After much fanfare and months of hype, it's finally the week where the No. 1 Miami Hurricanes head to South Bend to take on the No. 4 Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The good news is that the game, a battle of teams ranked in the top five, should prove to be as good as the buildup.
And that's because there will be a lot of talent on the field. Both sides have a generous handful of players that will be collecting checks on Sundays in the very near future. Many of those players are on the Hurricanes offense, and you better believe they have Marcus Freeman's full attention. The Notre Dame coach specifically discussed what makes Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney so successful.
It’s Miami-Notre Dame week. ND coach Marcus Freeman, speaking at his weekly press conference today, praised the job Mario Cristobal has done. He said UM QB Darian Mensah is great player who makes great decisions. On Malachi Toney:
— Will Manso (@WillManso) November 2, 2026
“He’s elite. He’s an eraser. He’s as good as… pic.twitter.com/wAyPtaD2Mp
"I think he's a great quarterback/athlete, but he's a really good game manager," Freeman said of Mensah during his Monday press conference. "He doesn't make bad decisions. As you look at his career, 40 touchdowns, zero interceptions in the red zone. So, he makes really good decisions."
Freeman saved more superlatives for Toney.
"He does everything well. Not only does he catch, he runs, he blocks, he's a punt returner. He does everything well, and plays the game the right way," he said.
Malachi Toney and Darian Mensah are built for the big games
Freeman already knows what Toney can do. He saw first-hand how a 17-year-old fresh-faced kid a few months removed from being a junior in high school torched his secondary with six catches for 82 yards and a touchdown in last year's game. And now that he's a sophomore, Toney has only gotten much better. He has been the number to call every time Miami has needed a play over the past two seasons.Freeman knows that even the best plans to contain Toney are often futile.
This will be the first time Mensah has played against Notre Dame, but the fourth-year quarterback has shown the ability to meet the moment. You can go back to when he played for Duke last year and threw a couple of touchdowns on a chilly, windy night in Charlotte to lead the Blue Devils to an ACC Championship. He carried the Blue Devils to road wins over Clemson last season as well. Mensah showed his mettle again in Week 9, against North Carolina, answering the call in a back-and-forth game, and rallying Miami from multiple deficits.
Mensah and Toney are the definition of big players that make big plays in big games. Wanting to be part of a big game is great. They are exciting, and the atmosphere is incredible. However, the special players are the ones that really want all the smoke. That's what makes Mensah and Toney special, and that's what will keep Freeman up late at night this week. Anyone can talk about stopping Mensah and Toney, but very few teams actually have the players that can turn that wish into a reality.
There's no question that Mensah and Toney will be up for the challenge on Saturday night - Freeman knows that his Notre Dame defense has to be ready for everything that's coming their way.
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