MATCH REPORT · FINAL
MIAMI
52
Final
CENTRAL MICHIGAN
3
26 SEPTEMBER 2026 · MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA
THE BIG TAKEAWAY
Miami answered its first deficit of the season with 52 unanswered points, kept key players fresh and carried a 4-0 record into Clemson week.
Sometimes a game goes pretty much exactly how you hoped it would.
Not immediately, admittedly.
Central Michigan became the first team to lead Miami at any point this season when Caden VanHuis kicked a 49-yard field goal midway through the opening quarter. Miami had started slowly, penalties disrupted the opening possession and, for a few minutes, the Chippewas probably felt quite pleased with themselves.
Then Miami scored 52 unanswered points.
That was more like it.
The Canes eventually rolled to a 52-3 win at Hard Rock Stadium, moved to 4-0 and completed September unbeaten for the fourth consecutive season. More importantly, Miami did most of what I wanted to see in the preview: take control, avoid needing Mark Fletcher Jr., give younger players opportunities and get through the night with Clemson waiting next Saturday.
A Slow Start, Then Total Control
Miami’s opening drive was forgettable.
Penalties and a sack killed the possession before Central Michigan put together an 11-play drive and kicked the field goal that gave them that unexpected 3-0 lead. It was the first time Miami had trailed all season.
It lasted less than five minutes.
Javian Mallory finished Miami’s next possession with a four-yard touchdown run, and from there the difference between the two teams became fairly obvious.
Miami scored four touchdowns in the second quarter alone. Darian Mensah found Daylyn Upshaw from 11 yards, Malachi Toney from eight and Cooper Barkate from 13 before scrambling in himself from five yards with 13 seconds remaining in the half.
What had briefly been 3-0 Central Michigan became 35-3 Miami at half-time.
That’s about as effective a response to falling behind as you could ask for.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Darian Mensah Continues to Look Ridiculous
There are only so many different ways we can write this each week.
Mensah was excellent again.
He finished 23-of-27 for 338 yards and three touchdowns, added another score on the ground and once again didn’t throw an interception. All four of his touchdowns came in that second-quarter blitz.
Through four games, Mensah has now completed 94 of 106 passes for 1,211 yards, 14 touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Fourteen touchdown passes. Twelve incompletions. No interceptions.
That’s a completely daft stat.
His completion percentage has actually fallen to 88.7 per cent after completing only 85 per cent of his throws against Central Michigan. Standards are slipping terribly.
The real test obviously comes next week at Clemson, but it’s difficult to imagine Mensah settling into this offence much better than he has.
MENSAH
338 yards
23-of-27 · 4 total TD
TONEY
120 yards
6 catches · 1 TD
DEFENCE
21 rush yards
158 total yards allowed
Malachi Toney: Another Week, Another 100 Yards
Toney also carried on doing Toney things.
Six catches. 120 yards. One touchdown.
His longest reception went for 37 yards, and Central Michigan simply didn’t have an answer for him once Miami started opening up the offence.
There was also a ridiculous one-handed touchdown catch in the third quarter that would have added another score, only for it to be wiped out by offensive pass interference.
It didn’t count.
I’m still counting the catch in my head.
After his injury concern against Wake Forest, simply seeing Toney back out there, looking explosive and producing another 100-yard performance was probably more important than anything else.
Fletcher Got the Night Off
This was one thing I’d specifically hoped for in the preview.
Mark Fletcher Jr. didn’t play.
He was held out with the upper-body injury he picked up against Wake Forest, with the decision described as precautionary. Considering Clemson is next and CharMar Brown has already been lost for the season, there was absolutely no reason to push Fletcher back for this game.
Miami didn’t need him anyway.
Mallory scored the opening touchdown, Girard Pringle Jr. got seven carries and Jordan Lyle made his season debut.
Then Chris Wheatley-Humphrey took over late.
The redshirt freshman finished with 104 rushing yards on just 11 carries, including a 35-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. Miami still produced plenty on the ground without asking Fletcher to take a single hit.
Perfect.
Get him healthy.
Clemson can have him next week.
Welcome Back, Jordan Lyle
Lyle’s return was another encouraging part of the night.
His stat line won’t exactly jump off the page, and his apparent touchdown in the third quarter turned into one of the strangest sequences of the season.
Miami reached the end zone four times in roughly four minutes.
Only one counted.
Damon Wilson II had a 63-yard fumble return wiped out by a penalty. Toney’s one-handed touchdown disappeared because of offensive pass interference. Lyle then appeared to score from the Wildcat, only for officials to rule the play shouldn’t have happened because the referee was still explaining the previous penalty.
So they ran it again.
Lyle fumbled.
Offensive lineman Jamal Meriweather recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.
College football.
Beautifully stupid sometimes.
Most importantly, Lyle is back and Miami suddenly has another option in a backfield that looked considerably thinner a week ago.
The Defence Absolutely Smothered the Run
This was the matchup I highlighted before the game.
Central Michigan came to Miami averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Angel Flores had run for 163 yards against Wyoming the previous week.
The Chippewas finished with 21 rushing yards.
Twenty-one.
Miami held them to just 158 total yards, forced three turnovers and allowed only the opening field goal all night.
Flores, who had been Central Michigan’s biggest running threat, managed only eight yards on three carries.
That’s exactly what Corey Hetherman’s defence needed to do.
Take away the thing Central Michigan does well and force them into a type of game they aren’t built to play.
Once Miami went ahead, there was essentially nowhere for the Chippewas to go.
The One Thing Cristobal Won’t Like
The penalties.
Miami produced more than 100 penalty yards, and several big plays were erased by flags. The opening drive was derailed by them, two potential touchdowns disappeared in that bizarre third-quarter sequence and there were enough procedural mistakes to give Mario Cristobal plenty of material for Monday’s team meeting.
Against Central Michigan, it didn’t matter.
Against Clemson, it might.
That’s probably the biggest thing Miami needs to clean up this week.
The encouraging part is that we’re discussing discipline after a 49-point victory, rather than trying to explain away a poor performance.
About My Prediction…
I stayed with my original preseason prediction:
Miami 42, Central Michigan 10.
Miami apparently thought I was being slightly pessimistic.
52-3.
I’ll happily take being ten points short on Miami and seven too generous to Central Michigan.
The result also followed the general script I was hoping for. Miami got the game under control early enough to rotate players, Fletcher didn’t need to play, younger backs got carries and Luke Nickel was able to take over at quarterback.
That matters more than getting the score right.
Although 42-10 wasn’t that bad.
WHAT IT MEANS
Four Games, Four Wins
Miami’s September is now complete.
Stanford 6, Miami 45.
FAMU 7, Miami 77.
Wake Forest 20, Miami 33.
Central Michigan 3, Miami 52.
Four games. Four wins.
Miami has scored 207 points and conceded only 36.
Mensah hasn’t thrown an interception. The defence has been excellent against the run. Toney has looked like one of the most dangerous receivers in college football. And several young players have already been able to get meaningful snaps.
All very nice.
Now the season changes.
The Last Word from Across the Pond
Central Michigan was the final game where Miami could reasonably expect everything to be comfortable.
For a few minutes, it wasn’t.
The Chippewas took a 3-0 lead, Miami looked slightly sloppy and there were enough flags flying around Hard Rock to make you wonder whether we might get another unnecessarily awkward evening.
Then the Canes woke up.
From that point onwards, this was exactly what it should have been.
Mensah was brilliant again. Toney went over 100 yards again. The defence completely shut down Central Michigan’s running game. Fletcher got the night off. Lyle returned. Wheatley-Humphrey got his opportunity and took it.
And Miami won by 49.
My preseason prediction was 42-10.
Apparently I underestimated them.
I’ll cope.
Because next week there will be no FAMU or Central Michigan safety net.
Miami is heading to Clemson.
That’s where we’re going to learn considerably more.
Miami 52, Central Michigan 3.
4-0.
Now it gets interesting.
NEXT UP
Miami at Clemson
THE FIRST REAL TEST
Saturday 3 October · Time TBA · Memorial Stadium, Clemson, SC
