Canes Across The Pond

It is another quieter Miami news day, but there is one development worth paying attention to.

Darian Mensah remains the early Heisman Trophy favourite.

We are only two games into September, so the usual disclaimer applies.

There is a very long way to go.

But Mensah is making himself increasingly difficult to ignore.

Mensah keeps himself at the front

Updated Heisman odds have Mensah at +480, ahead of Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith and Texas quarterback Arch Manning.

It is not hard to see why.

Through his first two Miami appearances, Mensah has completed 41 of 45 passes for 653 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions.

That is a 91.1 per cent completion rate.

Four incompletions.

Eight touchdowns.

It still looks slightly ridiculous written down.

Mensah announced himself with 401 yards and five touchdowns in Miami’s 45-6 win at Stanford, then followed that with 252 yards and three more scores against FAMU.

Perhaps the most impressive part is how little football Miami have actually needed him to play.

His night against FAMU ended after seven possessions.

All seven ended in touchdowns.

Wake Forest should provide a more useful examination on Friday night, but so far Mensah has done just about everything Miami could have asked of its new quarterback.

Toney joins the conversation

Mensah is not even the only Hurricane appearing near the top of the early Heisman market.

Malachi Toney is now listed at +1100.

That says plenty about the start he has made.

Toney opened the season with a Miami-record 234 receiving yards and three touchdowns against Stanford, then added another 96 yards and a score against FAMU.

Through two games, he has 16 receptions for 330 yards and four touchdowns.

For a receiver to seriously stay in the Heisman conversation, those numbers will need to remain exceptional.

So far, they are.

Wake Forest will have spent the week studying what Stanford allowed Miami to do and working out how to stop No. 10 from taking over another game.

That creates an interesting challenge for Shannon Dawson.

If Wake dedicate extra attention to Toney, Miami have Cooper Barkate, Joshua Moore and a growing collection of younger receivers capable of benefiting elsewhere.

That might be the scarier part of this Miami offence.

It is not simply about Mensah throwing to Toney.

It is what happens when somebody finally finds a way to slow them down.

Wake Forest offers the next test

Friday now becomes the useful part.

Miami are No. 5 in the country.

Mensah leads the early Heisman market.

Toney is in the conversation.

And the defence still has not allowed an offensive touchdown.

Wake Forest arrive unbeaten too.

Gio Lopez has thrown for 575 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, while also showing at Purdue that he can hurt teams with his legs.

That should give Miami something different to deal with.

The Hurricanes have dominated their first two opponents.

Friday night in Winston-Salem should tell us a little more about whether all these spectacular early numbers can survive a proper ACC road test.

The Last Word from Across the Pond

It is far too early to start planning a December trip to New York.

But Mensah sitting at the top of the Heisman market after two games is another sign of just how quickly expectations around Miami have changed.

Even more remarkably, Toney is right there in the conversation with him.

The Canes are No. 5, the offence is producing huge numbers and the defence has yet to concede an offensive touchdown.

Now comes the useful bit.

Wake Forest are unbeaten and Miami are back on the road.

Mensah does not need another 400-yard masterpiece.

He needs another win.