Darian Mensah and Luke Nickel each threw three touchdown passes while Javian Mallory and Mark Fletcher Jr. each ran for two touchdowns, leading No. 7 Miami to a 77-7 rout of Florida A&M on Thursday night in Miami Gardens, Fla.
Miami matched a school record for points in a game, equaling its output in a pair of victories against Savannah State in 2013 and 2018. The Hurricanes also broke a school record with 856 total yards.
The Hurricanes (2-0) won their 12th consecutive game against the Rattlers (1-2).
Three Hurricanes quarterbacks combined to complete 27 of 29 passes for 426 yards with no interceptions.
Mensah and Nickel became the first quarterback pair to each throw for three TDs while completing at least 90% of their passes in the past 30 years, according to Opta Stats.
Mensah followed up his stellar team debut last week vs. Stanford by completing 14 of 15 passes for 252 yards. Nickel relieved Mensah in the second half and completed all eight of his passes for 144 yards. True freshman Dereon Coleman connected on 5 of 6 passes for 30 yards.
Mallory ran for 142 yards on 10 carries while Fletcher Jr. had 105 yards on seven carries as Miami amassed 430 yards and five touchdowns rushing.
Miami’s Malachi Toney caught all four of his targets for 96 yards and a touchdown.
The teams agreed to play a 10-minute fourth quarter with Miami leading 77-0. Florida A&M finally broke the shutout bid when Miami native Caleb McKenzie recovered a fumble by Brennan Burton and returned it 72 yards for a touchdown.
Miami scored on every drive except for kneel-downs at the end of each half, its fourth-quarter turnover and its final full drive of the game. The Hurricanes only had three third down plays in the game, converting one for a first down.
The Rattlers were held to 107 total yards and just four first downs (to the Hurricanes’ 42). Quarterback Dustin Fletcher completed 8 of 17 passes for 33 yards and ran for 24 yards on eight carries.
–Field Level Media
