Mensah sets ACC consecutive-completions marks, defense rises in 4th as No. 5 Miami tops Wake Forest

Read the original at Toronto Star ↗
Cite

Beard, A. (2026, September 19). Mensah sets ACC consecutive-completions marks, defense rises in 4th as No. 5 Miami tops Wake Forest. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/mensah-sets-acc-consecutive-completions-marks-defense-rises-in-4th-as-no-5-miami-tops-wake-forest/article_1f6bc24b-2150-5e99-9be7-f7fcf0000b95.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Toronto Star · collected 2026-09-19 · by Aaron Beard

Quick Summary

Darian Mensah set an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) record for consecutive completions with 24 straight passes in the first half and added more to surpass Mitch Trubisky’s multi-game mark of 30, leading fifth-ranked Miami to a 33-20 victory over Wake Forest. Despite a strong offensive start by Mensah, who completed 30 of his 34 attempts for three touchdowns, Miami’s offense stalled late in the game. The Hurricanes’ defense then made four consecutive fourth-quarter stops, including a safety and two interceptions, to secure the win against Wake Forest's comeback attempt led by quarterback Gio Lopez.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Darian Mensah, a quarterback who transferred from Duke to Miami via Tulane, led Miami to a 33-20 victory over Wake Forest in an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) game on Friday night. During the game, Mensah set an ACC record by completing his first 24 passes and extended his streak of consecutive completions to 35, just one short of the FBS record. Despite a strong performance by Wake Forest's Gio Lopez, who threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns, Miami's defense stepped up with four straight fourth-quarter stops to secure the win. Mensah, now at the helm of an offense that ranks eighth in total yards per game nationally, has completed 71 of his first 79 passes this season with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, making him a strong Heisman Trophy candidate.

Written for “Darian Mensah Shines” on 2026-10-15, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Darian Mensah Shines
Sports · 4 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Toronto Star
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 35 📰 publisher trust 63
“Both articles describe Darian Mensah's performance in the football game where Miami played against Wake Forest on Friday night.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 8% hedged 1 of 13 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe the same football game between Miami and Wake Forest on September 18, 2026.”
New York Post
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 13 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles describe Darian Mensah's performance in the same game where Miami defeated Wake Forest on September 19, 2026.”
Fox News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 33% hedged 5 of 15 📰 publisher trust 68
“Article A describes the game itself, including specifics about Mensah's performance and the final score against Wake Forest. Article B discusses the implications of Mensah's performance over multiple games and his potential for a Heisman trophy.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
63/100
Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
4
Sports
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Toronto Star · 7263 article(s) · 20 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 20 correction(s)
2026-10-07
Correction
2026-09-24
Correction

Who wrote this

Aaron Beard
20 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 The ACC’s exit fee will decline each year before leveling off around $75 million per school that season, while media deals for other leagues are expiring around that time to create at least the potential for another wave of broad realignment.
🔮 And the top WNBA prospect could end up as Division I’s career steals leader along with ranking among its top 10 all-time scorers.
🔮 Nolan James Jr. did most of the work on the ground, then caught Carr’s short pass in the left flat and juked a would-be tackler off his feet to go in for a 6-yard TD and a 34-20 lead to open the fourth quarter.
🔮 Notre Dame (4-0) ranks 98th in the Bowl Subdivision in rushing offense at 141.8 yards entering the matchup with the Tar Heels (2-1), with junior Aneyas Williams and sophomore Nolan James Jr. each starting in the backfield so far this year.
🔮 But having that cohesion back didn’t eliminate rust, nor the ability to push past a tested Florida team in what could be a preview of yet another postseason reunion.
🔮 He had put it off to avoid a lengthy layoff that might interfere with the Hurricanes’ hopes as a perennial contender or the chance to represent his native Canada in the Olympics.
🔮 Still, Doeren’s squad couldn’t feel relaxed until James London’s 42-yard field goal went wide left with 45 seconds left.
🔮 Game of the week Wake Forest (2-1, 0-1 ACC) at No. 16 Louisville (2-1, 1-0), Saturday, noon ET (ESPN) The Cardinals won the battle of teams projected to be top contenders to preseason ACC favorite Miami, beating a ranked SMU team 41-31 at home last week.
🔮 Yet they proved last year they could manufacture a strong attack through sheer depth, with Carolina the only NHL team last year with seven different players having scored at least 20 goals, including top-line center Sebastian Aho, second-line center Logan Stankoven and last year’s free-agent addition Nikolaj Ehlers.
🔮 Doing so this week — after suffering one of the most stunning and improbable losses in recent memory in college football — will be a tougher challenge.
Also by Aaron Beard
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 20 articles by Aaron Beard →

Topics

ACC Hurricanes Miami Wake Forest the Demon Deacons

Subjects

Miami GPE · 7× Wake Forest ORG · 6× Lopez PERSON · 4× Mensah PERSON · 3× ACC ORG · 2× Hurricanes ORG · 2× the Demon Deacons ORG · 2× Darian Mensah PERSON · 1× N.C. GPE · 1× WINSTON-SALEM GPE · 1×

Narrative

Menah added a short TD throw to star sophomore receiver Malachi Toney as Miami (3-0, 2-0) took a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see its prolific offense grind to an abrupt halt with four straight three-and-outs while seeing multiple players get banged up.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19

Claims (17 extracted, 0 hedged)

Darian Mensah connected on his first 24 passes on the way to setting Atlantic Coast Conference records for consecutive completions, and fifth-ranked Miami’s defense came up with four straight fourth-quarter stops to beat Wake Forest 33-20 on Friday night. asserted
defense → connect → night
Mensah completed 30 of 34 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns, including a 9-yarder to Joshua Moore on the game’s first possession and a perfect-execution throw back to the left side on Elija Lofton’s 21-yard score. asserted
Mensah → complete → score
Menah added a short TD throw to star sophomore receiver Malachi Toney as Miami (3-0, 2-0) took a 31-7 lead midway through the third quarter, only to see its prolific offense grind to an abrupt halt with four straight three-and-outs while seeing multiple players get banged up. asserted
players → add → outs
That ultimately gave the Hurricanes’ defense its chance to step up as Wake Forest tried to rally. asserted
Forest → give → chance
Gio Lopez threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns for the Demon Deacons (2-1, 0-1), including a perfect throw to the back right corner of the end zone for Carlos Hernandez on a 17-yard strike that pulled Wake Forest to 31-20 with 14:56 left. asserted
that → throw → 14:56
But from there, Miami’s defense pressured Lopez in the end zone to draw a holding penalty for a safety. asserted
defense → pressure → safety
Then, after Wake Forest drove all the way to the Miami 13, the Hurricanes again pressured Lopez into an inaccurate throw on fourth down in the end zone. asserted
Hurricanes → drive → zone
Miami freshman JJ Dunnigan followed by rushing around the end to harass Lopez into another hurried and off-target throw on fourth down with 5:24 left. asserted
Dunnigan → follow → 5:24
Then Ethan O’Connor picked off Lopez’s pass at the 2:24 mark in the red zone, effectively ending this one. asserted
O’Connor → pick → one
The takeaway Miami: The Hurricanes had been nothing short of dominant while leading the country in total offense (702.5) and ranking second in the Bowl Subdivision ranks in scoring (61.0), which had been part of their jump. asserted
which → lead → jump
The defense’s play late offered a positive in a relatively close game compared to a pair of blowouts to open the year. asserted
play → offer → year
The Demon Deacons were chasing a rare win against the nation’s elite. asserted
Deacons → chase → elite
They entered Friday with a 1-68 mark against teams in the top 10 of The Associated Press college football poll, with the only win coming against No. 4 Tennessee in 1946. asserted
win → enter → 1946
One culprit in this setback: 13 penalties for 137 yards, including two that negated big fourth-quarter punt returns. asserted
that → include → returns
Mensah ultimately completed 35 straight passes going back to last week against Florida A&M, breaking the ACC mark of 30 consecutive completions over multiple games set by North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky in September 2016. asserted
Mensah → complete → September
His 24-for-24 start broke the ACC single-game record of 18, held by three players. asserted
start → break → players
Up next Miami: Hosts Central Michigan next Saturday. asserted
Miami → host → Michigan
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