MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — No. 7 Miami set a school record for yards and tied the mark for points in a game, with quarterbacks Darian Mensah and Luke Nickel each throwing three touchdown passes in a 77-7 victory over lower-division Florida A&M on Thursday night.
The Hurricanes finished with 856 yards, breaking the mark of 750 against Ball State in 2024. Miami had 77 points in a game twice previously, both against Savannah State. And the game was so one-sided that the teams agreed to shave five minutes off the fourth quarter, setting the clock for 10 minutes instead of the standard 15.
By then, it was 77-0. The Hurricanes (2-0) finished with 42 first downs — another school record.
“Pretty ridiculous," Mensah said when asked about a Miami offense that has scored 122 points in the season's first two games. “It's just a testament to the guys up front.”
Florida A&M (1-2) scored on a 72-yard fumble return by Caleb McKenzie with 6:40 left.
Miami opened its season with a 45-6 win at Stanford, and Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal said he saw improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.
“We did a lot,” said Cristobal, who got his 99th career win. “Certainly, just wanted to see our guys play fast and free and improve. That was the most important thing; (going) 1-0 is always the goal, but in college football every single week you better get better. In some respects, I think we did that tonight.”
Mensah completed 14 of 15 passes for 252 yards and three first-half touchdowns, making him 41 of 45 for 653 yards and eight touchdowns in his first two games as a Hurricane. Javian Mallory and Mark Fletcher Jr. each rushed for two scores, and Malachi Toney — one of six Miami receivers with a touchdown catch — had four grabs for 96 yards.
Miami scored touchdowns on 11 of its first 12 possessions. The one exception: a one-play drive to kneel out the clock and end the first half. The Hurricanes had 16 players catch at least one pass, the first time a FBS school has done that since Penn State had 17 pass-catchers against Ohio in 2022.
Florida A&M finished with 107 yards, averaging a mere 2.3 yards per snap.
“We're just working on doing our job,” Miami defensive lineman Armando Blount said.
The takeaway
Florida A&M: The Rattlers got $760,000 for this game, including $40,000 to bring the school's famed “Marching 100” band to Hard Rock Stadium. The band — which has played there countless times, including as part of Prince's Super Bowl halftime show in 2007 — performed throughout the game, including halftime.
Miami: Mensah and Nickel became the first power-conference teammates to have three TD passes in the same game since Patrick Mahomes and Nic Shimonek did it for Texas Tech against Kansas in 2016. ... The Hurricanes have won 20 consecutive home openers.
Up next
Florida A&M: Host Tennessee State, Sept. 19.
Miami: At Wake Forest, Sept. 18.
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