Darian Mensah, Mark Fletcher Jr. lead unbeaten No. 4 Miami past Clemson

Miami quarterback Darian Mensah flashes “the U” during the second half of Saturday’s game at Clemson. ©Jacob Kupferman
CLEMSON, S.C. — Darian Mensah threw for 227 yards and a touchdown and had a 34-yard scoring run as No. 4 Miami routed Clemson 41-13 on Saturday night to seize sole possession of first place in the ACC.
Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 77 yards and two touchdowns, and Cooper Barkate added five catches for 98 yards — including a 66-yard TD reception — for the Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0 ACC), who started 5-0 for the second straight season.
Freshman Tait Reynolds completed 29 of 44 passes for a career-high 295 yards with one interception for Clemson (4-2, 2-1), which came in as a 17 1/2-point home underdog, the largest spread in the Dabo Swinney era.
It was the fourth-worst loss for the Tigers under Swinney.
There was a ton of energy in Memorial Stadium leading up to the primetime kickoff, but Clemson went three-and-out on its first series and Mensah responded by throwing a quick tunnel screen to Barkate, who beat two defenders and raced to the end zone on Miami’s second play from scrimmage for a 7-0 lead.
Clemson cornerback Elliot Washington II tackles Miami wide receiver Cooper Barkate in the first half.
It marked the 23rd straight game Mensah has thrown a TD pass dating to his time at Duke, where he led the Blue Devils to the ACC championship last season.
Mensah made it 17-3 when he scampered 34 yards for a score, fumbling just before he got to the end zone, then recovering it in the end zone, and the nation’s No. 1 offense seemed poised to blow out the Tigers.
Clemson’s defense stiffened, forcing two punts and a turnover on downs to keep the Tigers in the game.
But Reynolds and the offense couldn’t get on track.
He was sacked five times by the country’s No. 2-ranked defense in the first half. The Hurricanes eventually wore down Clemson’s defense, and Fletcher walked into the end zone from 2 yards out late in the third quarter to make it 24-6.
Miami defensive back Bryce Fitzgerald tackles Clemson tight end Christian Bentancur in the first half.
Clemson found the end zone on a 2-yard run by Gideon Davidson with 12 minutes remaining, but Fletcher scored his second touchdown of the game by vaulting over the line and into the end zone.
JJ Dunnigan returned a Reynolds interception for a touchdown for the final margin.
Injuries pile up early on Miami
Hurricanes starting right tackle Matthew McCoy and right guard Max Buchanan both left in the first half, although McCoy did return in the second.
The takeaway
Miami: Mensah came into the game completing 88.7% of his passes while averaging more than 300 yards passing per game with 14 touchdowns and no interceptions and only 12 incompletions. While this wasn’t his best statistical performance it was enough to get the win. And Miami showed its balance and ability to run the ball with Fletcher.
Clemson: The Tigers offensive line needs to find a way to protect Reynolds. Clemson’s defense played well considering the opponent, but the Tigers hurt themselves with 10 penalties for 91 yards.
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