No. 5 Miami survived a second-half scare Friday night, beating Wake Forest 33-20 after the Demon Deacons cut a 24-point deficit down to 11. Quarterback Darian Mensah credited Miami’s defense for closing out the road win.

Miami led 31-7 in the third quarter before the offense went through four straight three-and-outs. Wake Forest took advantage and pulled within 31-20, forcing the Hurricanes’ defense to make several key stops in the fourth quarter.

“Credit to Wake Forest, they’re a really good football team. We knew it was going for our following win, kudos to the defense. We're floating that game up offensively. We kind of had a low second half,” Mensah said.

Mensah still delivered another historic performance despite Miami’s late struggles. He completed 30-of-34 passes for 220 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

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He also opened the game with 24 straight completions, setting an ACC single-game record. Dating back to the previous week, Mensah completed 35 consecutive passes to break the conference’s multi-game record previously held by Mitch Trubisky.

The Hurricanes lost running back CharMar “Marty” Brown to a lower-leg injury during the game, further affecting their offense. Mensah acknowledged Brown’s importance after the game.

“He's a big part of this offense, he absolutely is,” Mensah said. “It definitely hurts to see him go down and I just wish him well.”
Mensah also admitted Miami became less physical after its dominant first half.

With the win, Miami improved to 3–0 on the season. The Hurricanes now step out of conference play to host the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday, September 26, at Hard Rock Stadium.