Mensah, Toney dominate again as No. 1 Miami Hurricanes dominate Pittsburgh
The Miami Hurricanes spent part of Saturday celebrating their past as they honored the 25th anniversary of the 2001 national championship team.
Safety Ed Reed, wearing the jersey of the late Sean Taylor, cranked the hurricane siren pregame before the team ran through the smoke onto the field. Running back Clinton Portis was the team’s honorary captain. Miami even wore throwback orange jerseys modeled after that ‘01 team, which was recognized on the field at halftime.
That team is considered one of the greatest — if not the greatest — college football teams of all time.
The 2026 Miami Hurricanes, looking to be the first UM team since that ‘01 squad to win a national title, did their part to honor the past with their performance on the field.
The top-ranked Hurricanes, behind another round of dominant performances from quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney, easily dispatched the Pittsburgh Panthers 52-23 at Hard Rock Stadium.
Miami remains undefeated at 7-0 and 5-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Pittsburgh falls to 5-3 and 2-3 in ACC action.
Mensah completed 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. Three of those touchdowns went to Toney, who caught a school-record 16 passes for 194 yards. Freshman tight end Gavin Mueller also hauled in a touchdown reception. Freshman running back Javian Mallory scored two rushing touchdowns and Mark Fletcher Jr. added a score of his own.
The connection between Mensah and Toney was integral, especially in the first half. Toney caught 12 passes — one shy of the previous school record for a game (which Toney already co-owned) — for 159 yards. The touchdowns came on a pair of screens — first a 19-yard catch-and-run that put Miami up 10-0 with two minutes left in the first quarter, the second a 53-yard sprint to the end zone to put Miami up 24-7 with 1:50 left in the half. Of the other 10 catches, three resulted in first downs.
Toney then caught four more passes in the second half and capped scoring for Miami’s starters with 12:58 left in the game on an 11-yard reception that pushed the Hurricanes’ lead to 52-14.
Toney’s 16 catches were one shy of the ACC single-game record of 17 set by Syracuse’s Ervin Phillips on Sept. 30, 2017. Ten other ACC players have had a 16-catch game in league history.
Mensah, meanwhile, eclipsed 300 passing yards and three touchdowns for the fourth time in seven games with Miami. He now has 22 touchdown passes against just one interception this season.
And the run game held its own as well against a Panthers defense that entered the game giving up an average of just 57.29 rushing yards per game. Miami had 119 rushing yards total on Saturday, including 47 on seven carries by Mallory and 41 on 13 carries by Fletcher.
It was more than enough to put away Pittsburgh as Miami, naturally, never trailed.
The Panthers punted on each of their first four drives, failing to pick up a first down on any of those possessions, as Miami jumped out to a 17-0 lead.
Pittsburgh took advantage of a short field when Miami turned the ball over on downs at the Panthers 45-yard line midway through the second quarter, scoring its first touchdown on a Damon Ferguson Jr. 5-yard rush with 4:36 left in the first half. That briefly cut Miami’s lead to 17-7.
The Hurricanes then scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes, with the defense recovering a fumble in between, to go into the break up 31-7.
Pittsburgh scored two touchdowns in the second half, but Miami’s lead was never in jeopardy.
A 36-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Holden Geriner to Cataurus Hicks with 10:18 left in the third quarter cut Miami’s lead to 38-14. A 49-yard garbage-time touchdown throw from Corey Dailey to Cam Sapp with 46 seconds left made it 52-23. Pittsburgh’s defense forced a safety in between those scores.
Miami’s defense held Pittsburgh to 4 for 12 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down while logging two sacks and four tackles for loss.
The Hurricanes now prepare for consecutive road games, starting with North Carolina on Oct. 31 before going to Notre Dame on Nov. 7.
This story was originally published October 24, 2026 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Mensah, Toney dominate again as No. 1 Miami Hurricanes dominate Pittsburgh."
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