Through the first three weeks of the college football season, the Miami Hurricanes have been the toast of the town.
More specifically, though, their quarterback, Darian Mensah, has been an absolute revelation for them.
During Friday night’s game against Wake Forest, Mensah set an ACC record with 24 straight completions and has been hovering above the 90% mark in that category for most of the season.
Worth every penny of that reported $6 million contract, eh?
With the kind of numbers Mensah has been putting up — and likely will continue to put up — the Hurricanes are almost a lock to make the College Football Playoff and, by extension, their signal caller will almost certainly be invited to New York City as a Heisman finalist.
DEFYING THE ODDS: WHY THESE THREE LONG SHOTS COULD BE HEISMAN TROPHY WINNERS THIS SEASON
But will Mensah and the Canes be victims of a Charmin soft schedule?
To be fair to Miami, they don’t make their conference schedule, and they do have to play Notre Dame in early November, but their 2026 slate, by and large, is a bit of a joke.
They’ve done everything in their power to bludgeon the teams in front of them, hanging 77 points on FAMU just a week earlier, but while some of their contemporaries will face a murderer’s row this season, Miami likely won’t face a ranked team until that aforementioned meeting with the Fighting Irish.
The ACC features three teams ranked in the AP Top-25 as of week three, Louisville Virginia, and SMU, and the Hurricanes will avoid playing all three in the regular season.
ACC SUPREMACY: IS IT REALLY THE MIAMI HURRICANES VERSUS THE FIELD FOR THE 2026 SEASON?
Again, that isn’t their fault, and a lot could change in the coming weeks, but it won’t help the case of their talented quarterback when it comes time for award season.
Miami’s case for making the College Football Playoff is secure, given its high ranking to start the season and the fact that the Hurricanes just need to win the ACC title to get an automatic bid.
Mensah, on the other hand, could very well get dinged for facing lesser competition.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE OUTKICK SPORTS COVERAGE
The numbers he’s putting up may end up being too good to ignore, but he will likely have to be virtually perfect for an entire season to overcome the accusations of an easy schedule.
NICK SABAN HAS THE BEST SOLUTION FOR FIXING THE PROBLEMS WITH COLLEGE FOOTBALL SCHEDULING
There are a gaggle of teams on Miami’s slate that are currently undefeated, and if they keep up the good play, it could go a long way in helping strengthen the Hurricanes’ metrics at the end of the season.
THE CRAIG CARTON SHOW–UNFILTERED, UNAPOLOGETIC AND UNMISSABLE. DOWNLOAD HIS DAILY PODCAST NOW!
Miami fans should be pulling for a team like Pitt to continue its impressive start to the year, because it could mean the difference between Mensah hoisting a bronze statue or clapping as someone else does.
I can’t say for sure if it will matter one way or another, I mean for God’s sake, the kid has more touchdowns on the season (11) than he does incompletions (eight).
Regardless, Canes fans should just be happy to have these kinds of problems.
SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY OUTKICK NEWSLETTER
It wasn’t too long ago the Hurricanes were fighting to make a bowl game during the first few years of the Mario Cristobal era.
Oh, how times have changed!
