Five keys for the Miami Hurricanes in their road game against Wake Forest

After dominating their first two opponents with relative ease, the Miami Hurricanes are about to get their toughest test to this point of the 2026 season.

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No. 5 Miami (2-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) travels to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons (2-0) on Friday at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

Now, the Hurricanes are still heavy favorites — Miami is a three-touchdown favorite, according to FanDuel — UM isn’t overlooking the task ahead.

“Great team, great players, great coaches,” Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said. “They’re playing at a really high level since last season. And (they are) a very mature team — older team, experienced team. Seventeen of 22 starters are upperclassmen. … They’re fast, they’re physical, play with a high motor, and they play with an edge.”

Here are five keys for the Hurricanes in their conference road game.

1). Keep the offense humming: The Hurricanes are averaging a nation-leading 702.5 yards of offense per game, and the first-team offense has scored touchdowns on 13 of 14 drives. Yes, that was against Stanford (voted to finish last in the ACC) and Florida A&M (a Football Championship Subdivision team that was paid $760,000 to play Miami), but the efficiency with which quarterback Darian Mensah has led the offense is noteworthy. He has twice as many touchdown passes (eight) as interceptions (four).

2). Mitigate Wake Forest’s defensive line push: Miami’s new offensive line has held its own through two starts, but Wake Forest’s defensive line will be a step up in competition compared to the first two weeks. The Demon Deacons have forced 15 tackles for loss and five sacks in their wins over Akron (seven tackles for loss, two sacks) and Purdue (eight tackles for loss, three sacks).

“Wake Forest’s front seven is extremely experienced,” center Ryan Rodriguez said. “Its four starting defensive linemen are seniors who played last season and returned, and its linebackers are also veterans. They’re experienced and understand what to do. They play hard and physically, so it will be a great challenge.”

Miami offensive coordinator said he saw significant improvement from the offensive line week over week and expects that to continue Friday.

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“I thought our communication was really good last week,” Dawson said. “The first week [against Stanford], we did come out at the beginning of that game and they were in some funky fronts. I don’t know if they were misaligned or not, but our communication in a couple plays was not what we wanted it to be. This past week was on point. Like, communication is so key. It’s difficult because they communicate backwards to the running backs. And so the quarterback’s got to communicate forward. And so that three-way communication, especially in pass protection, is vital. And if they’re not all on the same page, you have no chance. And so that was critical, and I think we took our best stride in that area from game one to game two.”

3. Contain Gio Lopez: The redshirt junior quarterback has shown the ability to make plays with his arm and his legs. Lopez, who started at North Carolina last season and South Alabama in 2024, has completed 62.7% of his passes for 575 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions while also rushing for 98 yards and another two touchdowns. Applying pressure and making him one-dimensional will be a good start for the Hurricanes.

“He extends plays. He makes guys miss. He makes a lot of things happen in the run game. He gets the ball out in the perimeter fast,” Miami defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “You’ve always got to have plus-one in the box to kind of take him away. But I think he’s a very dynamic player and I think he makes them very good on offense.”

4. Figure out the secondary: Lopez will also be a particular test for a Miami secondary that is sorting itself out while dealing with a slew of injuries. Both of the Hurricanes’ starting cornerbacks in OJ Frederique Jr. and Xavier Lucas are out long-term with injury. Key reserve Ja’Boree Antoine is also sidelined.

With cornerback depth thinning, Miami moved safety Bryce Fitzgerald to outside cornerback last week to start opposite Damari Brown. Ethan O’Connor also has plenty of experience at the position. At safety, true freshman JJ Dunnigan started opposite redshirt junior Zechariah Poyser.

The Demon Deacons’ top receiver is senior Carlos Hernandez, who has 11 catches for 253 yards and a touchdown.

5. Continue minimizing penalties: The Hurricanes have only committed six penalties so far through two games. That’s tied for the third-fewest nationally entering this week. Miami averaged seven penalties per game last season.

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