The Miami Hurricanes might have found another cheat code at quarterback. Darian Mensah’s first 60 pass attempts this season produced a stat line that looks more like something from a video game than major college football. Somehow, the wildest part is not even his 796 passing yards.
Mensah completed 56 of those 60 attempts for a 93.3% completion rate, throwing 10 touchdowns without an interception. That means he threw more than twice as many touchdown passes as incompletions through his first 60 attempts, 10 touchdowns compared with just four misses.
Mensah also averaged 13.3 yards per attempt, eliminating the idea that Miami simply inflated his completion percentage with harmless throws around the line of scrimmage. There are hot starts, and then there is what Mensah has done for Miami.
Darian Mensah’s Miami Numbers Keep Getting More Absurd
Breaking down the numbers only makes them more difficult to comprehend. Mensah completed 14 passes for every one that fell incomplete through his first 60 attempts. He also threw a touchdown once every six attempts while averaging more than 14 yards per completion, combining elite efficiency with explosive production.
Even a quarterback operating in an extremely friendly offensive system should not be expected to produce that combination of accuracy, explosiveness and ball security. Mensah has not simply protected the football while settling for safe throws. Miami has received big-play production while barely watching the ball touch the ground.
The most impressive part might be what is missing from the stat line. There is no interception offsetting the touchdown production, and there are not enough incompletions to suggest Mensah is constantly hunting deep shots and accepting misses as the cost of doing business. Through this 60-attempt sample, almost everything that could go right when Mensah drops back to pass has gone right.
Miami May Have Somehow Done It Again at Quarterback
The start becomes even more notable because of the standard Miami has recently established at quarterback. The Hurricanes watched high-profile transfers Cam Ward and Carson Beck come through Coral Gables before Mensah became the latest accomplished quarterback to take over the offense. That created significant expectations before Mensah ever established himself as Miami’s starter.
Instead of merely keeping the position stable, Mensah’s opening numbers have immediately raised the ceiling. Miami has gone from wondering how it would replace another accomplished quarterback to watching its newest starter produce efficiency numbers that are difficult to sustain even against overmatched competition.
A 60-attempt sample is not an entire season, and nobody should expect Mensah to complete more than 93% of his passes indefinitely. Defenses will adjust, the competition will become more difficult and eventually more passes will hit the ground. None of that makes what Mensah has already accomplished any less remarkable. Even if the competition has been lesser than.
Miami fans can forget the percentages and look at the simplest version of the stat. Mensah’s first 60 attempts produced 56 completions, 796 yards, 10 touchdowns, zero interceptions and only four incompletions. Ten touchdown passes compared with four incomplete passes sounds almost impossible. It doesn’t matter who you are playing. Those are insane numbers that must be talked about.
For Miami, however, that has been the reality. Mensah has not merely provided efficient quarterback play. Through his first 60 throws of the season, he has been statistically absurd.
Miami’s Darian Mensah Has Somehow Taken QB Success to Absurd New Level