Miami football cruised past Central Michigan 52-3 on Saturday night as quarterback Darian Mensah once again delivered an eye-catching performance. His performance and winning mentality were enough to earn high praise from Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal.

Cristobal couldn’t hold back his appreciation for Mensah after Miami’s dominant victory. The Hurricanes coach specifically applauded Mensah’s willingness to “let it rip” against Central Michigan.

“He spread the ball around pretty good. He extended plays, great pocket presence, protected pretty well, but a couple of times when it got sticky, he found a way,” Cristobal said.

“And you know what? He used his feet tonight in an awesome manner, especially right before the half. That's a pretty extensive drive, you know, try to do that from our own three-yard line, but there was an opportunity there after that first play, and so we let it rip. Him and the entire offense have been so good at two-minute throughout camp and throughout the, these practice sessions throughout the course of the early season that we had a lot of confidence in him. He let it rip.”

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With the win, Miami capped an unbeaten September as the Hurricanes improved to 4-0 to open the 2026 season. Mensah completed 23 of 27 passes for 338 yards and three touchdowns while avoiding an interception.

Miami’s leading running back, Mark Fletcher Jr., sat out Saturday’s game for precautionary reasons. However, despite his absence, Mensah and the Hurricanes' offense continued to operate efficiently as Miami had little trouble controlling the game against Central Michigan.

Mensah entered the season as the ACC Preseason Player of the Year after transferring to Miami from Duke and has made an incredible start to the 2026 season. Through four games, Mensah now has 14 touchdown passes, just 12 incompletions, and zero interceptions.

Miami will resume ACC play next week, with the Hurricanes set to visit Clemson for a conference showdown on October 3.