Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for two touchdowns and Darian Mensah passed for a touchdown and ran for another to lead No. 4 Miami to a 41-13 win over host Clemson on Saturday night.
The Hurricanes (5-0, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into sole possession of first place in the ACC while beating the Tigers (3-2, 2-1 ACC) on their home field for the first time since 2010.
It was Miami’s second-largest margin of victory against Clemson and largest since a 39-7 win in 1953.
Miami’s defense recorded six sacks, including five in the first half, against Clemson quarterback Tait Reynolds. Reynolds completed 29 of 44 passes for 295 yards with no touchdowns and one interception, which resulted in a 39-yard pick-six by Miami’s JJ Dunnigan to close the scoring.
Damon Wilson II led the Hurricanes’ pass rush with 2 1/2 sacks. Ahmad Moten forced a Reynolds fumble with 1:41 left in the third, which was recovered by Herbert Scroggins and led to a Jake Weinberg 24-yard field goal to put the Hurricanes ahead 27-6 early in the fourth.
Reynolds led a six-play, 75-yard drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown dive by Gideon Davidson to give the Tigers faint hopes of a comeback with 12:09 left in the fourth.
Miami put the game away with a nine-play drive that covered 62 yards on all rushing plays, capped when Fletcher leaped over the top and into the end zone from 2 yards out. Fletcher finished with 77 yards on 16 carries.
Mensah completed 18 of 27 passes for 227 yards and threw a touchdown pass on his first attempt. He connected with Cooper Barkate on a bubble screen and the latter raced for a 61-yard touchdown.
Mensah accounted for another score that nearly resulted in a turnover when he took off up the middle, but was hit by Corian Gipson and fumbled the ball into the end zone. The ball took a favorable bounce and Mensah was able to land on it for a touchdown for a 17-3 lead.
The Tigers cut the deficit to 17-6 on the final play of the first half and had a chance to get closer, but Miami linebacker Chase Smith made two consecutive stops in the red zone on third-and-2 and fourth-and-2 to force a turnover on downs.
Miami pushed its lead to 24-6 on a 14-play drive covering 83 yards that took nearly eight minutes, ending with Fletcher’s 2-yard touchdown run with 1:51 left in the third.