10 notable stats from Miami Hurricanes’ 33-20 win over Wake Forest Demon Deacons

The No. 5 Miami Hurricanes never trailed in their 33-20 win over the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Friday that felt closer than the final score indicated.

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Here are 10 notable stats from the win.

24: Quarterback Darian Mensah opened the game completing 24 consecutive passes. That shattered both the school record and the Atlantic Coast Conference record while coming within two completions of tying the Football Bowl Subdivision record.

The previous mark for Miami was 15 consecutive, done last season by Carson Beck against Bethune-Cookman on Sept. 6, 2015.

The previous mark for the ACC was 18, done three times: first by Virginia’s Michael Rocco on Nov. 10, 2012, against Miami then matched by North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky (Sept. 17, 2016, against James Madison) and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence (Nov. 30, 2019, against South Carolina).

The FBS record for consecutive completions is 26, which was done by East Carolina’s Dominique Davis on Oct. 22, 2011, against Navy.

That performance, stretching from the start of the game through late in the third quarter, helped Miami jump out to a 31-7 lead, which was needed because …

26: The Hurricanes only mustered 26 yards of total offense over their final six drives. They did not pick up a first down on the first five of those drives, which resulted in four punts and a blocked field goal. It’s the first time all season Miami’s offense struggled to do anything. Wake Forest briefly took advantage, scoring two touchdowns in this stretch to get within 31-20 but would get no closer.

3 TDs and 80%: While the late struggles Friday are noted, the start is a reminder of how good Mensah is when the offense is clicking. To wit: Mensah is the only FBS or NFL quarterback over the past 30 years to have had three straight games with at least three passing touchdowns and an 80% completion percentage, according to OptaSTATS.

Mensah on the season has completed 89.9% of his passes (71 for 79) for 873 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions.

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4: UM’s defense shut things down over its four full drives in the fourth quarter after giving up those two touchdown drives. The end results of those Wake Forest possessions: Safety, turnover on downs, turnover on downs, interceptions.

312: The Hurricanes defense, down three key players in its secondary (starting cornerbacks Xavier Lucas and OJ Frederique Jr. plus reserve cornerback Ja’Boree Antoine) gave up 312 passing yards to Wake Forest quarterback Gio Lopez, who completed 29 of 46 passes. This included eight passing plays of at least 15 yards and four of at least 20 yards. Nearly half of those yards — 145 of 312 (46.5%) — were after the catch.

UM did, however, hold Wake Forest to 22 rushing yards (41 if not including yardage lost on sacks).

2012: Miami’s safety on Friday was its first in an ACC game since getting one against Virginia on Nov. 10, 2012.

8: Freshman safety JJ Dunnigan, making his second consecutive start, tied with Ethan O’Connor for the team lead with eight tackles on Friday. He was also credited with three quarterback hurries. Through three games, Dunnigan leads Miami with 14 tackles.

1: O’Connor’s interception with 2:24 left to play was his first with the Hurricanes and Miami’s first takeaway overall this season.

114: Hurricanes star receiver Malachi Toney had a team-high 114 receiving yards and a touchdown on 12 catches but was limited in the second half. Toney has accounted for 41.3% of UM’s receiving yards (444 of 1,074), 32.2% of receptions (28 of 87) and 35.7% of touchdown receptions (five of 14). Only one other player has double-digit catches (Cooper Barkate, 10) and only one other has more than 100 receiving yards (Josh Moore, 107).

100: The win was Mario Cristobal’s 100th career win as a head coach. He went 27-47 at FIU, 35-14 at Oregon and is 38-19 at Miami.

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