'He's Special': Miami's Darian Mensah Looks To Outdo His First Clemson Performance

Darian Mensah is the best quarterback in the country, even is there is come compeition at the top. Some will point to Trindad Chambliss, who is a special talent, but Mensah's stats continue to compare to legends early this season.

Mensah leads the FBS in completion percentage (88.7), yards per attempt (11.4), TD passes (14), and passer efficiency rating (228.2). He is second in the ACC in passing yards, but he also has zero interceptions to add to it.

Now, the Heisman hopeful quarterback returns for another game against a familiar foe. He battled Clemson last season as a Duke Blue Devil and defeated the Tigers.

Duke Blue Devils quarterback Darian Mensah (10) throws the ball Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025, during the NCAA football game against the Clemson Tigers at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It was an electric performance where Mensah threw for 361 yards and four touchdowns. He wasn't as accurate as he has been this season, passing for 27-of-41, but it was his overall best game of the season last season.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knows what's coming. He saw Mensah and Cooper Barkate last season when the Blue Devils entered Death Valley and walked out with a victory.

"Very accurate, places the ball really well," Swinney said. "If you make a mistake, he's gonna make you pay. We had two massive busts for touchdowns last year. One, we're bringing a corner cat, and he sees it and he fakes away to let the cat come. The problem is we brought a safety blitz too. That's no bueno, all right? That ain't no good there, okay? And, eight yards later, you can't blitz your safety and your corner at the same time. And so he knew it was coming.

"He saw it, and instead of being a critical tackle, because we busted. So if you bust, he's gonna make you pay. So you better have 11 guys all on the same page doing their job. Obviously right before the half he scored in like 20 seconds.

"Really poor job of us defensively as coaches in that situation. But, so he made us pay on some plays. We hung in there, battled, and then I think they went 90 yards, that last drive, and he made every critical play. So we just didn't affect him. We just didn't affect him enough. He's a good football player. Really good player. He's special."

Mensah understands what is ahead of him. Even with all the great stats, he is not impressed with himself and is only focused on winning as a team.

"I'm really just trying to go 1 and 0 every week," Mensah said. "It's cool to be 90%, but, nobody gives you a trophy for being 90%. So, doesn't really mean anything to me."

Mensah prepares for Clemson and for another great performance to add to his Heisman campaign.

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