Now that we're eight games into the Darian Mensah experience, it's safe to say that the Miami Hurricanes offense is operating at a high level. Mensah's late transfer from Duke was the cause of some complaints outside of Coral Gables and a little controversy, but it spoke to Miami's commitment to win. And the move has paid off.
Mensah is one of the top quarterbacks in the country and one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. He leads the country in completion percentage (80.7) and touchdown passes (25). Mensah's 2,425 passing yards are fourth among quarterbacks in the Power 4.
And his comfort level in Shannon Dawson's offensive continues to grow. One example of that is the 40-yard connection to Cooper Barkate in Week 9's win over North Carolina.
Darian Mensah to Cooper Barkate 🎯 pic.twitter.com/omDifwbzRY
— CFB Kings (@CFBKings) November 1, 2026
"I gave him that double move there, it wasn't called, but that's just one example of many where I feel like I'm changing a route or a protection to make a better play," Mensah said about the play in his press conference.
Darian Mensah is in control as his toughest challenge awaits
Mensah's ability to make the right changes at the line will be a major factor in the upcoming showdown against Notre Dame. The Irish secondary is very good. Leonard Moore is an All-American caliber player at corner.
He is a player so important to the Notre Dame defense that Marcus Freeman decided to sit Moore out for the Navy game to give him an extra week to recover from some lingering injuries rather than face Navy's option attack.
Moore's challenge will be to cover Malachi Toney and Mensah's challenge will be to see everything before it develops so he can get Toney the ball early and often. Freeman and defensive coordinator Chris Ash will try to scheme some additional things up to contain Toney, but it's going to be Moore doing the lion's share of the work.
"I think they just play a lot of man coverage. They are a super sound defense. They know how they want to attack you," Mensah said. "They know their identity and they stay true to it. They did a great job of staying sticky on their man."
The reason Mensah is at Miami is for games like this weekend. When Mensah signed with the Hurricanes, it was because he wanted to win a national championship and in order to get a ring, you have to beat the best teams.
There has been a lot of fanfare surrounding this game for months, and there's going to be a lot more in the final days before kickoff. But Mensah isn't going to let the outside noise affect the way he goes about his business this week.
"You prepare the same way as every other week. You don't add any external factors to it. You just go out and practice hard," he said. "You know, prepare the right way and just have a lot of confidence in what you're doing throughout the week and go out and try to execute on Saturday."
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