Three Stars: Miami vs Clemson
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The Miami Hurricanes handled the Clemson Tigers tonight in Death Valley Light, 41-13. With the amount of injuries the Canes dealt with both pregame and mid-game, I think tonight’s win was by far the most impressive of the season. Bring on the bye week!
Let’s get to the three stars of the game.
1. Darian Mensah
Mensah looked human tonight throwing the ball, which was fine since he had a 34-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He’s the man. He had another great throw to Malachi Toney tonight as he was getting whacked by two Clemson defenders. Tonight’s game was ugly, no doubt. But I loved the way Mensah commanded Miami’s offense. His stats: 18-27, 227 yards, one touchdown, 27 rushing yards, one touchdown. I love him. I love his competitiveness. I love his skill of throwing the football. I wouldn’t want any other college quarterback leading the Miami offense in 2026.
2. Mark Fletcher Jr.
Miami’s offensive leader got better as the game wore on tonight. Fine with me. Both of his touchdowns came in the second half, along with his best runs of the game. Mark finished with 16 carries for 77 yards and two touchdowns, plus had two catches for 16 yards tonight. He moved the pile over and over again. Positive yards. Moving the chains. He is the hammer of the Miami Hurricanes offense..literally. To reiterate for Fletcher and Marquise Lightfoot and several others, bring on the bye week.
3. The Defense
Let’s be clear, Clemson’s offense stinks. But in a night game at Death Valley Lite (can this please catch on) with the amount of injuries in the defensive backfield, Miami’s performance was plenty impressive. Let’s go over the stats. Clemson had 55 yards rushing on 31 attempts, for an average of 1.8 yards per rush. Miami’s rush defense continues to be the best in the country. The Canes also forced two turnovers, with one being a pick-six. Oh, and six sacks. Not bad. There was the 295 passing yards allowed, but all of it was between the 20s. Corey Hetherman’s unit was locked in tonight. Let’s hope Lightfoot and others get healthy over the bye week.
Honorable mention:
Cooper Barkate – An opening-play 61-yard catch-and-run touchdown is a pretty good way to start the game. Barkate led the Canes in receiving tonight with five receptions for 98 yards.
Javian Mallory – The impressive freshman ran hard tonight. He fought for some well-earned first downs in the second half. Stats: 14 rushes for 63 yards.
Damon Wilson II – Wilson could have easily been the third star tonight, but I was being magnanimous to Corey Hetherman’s unit as a whole. The stud defensive end was all over the place tonight: three solo tackles and 2.5 sacks. As Cam tweeted during the game: this is the guy we were expecting. Wilson looks awesome lately.
JJ Dunnigan – Miami’s stud freshman defensive back capped off tonight’s win with a pick-six. Love it! Let’s go! This team needed a defensive score, even if it was at the end of a game already in doubt.
Who were your three stars of the game? Let us know in the comments below.
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