There are blowouts against overmatched teams every September. Most are forgotten by the time Saturday’s games kick off.
Miami’s 77-7 win over Florida A&M deserves another look, mostly because of how ridiculous the numbers became.
The Hurricanes finished with 854 yards. Somehow, 426 came through the air and 430 came on the ground. They averaged 11.7 yards per snap and were already sitting on 77 points before the third quarter ended.
Yes, it was Florida A&M. Nobody needs to pretend otherwise. But Miami also wasn’t asking Darian Mensah to stay on the field chasing numbers.
He didn’t need to.
Darian Mensah barely had a chance to miss
Mensah threw 15 passes. He completed 14 of them for 252 yards and three touchdowns.
After what he did against Stanford last week, that wasn’t exactly a welcome development for the rest of the schedule. Mensah has started his Miami career by completing 41 of 45 passes through two games.
Then came the part Thursday that was probably more interesting.
Luke Nickel replaced him and went 8-of-8 for 144 yards with three touchdowns of his own. Miami went from its starter to its backup and kept ripping off touchdown drives.
The running game wasn’t exactly taking the night off, either.
Javian Mallory turned 10 carries into 142 yards and two touchdowns. Mark Fletcher Jr. got seven carries and finished with 105 yards and two scores. That’s 247 yards from those two on 17 attempts.
Florida A&M had 107 total yards as an entire team.
Miami has made two games look awfully easy
One game against an FCS opponent isn’t proof of anything beyond Miami doing exactly what a top-10 team should do.
Two weeks have at least given us something to watch.
Miami beat Stanford 45-6 to open the season and followed it by hanging 77 on Florida A&M. That’s 122 points in eight quarters, with 1,405 yards of offense along the way.
The Hurricanes haven’t had to find out what happens when Mensah struggles yet. At this rate, that may be the most interesting question surrounding them.
Because Thursday provided a glimpse of the alternative.
They ran for 430 yards. Their backup quarterback didn’t throw an incompletion. The defense didn’t allow a touchdown.
Mensah can be the first name on an opponent’s scouting report.
He sure can’t be the last.
