Darian Mensah, Malachi Toney's Box Score Stats, Highlights as QB Makes History in Miami's Win

Entering the day with a 91.1 completion percentage through his first two games, Miami quarterback Darian Mensah looked like he was going to improve that number on Friday by completing his first 24 passes in a 33-20 win over Wake Forest.

Mensah did eventually throw four incompletions, finishing 30-of-34 for 220 yards. The Hurricanes, who entered the game favored by 20.5 points by FanDuel Sportsbook , got a tougher test from Wake Forest than expected.

Dating back to his final 11 completions last week, the junior quarterback completed 35 consecutive passes before his first off-target throw in the third quarter. He also threw three touchdowns to raise his season total up to 11 without an interception.

Malachi Toney was on the receiving end of 12 passes from Mensah. The Hurricanes star wideout put up 114 yards and third-quarter touchdown.

Mensah's 35 straight completions marks the second-longest streak in FBS history, but he did set new Miami and ACC records.

Elija Lofton and Joshua Moore were also on the receiving end of touchdown passes from Mensah.

The Heisman hype, despite still only being mid-September, was reaching a fever pitch for Mensah when it looked like Miami was going to cruise to an easy win.

The four incompletions for Mensah on Friday matched his total from the previous two games combined, but he is still completing close to 90 percent of his attempts overall (71-of-79).

One thing that might be of concern to Miami going forward is it needed Mensah and Toney to play as well as they did because the Hurricanes struggled to put away Wake Forest.

After trailing 31-7 midway through the third quarter, Wake Forest got touchdowns on back-to-back possessions that cut the deficit to 11. The Demon Deacons gave two points back with a safety on a holding penalty in their own end zone.

Wake's defense forced a three-and-out on Miami's next possession, then drove 64 yards to get deep in opposing territory. The Hurricanes defense finally got a stop on Gio Lopez's incomplete pass into the end zone on fourth-and-5 with 8:51 remaining to halt the run.

Even when the Hurricanes had opportunities to at least burn clock, their offense stagnated. They had a four-possession sequence that ended with three three-and-outs and a 54-yard field-goal attempt that was blocked to keep Wake Forest in it.

Lopez's interception to Ethan O'Connor with just over two minutes remaining allowed Miami to hold on for the win.

The second-half bumpiness, which saw the offense gain just 77 yards and pick up five first downs, took some shine away from what looked like another standout effort by Miami's dynamic duo early in the game.

Mensah and Toney remain close to unstoppable, but this game could be an indication they will need to keep playing near-perfect football for the Hurricanes to reach their ceiling this season.

One thing working in Miami's favor is the schedule is light until a Nov. 7 matchup with Notre Dame. Next week will see the Hurricanes return home to host Central Michigan before resuming ACC play against Clemson on Oct. 3.