Darian Mensah took things 'personal' for his incredible 400-yard Miami debut

Darian Mensah said Friday night's game against Stanford was personal. The San Luis Obispo native completed 27 of 30 passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns in his Miami debut as the No. 7 Hurricanes opened the season with a 45-6 win at Stanford Stadium.

It was the most yards and touchdowns by a Miami quarterback in a first start.

Darian Mensah just put the college football world on notice

"It was a little bit personal for me coming back to California," Mensah said on ACC Network. "It's just a huge blessing to be the Canes quarterback and to come back and ball in front of my family."

Mensah grew up on the Central Coast, about a four-hour drive from Palo Alto, and was barely recruited out of St. Joseph High in Santa Maria. Tulane was his only FBS offer and he has said his mother, Naomi, is "my why."

The first snap of his Hurricanes career was a 48-yard completion to Malachi Toney and the first two drives ended with Toney touchdowns of 23 and two yards. Toney finished with 12 catches for a school-record 234 yards and three scores, breaking Eddie Brown's 220-yard mark from 1984.

Mensah also threw touchdowns to Daylyn Upshaw (5 yards) and Cooper Barkate (34 yards), then hit Toney again for a 47-yard TD in the third quarter. Barkate may have not had 200 yards receiving, but he ended the day with four receptions for 67 yards and one TD.

It was one of the best offensive passing performances Miami has seen recently, and that's saying a lot considering the Hurricanes had eventual-No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward and experienced Carson Beck leading the squad over the last two seasons.

The Hurricanes host Florida A&M on Thursday and that projects to be another high-octane offensive showing.

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