Canes Corner: Hurricanes Rout Rattlers — Wake Forest Up Next

Miami (2-0, 1-0 ACC) hosted Florida A&M University (1-2) at Hard Rock Stadium on Thursday night, September 10. Miami's record book needed a rewrite after the Canes' 77-7 blowout win over the Rattlers.

The 77 points scored tied for the most points Miami has ever scored. Previously, Miami had scored 77 twice against Savannah State, in 2013 and in 2018.

The 856 total yards — 426 rushing and 430 passing — eclipsed the previous record of 750 against Ball State in 2014. The 42 first downs by Miami set both new school and ACC records. Miami's previous record was 33 against Cincinnati in 1987.

Here are some fun facts you don't hear often: Miami scored touchdowns on each of its first 11 possessions. Miami did not punt in the game. FAMU ran 47 plays and not one crossed the 50-yard line into Miami territory.

One might ask, why are games like this played? There are good reasons.

Football is an expensive sport. A total of 266 teams play varsity Division I football. There are 138 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). These are the schools that generate revenue through football and play in postseason bowl games or the College Football Playoff.

Another 128 schools compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and compete in a 24-team single-elimination postseason playoff bracket.

The FBS schools are the “haves” and the FCS schools are the “have-nots.”

When FAMU agrees to play at Miami, they are guaranteed a substantial minimum payment from Miami's television, ticket and other game revenue streams. The $700,000 or more FAMU will receive will go a long way in supporting FAMU's athletic and academic needs.

FAMU has one of the top university marching bands in the nation. It was a pleasure watching them at halftime. Miami contributed $20,000 to help with that great band's travel costs.

Many proud FAMU alumni, players and staff either live in or have connections to Southeast Florida. Parents and alums relish the opportunity to see their team play near home.

Miami benefited from the game by being able to play second- and third-stringers. Ninety-three Canes played snaps on either offense or defense. Miami ran 73 offensive plays and not one player played more than 39 snaps. The Canes defense was on the field for 47 plays, and 26 snaps was the most any defender took.

Here are some individual accomplishments:

QB Darian Mensah was 14-for-15 passing for 252 yards and three touchdowns. For the season, Mensah has eight TD passes and only four incompletions with zero interceptions.

WR Malachi Toney had four receptions for 96 yards and a TD. When coaches asked if he wanted to go back in the game to reach the 100-yard milestone, Mali replied, “I don't care about that, I want to watch my brothers play.”

RB Mark Fletcher Jr. had seven carries for 105 yards and two touchdowns.

Freshman RB Javian Mallory had 10 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns.

Sophomore RB Girard Pringle Jr. rushed four times for 17 yards and a TD and added two catches for 35 yards.

Sixteen different Canes receivers caught passes in the game. Six had TD grabs. True freshmen Somourian Wingo and Vance Spafford, along with South Carolina transfer Vandrevius Jacobs, had their first Miami scores.

Cooper Barkate continued his connection with fellow Duke transfer Mensah by scoring in both Miami games. Sophomore Joshua Moore caught a 55-yard TD.

The Hurricane defense held the Rattlers to 107 yards on 47 plays, an average of 2.3 yards per play. FAMU was held to one conversion on 14 third-down plays. While Miami never punted in the game, FAMU was forced to kick the ball away 13 times.

Here are head coach Mario Cristobal's postgame comments:

“Our guys came out and played efficiently and improved on some things as it relates to physicality, execution… played a bunch of guys when the twos and threes went in. We felt that they sustained a relatively decent level of execution and standard, and we had an opportunity to play a lot of guys and see how they fit and what their roles could be going forward.

“And nowadays in college football, that's invaluable. You know, you have to play guys, and you really can't look at the clock or the scoreboard, you just have to continue developing your roster, which I think we attempted to do tonight.

“I can't emphasize enough that we would love to have another quarter of football and not be worried about the score, and I adamantly support playing players deep into games that have to be developed. Those guys that played tonight, they've worked just as hard as everybody else, and those guys are antsy for time, and unless you put them in the game, they're never going to find out what they can do when the lights come on.

“So we had that opportunity tonight. We took advantage of it as best we could, and we are certainly looking forward to watching the tape and seeing what kind of moves and what type of opportunities we can further create for some of these guys.”

A trip to Wake Forest (2-0) on Friday night, September 18, is up next. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.

Second-year head coach Jake Dickert has won 11 of his 15 games since arriving in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons are coming off a wild 38-36 double-overtime win at Purdue last weekend.

They feature dual-threat quarterback Gio Lopez, who was 16-for-27 with a touchdown through the air and logged 13 carries for 59 yards and two scores against the Boilermakers.

Wake Forest will not be taken lightly by Miami, and this could be a highly competitive contest.

Miami has risen to No. 5 in this week's AP Poll, which means every opponent will look at their Miami game as their Super Bowl.

“Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown” are not words you will hear in Coral Gables. Their mantra is to go 1-0 each week while continuing to practice and improve with maximum effort and intensity.

Canes Corner expects Miami to get the job done up in Carolina and be 3-0 when the Central Michigan Chippewas come to town for a 6:30 kickoff at Hard Rock on Saturday, Sept. 26.

That's it for now. Be well all and Go Canes!