Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 OCT. 31, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI BY TYLER JAMES I n January, Miami watched its na- tional title hopes wither when quarterback Carson Beck threw an interception in the final minute of the College Football Playoff national championship game. The Hurricanes, who entered the 12- team playoff with two losses and a No. 10 seed, nearly completed an improb- able championship run on their home field at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. But the undefeated In- diana Hoosiers (16-0), with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, proved to be the better team with a better story in the 2025 season. B e c k 's ga m e - s ea l i n g i n te rc e p - tion brought a familiar frustration at the worst possible moment. The for- mer Georgia quarterback had a knack for giving the ball away at inopportune times throughout his career. Beck fin- ished the 2025 season with twice as many interceptions (12) as the quarter- back he lost to in the national champi- onship game. Though Beck's heroics in the CFP semifinal pushed Miami into the title game, he didn't rise to the occasion on the biggest stage. The Hurricanes quickly turned their focus to finding a quarterback who could get them back to the verge of a national championship. They refused to let ACC allegiances or a Duke lawsuit prevent them from pursu- ing quarterback Darian Mensah's trans- fer from Duke to Miami. An eventual settlement between Duke and Mensah allowed a commitment to follow a little more than a week after the championship game loss. For a third consecutive offseason, Miami secured a high-profile transfer at the quarterback position. MATCHING WITH MALACHI Mensah immediately looked like a worthy replacement for Beck — and perhaps an upgrade — when Miami opened its 2026 season. Mensah com- pleted 27 of 30 throws for 401 yards with 5 touchdowns in a 45-6 win at Stanford in Miami's season opener. The 6-foot-3, 205-pound Mensah basically launched Heisman Trophy campaigns for himself and Miami wide receiver Malachi Toney, who caught 12 passes for 234 yards and 3 touchdowns against Stanford, in one game. Toney became so much of a star as a true freshman in 2025 — starting with an impressive 6-catch, 82-yard, 1-touch- down performance against Notre Dame in his college debut — that he landed on the cover of this year's EA Sports College Football 27 video game. He's already lived up to expectations this season with at least 96 receiving yards and 1 touchdown in each of Miami's four September games. "He's a special person and, obviously, a special player," Mensah said of Toney. "He makes my job extremely easy as a quarterback. He's almost like another quarterback on the field because of how well he understands defenses. "It starts with staying after practice and throwing routes. He's one of the first players in the building and one of the last to leave. He truly lives that way. He's one of the hardest workers I've been around, and we've collabo- rated in pursuit of greatness. He's truly inspiring." FINDING INCREDIBLE EFFICIENCY Though Toney was a video game cover model, Mensah was the one putting up video game-like numbers through the first month of his Miami tenure. In victories over Stanford, Florida A&M, Wake Forest and Central Michigan, MENSAH LEVEL Miami quarterback Darian Mensah is playing the position like a genius in 2026 Mensah became the first FBS quarterback since 2019 to throw 15 touchdown passes and 0 intercep- tions in his first five games. PHOTO COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETICS