CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) — Darian Mensah threw for 227 yards and a touchdown and had a 34-yard scoring run as No. 4 Miami routed Clemson 41-13 on Saturday night to seize sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns and Cooper Barkate added five catches for 98 yards — including a 66-yard TD reception — for the Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0), who started 5-0 for the second straight season.
“I thought he had awesome numbers, both with his arms and legs,” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said about Mensah. “He had command of the offense, putting us in the right run checks. He extended plays and made some awesome throws.”
Mensah, who has quickly climbed into the Heisman Trophy conversation after a fast start to the season with 15 touchdown passes in his first five games, said he was happy with getting “a huge win” on the road in a tough environment, but was bothered by the team’s miscues.
One of those, an illegal shift, nullified a long touchdown pass to Malachi Toney.
“I don’t want to focus on the negative, but the fact that we left 14 points on the board makes me sick,” Mensah said.
Clemson (3-2, 2-1) came into the game as a 17 1/2-point home underdog, the largest point spread in the Dabo Swinney era.
It was the fourth-worst loss for the Tigers under Swinney.
“They are a really, really good football team,” Swinney said. “That quarterback, he might be the first pick in the NFL draft, and he is surrounded by some really good players. … They made the plays and we didn’t. They were the better team.”
Clemson freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds completed 29 of 44 passes for a career-high 295 yards, but was sacked six times and had an interception returned for a touchdown.
“Maybe I need to get the ball out a little quicker and hit my reads a little earlier,” Reynolds said. “Move around a little more and help those guys up front.”
There was a lot of energy in Memorial Stadium leading up to the primetime kickoff, but Clemson went three-and-out on its first series and Mensah responded by throwing a quick tunnel screen to Cooper Barkate, who beat two defenders and raced to the end zone on Miami’s second play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead.
It marked the 23rd straight game Mensah has thrown a TD pass dating to his time at Duke, where he led the Blue Devils to the ACC championship last season.
Mensah made it 17-3 when he scampered 34 yards for a score, fumbling just before he got to the end zone and then recovering it in the end zone and the nation’s No. 1 offense seemed poised to blowout the Tigers.
Clemson’s defense stiffened forcing two punts and a turnover on downs to keep the Tigers in the game.
But Reynolds and the offense couldn’t get on track.
He was sacked five times by the country’s No. 2-ranked defense in the first half alone and the Tigers couldn’t find the end zone.
“The more we hit him, I think the more it affected him,” Cristobal said.
The takeawayMiami: Mensah came into the game completing 88.7% of his passes this season while averaging more than 300 yards passing per game with 14 touchdowns and no interceptions and only 12 incompletions. While this wasn’t his best statistical performance it was enough to get the win. And Miami showed its balance and ability to run the ball when it needed to with Fletcher.
Clemson: The Tigers offensive line needs to find a way to protect Reynolds or he’s never going to make it through the season. Clemson’s defense played well considering the opponent, but the Tigers hurt themselves with 10 penalties for 91 yards. “We are a lot better football team than that. We know we are,” Reynolds said. “Once we clean it up, you will see.”
Up nextBoth teams are off next weekend before returning to action Oct. 17, with Clemson hosting Charleston Southern, and Miami at home against Florida State.
