked defense. To convert that promise into ACC wins, they need a functional rushing complement, better protection in obvious passing situations and a sharp reduction in penalties.
A victory, a record and a lesson
Miami left Winston-Salem with what every contender must collect on the road: a conference win. The Hurricanes scored on drives of 92, 80, 79, 70 and 56 yards, received a record-setting start from Mensah, won the rushing battle by 136 yards and did not turn the ball over.
Wake Forest ensured the night would not be remembered as a routine result. Lopez and his receivers attacked Miami’s secondary, the Deacons scored 13 consecutive points, and their defense kept giving the offense chances. Only Miami’s pass rush, red-zone defense and O’Connor’s late interception prevented a more dangerous finish.
The clearest takeaway is that Miami’s ceiling remains high and its margin for complacency remains thin. For two and a half quarters, the Hurricanes resembled a complete championship contender. For the final quarter and a half, they looked like a team still learning how to finish.
Miami’s next step is to determine the extent of its injuries and restore its late-game offensive rhythm before hosting Central Michigan on Sept. 26. Wake Forest’s task is equally direct: clean up the penalties, rebuild a credible ground game and carry its second-half urgency into its next ACC opportunity.
Game at a glance
- Final: No. 5 Miami 33, Wake Forest 20
- Records: Miami 3-0 (2-0 ACC); Wake Forest 2-1 (0-1 ACC)
- Attendance: 32,147
- Miami passing: Darian Mensah, 30 of 34, 220 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT
- Miami rushing: Mark Fletcher Jr., 16 carries, 85 yards, 1 TD
- Miami receiving: Malachi Toney, 12 catches, 114 yards, 1 TD
- Wake Forest passing: Gio Lopez, 29 of 46, 312 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT
- Wake Forest receiving: Jack Foley, 6 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD
- Defining margins: Miami 158-22 in rushing yards; Wake Forest 13 penalties for 122 yards; Miami 4-for-4 in red-zone scoring
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