The Duke transfer QB shined in a day filled with competition on both sides of the ball 

The Miami Hurricanes wrapped up their spring camp on Saturday morning with their annual Spring game, blending more of a practice-style day of standard drills with a live scrimmage that gave the Hurricane faithful an early look at what to expect in 2026.  

The morning began with routine positional work with one-on-ones between the WRs and DBs, where the main headliners coming out of that was the ridiculous effort made by Malachi Toney on a one-handed grab in the back of the endzone, and the unfortunate injury of Joshua Moore who was carted off the field due to a leg injury.  

After that began scrimmage play where the defense was having their way early on, taking away the explosive plays and putting the offense into uncomfortable situations. But once #10 behind center eased in, he certainly did not look back.  

Duke transfer QB Darian Mensah would finish his day with 3 TD passes, and all three of them simply looked routine for him. His first of the day came to nonother than his former Duke teammate Cooper Barkate on a 30-yard pass to the right corner of the endzone that would get his run started. Just a few moments after, he would hit Daylyn Upshaw in almost the same exact area for a 33-yard score and would then finish off his day throwing one more to West Virginia Cam Vaughn on a 5-yard slant route.  

“You saw some really accurate, long, difficult, high-degree difficulty throws today that he hit, and a couple others that we have to come up with,” said HC Mario Cristobal post-scrimmage on Mensah.  

Despite the strong showing from Mensah, key players in the offense like senior RB Mark Fletcher Jr. and WR Malachi Toney were both limited in the scrimmage, leaving a lot of opportunities for others to step in and showcase what they have to offer.  

“They wanted to play,” said Cristobal post-scrimmage on Toney and Fletcher. “That is the kind of people they are.” 

At the end of the day, the spring finale felt less like your average spring game and more like what it’s been intended to be since Mario Cristobal took over, and that is a checkpoint in Miami’s development after a month of working. Still, there was a lot to be encouraged about moving forward if you’re a Miami fan. As spring ball ends, the focus shifts towards the summer and preseason to come. 

(Photo Credit: Christian Proscia, NewEraPrep)