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The Miami Hurricanes reached the national championship game a year ago, losing to the Indiana Hoosiers.
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Miami saw some impact players go to the NFL, like starting quarterback Carson Beck. Yet, Mario Cristobal and his staff did a tremendous job in landing former Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah in the transfer portal.
Mensah wasn’t the top-ranked quarterback in the transfer portal, but he might as well have been, as he’s looking like the real deal. Through two games, Mensah is 41-of-45 for 653 yards and 8 touchdowns, while he’s yet to throw an interception and has sat out multiple quarters already.
Although Miami hasn’t played a ranked opponent, its Week 1 win on the road against Stanford is solid. The Hurricanes dominated Stanford in all three phases en route to a 45-6 win.
Miami has picked up right where they left off last year when they reached the national championship. And the Hurricanes are even better on offense, backed by Mensah at quarterback and Malachi Toney at wide receiver.
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Mensah is currently the Heisman favorite at +500, but he has played two games already. Yet, Mensah has fit in nicely in Miami’s offense, and the Hurricanes should only get better.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes have a rather easy schedule, as Miami’s only ranked opponent on the schedule is Notre Dame on the road on Nov. 7. Even if Miami loses, the Hurricanes should cruise to an ACC title and a top-four seed and a first-round bye.
So, through Miami’s first two games of the 2026 college football season, the Hurricanes look like true national title contenders and could very well be the team to beat this season.
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The Hurricanes currently have odds of +800 to win the national championship, which is the fifth-best odds.
Miami Hurricanes Offense Off to Historic Start
Through two games, Miami’s offense is the best in college football and it has no signs of slowing down.
The Hurricanes set a school record for yards and tied the mark for points in a game with their 77-7 win over Florida A&M on Thursday. Miami had 856 yards of offense, breaking the mark of 750 against Ball State in 2024.
Miami has now scored 122 points in two games and also had a school-record 42 first downs on Thursday.
“Pretty ridiculous,” Mensah said about Miami’s offense. “It’s just a testament to the guys up front.”
Although the level of competition isn’t great, the Hurricanes look like the real deal, and Cristobal said the team is just focusing on what they have in front of them.
“We did a lot,” said Cristobal. “Certainly, just wanted to see our guys play fast and free and improve. That was the most important thing; (going) 1-0 is always the goal, but in college football every single week you better get better. In some respects, I think we did that tonight.”
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Miami will go on the road to play Wake Forest next Friday.
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This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 10:33 AM.