Live updates: No. 9 Miami Hurricanes rout Stanford Cardinal 42-7
The Miami Hurricanes got back on track Saturday night.
One week after dropping their first game of the season in shutout fashion, the ninth-ranked Hurricanes overcame a slow start to rout the Stanford Cardinal 42-7 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami improves to 6-1 on the season (2-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play) and is now bowl eligible after picking up its sixth win. Stanford falls to 3-5 and 2-3 in ACC play.
But the game wasn’t a blowout until the second half. The teams went into the break tied 7-7, with Stanford scoring on its opening drive and Miami scoring on its final drive of the half. The Hurricanes broke the game open with a 21-point third quarter off three Mark Fletcher Jr. rushing touchdowns after Miami took advantage of excellent field position the entire quarter.
Another interception, another touchdown
Xavier Lucas interception. Mark Fletcher follows with his third rushing touchdown.
He is the 14th player in UM history with 3 rushing touchdowns in a game.
It’s 28-7 Miami over Stanford with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.
A turnover and a touchdown
Wesley Bissainthe interception leads to a Mark Fletcher Jr. 3-yard rushing touchdown.
It’s 21-7 Miami over Stanford with 3:48 left in the third quarter.
Another turnover on downs
Miami couldn’t capitalize on a second consecutive short field.
A run on fourth and 1 from the Stanford 21 is stopped short of the line to gain.
Turnover on downs.
Hurricanes lead
Touchdown Mark Fletcher Jr. 1-yard rush.
That’s the 21st rushing touchdown of his Hurricanes career, tying Clinton Portis for the 10th most in a career by a UM player.
14-7 Miami over Stanford, 9:34 left in the third quarter.
Hurricanes pass rush makes its presence known
UM’s pass rush finally got the better of Stanford’s Ben Gulbranson. An intentional grounding and then an Armondo Blount sack eventually force Stanford to punt.
An excellent punt return from Malachi Toney gives Miami gret field position, starting at the Cardinal 40.
Halftime thoughts
Miami and Stanford are tied 7-7 at halftime.
The Hurricanes’ defense has allowed just 28 yards on 12 plays since giving up a touchdown on their first drive.
The offense has some momentum after its touchdown drive at the end of the half.
Both sides need to keep it up.
Tie game
The Hurricanes finally put together a complete drive.
And now this game is tied.
CJ Daniels, who tried to make a catch on his back in the end zone on second down that fell incomplete, hauled in a 5-yard TD catch from Carson Beck on third and goal to cap a 15-play, 71-yard drive.
It’s a 7-7 game with 1:15 left in the second quarter.
Miami’s offense struggling
Three drives, zero points for Miami.
First it was the missed field goal.
Then it was a five-play drive that led to a punt.
And now, an 11-play, 34-yard drive that ended with a turnover on downs when CJ Daniels dropped a fourth-down pass from Carson Beck that would have moved the chains.
Stanford, up 7-0, takes over at its 30-yard line.
UM has 100 yards of offense through three drives. 42 of those yards came on the game’s first two plays.
Stanford opens scoring
Touchdown Stanford. Ben Gulbranson 9-yard touchdown pass to Caden High caps a 12-play, 74-yard drive in which the Cardinal converted a fourth-and-1 from midfield and another third down later in the drive.
Miami is down 7-0 with 4:35 left in the first quarter.
Miami’s first drive stalls
The Hurricanes’ first drive stalled just outside the red zone. Carter Davis’ 43-yard field goal attempt is no good.
Carson Beck was 5/5 for 47 yards on that drive but 42 of those yards came on the first two passes — 10 yards to Malachi Toney and 32 yards to Toney Johnson.
Update: Mesidor out
Sixth-year senior edge rusher Akheem Mesidor will not play against Stanford.
Marquise Lightfoot took reps in Mesidor’s usual spot with the defensive line starters during warmups.
Akheem Mesidor’s status uncertain
Those wanting to know more about Hurricanes edge rusher Akheem Mesidor’s status for Saturday’s game against Stanford will have to wait a little bit longer.
Mesidor was listed as a game-time decision on the final availability report released by the ACC at 5 p.m. Saturday, two hours before kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium.
Mesidor was added to the availability report on Friday, being listed as questionable for the game. His name did not appear on the initial report released by the ACC on Thursday.
Miami Hurricanes schedule
▪ Week 1: Miami 27, Notre Dame 24 — Carson Beck threw two touchdowns in his UM debut and Carter Davis hit a go-ahead 47-yard field goal with 1:04 left to play as the Hurricanes upset the Fighting Irish.
▪ Week 2: Miami 45, Bethune-Cookman 3 — The Hurricanes scored on all but one possession and had their starters out of the game midway through the third quarter as Miami routed the FCS-level Wildcats.
▪ Week 3: Miami 49, USF 12 — Carson Beck threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns (with two interceptions) and ran for a fourth, Mark Fletcher Jr. had two rushing touchdowns of his own and the defense held USF out of the end zone until the fourth quarter of a rout.
▪ Week 4: Miami 26, Florida 7 — sloppy play from the Hurricanes’ offense and a strong push from the Gators’ defense kept it close early, but a stout UM defense never allowed Florida to gain momentum and the run game sealed things late as Miami finished non-conference play with a perfect record.
▪ Week 5: Bye
▪ Week 6: Miami 28, Florida State 22 — Carson Beck threw for four touchdowns, two each to CJ Daniels and Malachi Toney, and the defense was solid for three quarters before the Seminoles scored 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarters to make the final score closer than the game appeared most of the night.
▪ Week 7: Bye
▪ Week 8: Louisville 24, Miami 21 — Carson Beck threw a career-high four interceptions and the Hurricanes couldn’t overcome an early 14-0 deficit despite a fouth-quarter comeback attempts
▪ Week 9; Stanford, tonight
▪ Week 10: at SMU, Nov. 1, Gerald J. Ford Stadium, time and TV TBA
▪ Week 11: Syracuse, Nov. 8, Hard Rock Stadium, time and TV TBA
▪ Week 12: N.C. State, Nov. 15, Hard Rock Stadium, time and TV TBA
▪ Week 13: at Virginia Tech, Nov. 22, Lane Stadium, time and TV TBA
▪ Week 14: at Pittsburgh, Nov. 29, Acrisure Stadium, time and TV TBA
Pregame Miami Hurricanes reading
Need to catch up before kickoff? Here are the highlights of the Miami Herald’s coverage over the past few days.
-Hurricanes’ Mark Fletcher Jr. playing in honor of his late father
-‘It’s the adversity that defines you’: Hurricanes eye rebound against Stanford
-Carson Beck takes accountability for Miami loss to Louisville
-In the Hurricanes’ pass game, ‘the ball finds you.’ It’s only finding two players
This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 6:01 PM.
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