Darian Mensah details how valuable Cooper Barkate has been to Miami adjustment

Darian Mensah isn't afraid to take on new risks and challenges. The redshirt junior quarterback will be playing for his third team in the past three years and the Miami Hurricanes paid top dollar to sign Mensah out of the transfer portal with the expectation that he is going to lead them to the CFP promise land.

But no man, not even one as talented as Mensah, likes to walk into every challenge alone. Sometimes you need a familiar face among the crowd. For some players, that means having a family member or a coach nearby, but for Mensah, it was his close friend Cooper Barkate, who was also his teammate at Duke.

READ MORE: Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate rank high among QB/WR duos moving together in portal

The chemistry that Mensah and Barkate have on the field is shown through the numbers. Barkate, who started his college football career at Harvard, hauled in 72 of Mensah's passes for 1,107 yards and seven touchdowns. 

"He's been super important for me. Going through anything that's hard with your best friend makes it that much easier," Mensah said on the ACC Network before his session at the conference's media day. "We're from the same area and have a lot of the same interests, so we spend a lot of time together. I'm just excited about the year he's going to have."

Darian Mensah is ready to win a championship at Miami with his best friend

It's still hard to type that Duke won an ACC championship in football before Miami, but it happened, and two of the biggest reasons why it happened are now in Coral Gables (thankfully Manny Diaz stayed behind). Both players have quickly immersed themselves with their new teammates as well, with Malachi Toney saying that Mensah joined him to watch the Super Bowl shortly after he made the transfer official in late January.

And the upside is limitless here. The Hurricanes have so many weapons all over the field that sometimes it might get overwhelming. In those situations, it's nice for Mensah to have a security blanket that he knows he can count on in the tight moments. It doesn't mean that Toney or Mark Fletcher won't also be those guys, but Barkate is likely to be the player that makes the 7-yard catch on 3rd and 5 in the fourth quarter against Clemson to silence a raucous crowd at Death Valley. They've been there before and don't get it twisted, Barkate can ball. 

READ MORE: Darian Mensah and Cooper Barkate illustrated their chemistry at Miami spring game

The journey from Durham and Coral Gables is complete for both Mensah and Barkate. Much like the way Mensah dealt with the perceived controversy of his decision, he is looking straight ahead.

"I just block it out," Mensah said of the outside noise regarding his transfer. "I want to lead the guys in the sense that we have to put our heads down and go to work each and every day or those goals won't be there."

The goals for the Hurricanes are championships, both ACC and CFP. Mensah wants to win them all and having his best friend joining him for the ride will make it that much sweeter. 

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