Mensah completes record 24 consecutive passes, No. 5 Hurricanes hold on in Wake Forest win

Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah didn’t realize he had set a record for consecutive completions with his dominant start to No. 5 UM’s game against Wake Forest on Friday night.

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And by the time the game ended, he frankly didn’t care.

Not considering the way he played after he had a record-setting start.

The Hurricanes won 33-20 at Allegacy Financial Stadium, a victory that moves them to 3-0 and 2-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

Mensah’s essentially perfect start helped build the lead. He completed all 20 of his passes in the first half and 24 consecutive passes overall to begin the game — two shy of matching the Football Bowl Subdivision record for consecutive completions in a single game (set by East Carolina’s Dominique Davis in 2011). It helped Miami build a three touchdown lead that it ultimately wouldn’t relinquish.

“I can’t even be happy about it,” Mensah said.

Why?

Because after that perfect run that lasted more than 40 minutes of game time — Mensah’s first incompletion didn’t come until there was 3:18 left in the third quarter — Miami’s offense slowed to a halt.

They failed to pick up a first down on five consecutive drives, punting on the first four and having a field goal blocked on the fifth. Miami gained just 26 yards on offense on its final six drives. Wake Forest (2-1, 0-1 ACC) capitalized early in that rut to score a pair of touchdowns to get within 31-20.

But a near perfect performance from the defense after that — the Hurricanes recorded a safety, a pair of turnovers on downs and an Ethan O’Connor interception — was enough to hold on for the win and keep Miami perfect early in the season.

“I have a lot of faith in our defense,” Mensah said. “They give us some trouble in practice, and so for them to go out there, it’s no surprise. Them dudes over there are all ballers.”

Mensah has shown time and again that he’s a baller as well.

His performance over UM’s first six drives was the latest reminder.

Those 24 consecutive completions to start the game set the Hurricanes and ACC records. Miami’s previous single-game best was 15 consecutive completions done by Carson Beck last year. The previous ACC mark was 18, done three times and most recently by Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence in 2019.

Add to that the 11 consecutive completions Mensah threw to end his outing last week against Florida A&M, and Mensah had a run of 35 consecutive passes spanning the past two games — again goth Miami and ACC records.

“Execution,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “It’s the simplicity of that.”

Mensah finished the game completing 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. His touchdowns went to Josh Moore in the first quarter, Elija Lofton in the second quarter and Malachi Toney in the third quarter. Toney caught 12 passes for 114 yards.

But Mensah finished the game going 6 of 10 for just 7 yards after throwing for 213 yards during his record-setting completion run that, to that point, allowed Miami’s high-octane offense to keep humming.

“We just weren’t efficient,” Mensah said of Miami’s second half. “Just got to be better.”

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That said, Mensah’s dominance early played a pivotal role in Miami taking a 24-7 lead on Wake Forest at halftime.

It started with a methodical 14-play, 92-yard drive that was capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass to Moore. That drive took 7:33 off the clock.

Wake Forest responded with a long touchdown drive of its own — 11 plays, 75 yards, ended by a Gio Lopez touchdown pass to tight end Kamrean Johnson — to tie the game before Miami began pulling away.

Miami scored touchdowns on each of its next two drives — first on a Mensah 21-yard touchdown pass to Lofton and then on a 1-yard rush by Mark Fletcher Jr. (who went 85 rushing yards on 16 carries and had a few massive runs to break through the Demon Deacons defense but went to the locker room late with an upper-body injury) — and capped the half with a 27-yard Jake Weinberg field goal. Wake Forest, meanwhile, went three and out on each of its final three first-half possessions following the initial touchdown.

A fourth consecutive three and out for the Demon Deacons and another touchdown drive for Miami — this time ending with a Mensah 2-yard touchdown pass to Toney — put the Hurricanes up 31-7 before Miami’s offense started to stall and Wake Forest began mounting a comeback.

Lopez threw touchdowns on consecutive drives — from 23 yards to Jack Foley with 4:06 left in the third quarter and then 17 yards to Carlos Hernandez with 14:56 left in the fourth — to get the Demon Deacons within 31-20. Lopez, facing a Miami secondary missing two starting cornerbacks (Xavier Lucas and OJ Frederique Jr.) and a third rotational player (Ja’Boree Antoine), completed 29 of 46 passes for 312 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Miami sacked him three times and had nine quarterback hurries.

But when Miami needed it most, the defense then returned to form. The Hurricanes forced a safety (Miami’s first since 2021 and first in ACC play since 2012) to extend the Hurricanes’ lead to 33-20 with 13:11 left to play. It then forced turnovers on downs on each of Wake Forest’s next two possessions, including one when the Demon Deacons marched into the red zone. O’Connor interception with 2:24 left to play to seal the game and gave the Miami defense its first takeaway of the season.

“Short-term memory,” edge rusher Marquise Lightfoot said of how the defense made its fourth-quarter turnaround.

As for Mensah, while the frustration of the offense’s performance late looms, he takes solace that it came in a win.

And considering how unstoppable they had looked up to that point, it’s a reminder for him of how quickly it can dissipate.

“I’m kind of glad the game went like that at the end because it’s a wake-up call,” Mensah said. “We’ve got to be better. We’re not the perfect offense, and we can improve on a lot of stuff. So I’m glad we faced some adversity there at the end.”

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The Hurricanes next host Central Michigan on Sept. 26 (6:30 p.m., the CW).

This story was originally published September 18, 2026 at 11:08 PM.