Darian Mensah showed his accuracy and intelligence in Week 3 win over Wake Forest

Darian Mensah's accuracy was on display in Week 3 against Wake Forest, hitting 24 straight passes before an incompletion late in the third quarter to break the streak two short of the FBS record of 26.

But the incompletion probably told the Miami Hurricanes more about Mensah than any of the previous completions. On his 25th pass of the game, Mensah escaped a sack and was flushed out of the pocket and eventually tossed the ball harmlessly to the Wake Forest sideline as the pressure continued to bear down on him. 

The decision to throw the ball away kept the down and distance manageable and a more selfish player might have taken the sack or taken an unnecessary chance. Mensah, however, always thinks team first and thinks about the big picture. 

Darian Mensah is having an historic season for Miami

Mensah finished 30-of-34 with 220 yards and three touchdowns in the 33-20 win over the Demon Deacons. The Miami offense looked as explosive as ever in the first half. Things came to a crawl in the second half as Malachi Toney looked like he was laboring and Mark Fletcher was banged up. Without some of the top playmakers, the Hurricanes decided to stick with a shorter passing game. 

Still, the overall numbers for Mensah are something else. Through three games, he's 71-of-79 passing for 873 yards and 11 touchdowns. It's hard to find numbers that are much better and more efficient than those. Here's the scary thing though: Mensah's going to get better. This offense has barely scratched the surface of what it's going to become in the next 4–5 weeks.

That's why this game was so important. Wake Forest was a considerable bump up in competition compared to Stanford and Florida A&M. The Demon Deacons won nine games last season and have been punching up above their weight class for years now. I don't think anyone was surprised by the pushback that came in the second half.

But that's when Mensah's game changed from push to protect. Yards were hard to come by, but Mensah didn't panic and he didn't make mistakes. No turnovers. No negative plays that jeopardized field position. It wasn't sexy, but it was what was needed at the moment. 

I'm sure Mensah wants to throw for all the yards and score all the points, but football doesn't always work like that. In one half, Mensah showed you all the tools that have made him the Heisman favorite, but in the second half he showed you why he can lead Miami to a championship. 

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