No. 4 Miami routs Clemson 41-13 for first win at Memorial Stadium since 2010

Quarterback Darian Mensah threw a 61-yard touchdown pass and ran 34 yards for another score, and No. 4 Miami beat Clemson 41-13 on Saturday night for its first win at Memorial Stadium since 2010. The Hurricanes moved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the ACC, while the Tigers fell to 3-2 and 2-1.

Miami needed less than two minutes to take the lead, as Mensah hit wide receiver Cooper Barkate on a screen that went 61 yards. Barkate finished with five catches for 98 yards, and Mensah completed 18 of 27 passes for 227 yards. Running back Mark Fletcher Jr. added two touchdown runs, and freshman defensive back JJ Dunnigan closed the scoring with a 39-yard interception return with 1:49 left — the first pick of his career.

Trenches tell the story

Miami's offensive line overcame early protection breakdowns to dominate after halftime, even with Matthew McCoy and Max Buchanan battling injuries and switching positions during the game. Mensah was pressured on a season-high 40 percent of his dropbacks, but the front's defining moment came in the fourth quarter, when Miami took over at its own 38 and ran the ball nine straight times, marching 62 yards in a drive that drained 5:47 before Fletcher's 1-yard touchdown run buried the Tigers.

The defense was equally disruptive, generating 34 pressures and six sacks while holding Clemson to 55 rushing yards on 31 carries. Damon Wilson II had 2.5 of the sacks, and Clemson freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds, who threw for a career-high 295 yards, was overwhelmed after the Hurricanes forced him to carry the offense. Clemson was also flagged 10 times for 91 yards.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said the score was not indicative of how his team competed and pointed to two missed sequences — an offside penalty before halftime that settled for a field goal at 17-6, and a stop on fourth-and-1 in the red zone to open the third quarter. Still, he credited the Hurricanes. "They made the plays and we didn't," Swinney said. "They were the better team."

They are a really, really good football team. That quarterback, he might be the first pick in the NFL draft, and he is surrounded by some really good players.

— Clemson coach Dabo Swinney

Miami coach Mario Cristobal pointed to his team's resilience through injuries. "We were able to overcome a lot of injuries and play to a high standard," he said. The loss was the fourth-worst of Swinney's tenure according to The Associated Press, and came after a Week 1 defeat to LSU by 41 points. The sting extended to recruiting, too: 2028 interior offensive lineman Sam Walker, who visited Death Valley for the game, committed to Georgia Tech less than 24 hours later.