MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Duke already knew Darian Mensah was a winner. The Miami quarterback simply provided a reminder of that on Saturday.
Mensah passed for 382 yards and a touchdown against his former school, Javian Mallory scored three times and No. 5 Miami moved closer to wrapping up a trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference title game by beating Duke 36-25.
Mark Fletcher Jr. also rushed for a score for Miami (9-1, 7-0 ACC, No. 7 CFP), which tied a school mark with its 11th consecutive ACC victory. Cooper Barkate — like Mensah, a former Duke star — had his first 100-yard game for Miami, catching eight passes for 134 yards.
“If I’m being honest, it definitely did feel different. A little bit weird,” Mensah said. “I couldn’t stop smiling for some reason when I first stepped on the field, because I have a lot of love for those guys over there.”
Mensah, who transferred to Miami after leading Duke to last season’s ACC title, completed 30 of 41 passes for Miami and went over the 3,000-yard mark for the season.
Nate Sheppard accounted for 240 yards — 131 rushing, 93 receiving and 16 passing — plus rushed for two scores and caught a conversion pass for Duke (7-3, 5-3). Sheppard had a pair of 47-yard runs in the game, along with 12 catches.
“What an advertisement for one of the best players in the United States,” Duke coach Manny Diaz said of Sheppard, the first player to run for that many yards against Miami since September 2024. “He was unbelievable. That’s a very, very hard defense to run the ball against. … They’re designed to stop the run.”
Walker Eget completed 26 of 42 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown for the Blue Devils, but was intercepted by Miami’s Xavier Lucas with 6:54 left. Mallory’s 39-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession sealed the win for Miami.
“We had to get a stop,” Lucas said.
Miami’s win, combined with Wake Forest’s win over SMU, put the Hurricanes on the cusp of clinching a spot in the ACC title game in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hurricanes would wrap up a berth in the Dec. 5 contest if North Carolina beats Louisville later Saturday night; otherwise, Miami needs only one win in its final two games to clinch.
“Our goal is definitely to get to Charlotte, and beyond that,” Barkate said.
Duke never led, but Miami was never comfortably up until the final minutes.
Fletcher — who didn’t get a carry in the second half because of an undisclosed injury, though Miami coach Mario Cristobal didn’t sound concerned after the game — had a scoring run midway through the second quarter to put Miami up 10-3.
It was the first touchdown allowed by Duke in its last 210 defensive snaps, spanning 36 possessions over 13 quarters. The Blue Devils forced 18 punts, stopped six drives on downs, had four takeaways and had opponents go 5 for 7 on field goal tries in that span.
Sheppard tied it for Duke with one of the 47-yard runs on the next possession, before Miami settled on a 13-10 lead at the half. Mallory and Mensah connected to break it open for Miami in the third with a 63-yard catch-and-run to make it 22-10.
Sheppard scored again to get Duke within five, but Mallory scored twice in a span of 3:45 midway through the fourth quarter to make it 36-17.
“As an offense, we just got in our groove,” Mallory said.
The takeaway
Duke: Sheppard became the first Duke player with two runs of 40 yards or more in an ACC game since Daniel Jones — the No. 6 pick in the 2019 draft and current Indianapolis Colts quarterback — had runs of 61 and 68 yards in a 42-35 win over North Carolina on Nov. 10, 2018.
Miami: For the second straight week, Elija Lofton caught a touchdown pass that came off the board. He had the hotly debated fourth-quarter catch against Notre Dame that was ruled incomplete, and had another would-have-been-a-TD grab in the third quarter Saturday but stepped out of bounds in the end zone before making the catch.
Record backs
Fletcher’s second-quarter touchdown run was his 36th in a Miami uniform, breaking a tie with Stephen McGuire for the most in school history. Sheppard’s 47-yard TD run on the ensuing possession pushed him past Mataeo Durant for Duke’s single-season record. Durant ran for 1,241 yards in 2021; that run by Sheppard gave him 1,253 this season.
Up next
Duke: Hosts Clemson on Friday.
Miami: Hosts Virginia Tech on Nov. 21.
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