No. 7 Hurricanes pull away from Duke late to inch closer to ACC title game berth
As the Miami Hurricanes prepared to start the fourth quarter on Saturday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium, coach Mario Cristobal gave a succinct explanation of what his team had to do to close out its game against the Duke Blue Devils.
“We’ve got to execute,” Cristobal said in a sideline interview on the ABC broadcast. “You can’t have any self-inflicted wounds. Methodically drive down the field. Everybody do your job.”
Over the next seven minutes, Miami did just that. The Hurricanes ate up clock as they marched down the field. Quarterback Darian Mensah made a slew of plays, with Cooper Barkate on the receiving end of three of them as the duo faced their former team.
And, finally, freshman Javian Mallory punched the ball into the end zone on a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
It put the Hurricanes up by two scores late as No. 7 Miami eventually pulled away from Duke with a 36-25 win at Hard Rock Stadium.
It was a needed bounce back win for the Hurricanes (9-1, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) after falling last week at Notre Dame.
And it’s a win that puts Miami on the precipice of clinching a spot in the ACC Championship Game. The Hurricanes formally secure their place in the conference title game with either one more conference win (against either Virginia Tech or Boston College over the next two weeks) or a conference loss by Louisville (which plays at UNC later Saturday and hosts Pittsburgh Nov. 21).
Xavier Lucas intercepted a Walker Eget pass on Duke’s drive following Mallory’s fourth-quarter score. The Hurricanes responded with a five-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 39-yard Mallory rushing touchdown — his third overall score of the half after also taking a shovel pass from Mensah for a 63-yard score in the third quarter.
Mallory finished with 150 yards from scrimmage (71 rushing yards on 10 carries and 79 receiving yards on three catches) plus the three touchdowns. He is the first UM freshman to have three touchdowns in a game since Mark Walton on Nov. 21, 2015, against Georgia Tech.
Mensah finished Saturday completing 30 of 41 passes for 382 yards and one touchdown. Barkate finished with eight catches for 134 yards.
Miami’s 36 points were the most scored in a game all season against Duke (7-3, 4-3 ACC), which hadn’t given up more than 28 in a game entering Saturday.
Miami led 13-10 at halftime on a Mark Fletcher Jr. 4-yard rushing touchdown and a pair of Jake Weinberg field goals (from 39 and 26 yards). Fletcher’s second-quarter score was his 36th career rushing touchdown at Miami, breaking a tie with Stephen McGuire for the most in school history. Fletcher didn’t play in the second half because of a “right lower-body injury,” as reported on the ABC broadcast.
Duke scored in the first half on a 37-yard Gavin Strange field goal and a 47-yard Nate Sheppard rushing touchdown.
The Blue Devils got back within one score with 41 seconds left in the third quarter on a Sheppard 5-yard rushing touchdown before Miami took over in the fourth quarter to cruise to the win. Eget completed a 1-yard touchdown to tight end Jeremiah Hasley in garbage time.
Sheppard, who entered Saturday leading Power 4 running backs in rushing yards (1,189) and rushing touchdowns (17), finished with 131 rushing yards on 16 carries, 93 receiving yards on 12 catches and 16 passing yards on two completions, but 94 of those yards came on two runs.
No Poyser
The Hurricanes played Saturday without starting safety Zechariah Poyser, who sustained an apparent shoulder injury late in UM’s loss to Notre Dame last week.
With Poyser unable to go, Bryce Fitzgerald moved back to safety opposite JJ Dunnigan and Omar Thornton returned to a starting role as Miami’s nickel corner. Dylan Day and Ryan Mack also received a steady dose snaps at safety.
Day and Dunnigan each finished with six tackles, tied for second behind linebacker Mo Toure (11). Fitzgerald had three tackles and a pass breakup.
Up next
The Hurricanes next host Virginia Tech on Nov. 21. Kickoff time and broadcast info will be announced after Saturday’s slate of games. Duke hosts Clemson on Friday (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
This story was originally published November 14, 2026 at 3:41 PM with the headline "No. 7 Hurricanes pull away from Duke late to inch closer to ACC title game berth."
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