Well, that escalated quickly.
Miami wanted a more convincing running game against Florida A&M.
Instead, they produced one of the biggest offensive nights in ACC history.
The No. 7 Hurricanes hammered FAMU 77-7, piled up 856 yards of offence and moved to 2-0.
A full Miami vs FAMU match report will be up on canesacrossthepond.com later today.
Miami’s offence was ridiculous
There is no particularly subtle way of describing this one.
Miami scored touchdowns on each of its first seven possessions, recorded 41 first downs and finished with 856 total yards.
Darian Mensah barely put a foot wrong again.
He completed 14 of 15 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns, taking his Miami totals through two games to 41 completions from 45 attempts, 653 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions.
Four incompletions in two games.
That is some start.
Malachi Toney added another 96 yards and a touchdown, continuing his absurd opening to the season.
But this time the passing game did not have to carry the show.
Fletcher and Mallory get the run game moving
The biggest question coming out of Stanford was whether Miami could establish more on the ground.
Consider that answered.
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 105 yards and two touchdowns on just seven carries.
Freshman Javian Mallory went even further, finishing with 142 rushing yards and two scores.
That is probably the most encouraging part of the night.
Miami already showed against Stanford that Mensah and Toney can punish teams through the air.
Against FAMU, the Hurricanes showed they can hurt you on the ground as well.
That is exactly the balance Mario Cristobal will want as the schedule gets tougher.
Even the backups joined in
This was the sort of game Miami needed from a development point of view too.
Once Mensah’s night was finished, Luke Nickel went 8-for-8 for 144 yards and three touchdowns.
Young players got meaningful snaps.
The depth chart got genuine game experience.
And the defence continued its excellent start to the season.
FAMU managed only 107 total yards, with their only touchdown coming from a late fumble return.
That means Miami’s defence has still not allowed an offensive touchdown through two games.
The strange stat?
The Hurricanes still have not forced a turnover.
If that is the biggest defensive complaint after conceding 13 points across two games, we can probably live with it.
The Last Word from Across the Pond
There is only so much we should read into beating FAMU.
But Miami could hardly have handled the assignment any better.
The Canes scored 77.
They produced 856 yards.
The running game answered its Week 1 questions.
Mensah stayed almost impossibly efficient.
And the younger players got exactly the sort of experience this game was supposed to provide.
Miami are now 2-0 and have outscored their first two opponents 122-13.
For now, the morning verdict is simple.
Miami took care of business.
Then kept going.
