Miami's Darian Mensah Opens Game With 24 Straight Completions

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah completed 20-of-20 first-half passes against Wake Forest, breaking ACC and Miami consecutive-completion records.

Darian Mensah did not miss in the first half of Miami's ACC matchup with Wake Forest on Sept. 18, completing 20 passes on 20 attempts. Per USA Today, the streak was snapped on his 25th attempt, leaving him at 24 straight completions to open the game — a mark that broke both the Miami and ACC records for most consecutive completions in a single game. Behind their quarterback's flawless passing, the Hurricanes surged to a 24-7 halftime lead, with Mensah throwing for 193 yards and two touchdowns before the break. The performance came in Miami's third straight non-Saturday game, a choppy early schedule that USA Today notes has made an excellent Hurricanes team easy to overlook.

The Wake Forest game extended an even longer streak. According to USA Today, Mensah finished with 35 consecutive completions dating back to last week, also a Miami record, surpassing the previous mark of 24 held by Carson Beck. His broader season numbers are just as striking: at halftime he stood at a 93.8% completion rate for the year, having hit 61 of his 65 pass attempts through two-and-a-half games, with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions. Yahoo Sports carried the same account of the record-setting night, reporting the 20-for-20 first half and the 24-7 halftime cushion the Hurricanes took into the locker room.

Mensah's run still sits short of the sport's all-time marks. USA Today reports that the NCAA record belongs to former Western Carolina quarterback Taron Dickens, who hit 50 straight completions last season — including starting 46-of-46 in one game and finishing 53-of-56 — and is now at Northern Illinois. The FBS record, per USA Today, belongs to Dominique Davis, who completed 36 in a row for East Carolina in 2011, opening that game against Navy with 26 straight. Dickens, watching from afar, might have been sweating a bit as Mensah closed in, the outlet notes. Mensah's 24 straight to open the game puts him within striking distance of Davis's FBS single-game benchmark should another hot stretch arrive.

The record night has consequences beyond the ACC standings. Miami has Nov. 7 circled on its calendar for a marquee meeting with Notre Dame, and before that the Hurricanes face ACC tests from Clemson and Florida State — though USA Today observes both of those programs have struggled mightily this year. For now, a Miami team that has flown under the radar thanks to its awkward early schedule has a quarterback whose perfect half has made the Hurricanes very hard to ignore.