Miami's offense lost its spark in 2nd half of road matchup against Wake Forest

No. 5 Miami had Wake Forest buried at 31-7 midway through the third quarter, then spent the rest of the night trying to recapture that first half level of play.

Miami's offense slowed down in second half

The Hurricanes scored on five of their first six possessions and left with a 33-20 victory that improved them to 3-0 and 2-0 in the ACC. But all that anybody could talk about was how the offense looked after Malachi Toney's 2-yard touchdown catch.

The offense that had scored 122 points in two games suddenly could not pick up a first down. Miami gained 26 yards on its final six drives, went three-and-out four times in a row, had a 54-yard field goal blocked and finished the second half with 75 total yards (13 in the fourth quarter).

Darian Mensah called it a wake-up call and said the second half came down to efficiency the Hurricanes did not possess. Mensah opened 24 of 24 for 213 yards and three touchdowns, then went 6 of 10 for 7 yards once the streak ended. For the second half he was 10 of 14 for just 27 yards.

Wake Forest, held to 88 yards before intermission, gained 246 after it, but still only outscored Miami 13-9.

Mario Cristobal defends OC Shannon Dawson

Coach Mario Cristobal pushed back on the simplest explanation making the rounds, that Miami and offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson went conservative the moment the lead felt safe. Cristobal said Dawson stayed with the same designs that had worked in the first half and was still trying to score at a high pace. The difference, he said, was execution.

"We found ourselves a little bit banged up, but we've got to be able to overcome that, and we didn't," Cristobal said. "We had a lot of three-and-outs on offense. Then the defense flipped the script."

Miami suffered multiple injuries on the night

CharMar Brown was helped off the field in the second quarter after a 32-yard run and a right-knee injury that looked severe.

Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 85 yards and a touchdown before leaving late with an upper-body issue.

Toney finished with 12 catches for 114 yards and a score, but he was in and out after halftime and did not catch a pass in the second half until the fourth quarter.

Elija Lofton left the game briefly and Ahmad Moten Sr. departed on the first defensive series with his left arm hanging, then returned to play in a harness.

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