Hurricanes offense wows with 856 yards, 42 first downs in 77-7 onslaught

The No. 7 Hurricanes wowed offensively to the tune of 77 points, 856 yards and a whopping 42 first downs in a 77-7 onslaught of FCS Florida A&M in their home opener in Miami Gardens, Florida.

"Pretty ridiculous," quarterback Darian Mensah said.

The offensive stats were jaw-dropping -- and history-making.

• The 77 points tied the program record and tied the fourth-most of any game in ACC history.

• The 856 yards were a program record and the second-most in any game in ACC history.

• And the 42 first downs set an ACC record and were the most by any FBS team since 2019.

But it didn't stop there.

The Hurricanes had nine different players with a scrimmage TD, tied for the most by any ACC team in the last 30 years. They became the second team since at least 2000 to not face a third down in a half, which they did in the opening 30 minutes in racing out to a 49-0 lead at the break. They scored touchdowns on 11 of their first 12 possessions, the lone exception a one-play drive to kneel out the clock to end the first half. And they had 16 players catch at least one pass, the first time a FBS school has done that since 2022.

"We did a lot," said coach Mario Cristobal, who got his 99th career win and saw Miami improve to 2-0 on the season. "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."

The Hurricanes had 100 points well in their sights after upping their lead to 77-0 after three quarters, but they eased off the gas pedal in the final frame. The teams agreed to shave five minutes off the fourth-quarter clock, playing 10 minutes instead of the standard 15.

Mensah started for Miami and completed 14 of 15 passes for 252 yards and three first-half touchdowns. He's now 41 of 45 for 653 yards and eight TDs in his first two games as a Hurricane after leaving Duke after last season.

"It means a lot," he said. "Obviously, I wanted to play well. Canes fans were very supportive of me when I first got here, so to kind of give that back on the field with my play means a lot to me."

Luke Nickel replaced him in the second half and also had three TD passes. They became the first power-conference teammates to have three TD passes in the same game since Patrick Mahomes and Nic Shimonek did it for Texas Tech against Kansas in 2016.

Javian Mallory and Mark Fletcher Jr. each rushed for two scores, and Malachi Toney -- one of six Miami receivers with a touchdown catch -- had four grabs for 96 yards.

Florida A&M (1-2) finished with 107 yards, averaging a mere 2.3 yards per snap.

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.