Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah spoke with the media ahead of Saturday's matchup against the Central Michigan Chippewas. Mensah reflected on the Hurricanes win against the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and also touched on what he has saw from the Chippewas defense, while also naming Dre Jacobs and Somourian Wingo to step up after the Josh Moore injury.
Check out everything he had to say down below:
On who he think will step up after Josh Moore injury: Yeah, I think there's a bunch of guys who could step up, but the two that come to mind I'd say are Dre Jacobs and Somourian Wingo. I think they're, you know, explosive playmakers, and they've got the opportunity. And so I think it's their time to go take advantage of it.
On whether he could have read anything differently against Wake Forest: Not necessarily. I'd say just the execution and our physicality in the second half was the only thing that really changed. And if anything, I think that would just be doing too much. Obviously we were executing at a high level in the first half, and so we just needed to continue to do that, and our level of play kind of just dropped.
On how correctable the second-half execution issues are: Very correctable. I think that at the end of the day it's a mental thing more than anything to just get, or just be less physical than you were in the previous two quarters. So just I think that's on me as a leader too, just go out there and really emphasize to the guys that there's no letup, like we have to go out and execute every time we touch the ball. And so, yeah, it's on me to go and make sure the guys are mentally prepared to go out and physically dominate.
On being part of Adidas’ ‘01 throwback jersey commercial: It was really awesome to be around those guys. Those legends was a super dope opportunity, and to get, you know, just knowledge from those guys was pretty dope. Ed Reed was really good, really cool to be around. So yeah, it was an awesome experience, but, you know, all focus is on Central Michigan.
On starting the season with 90% completions and what he envisioned: Well, obviously I envisioned success. I'm a huge believer in visualization, and so I visualized, having a hot start and continuing to do that. But I think what's clicking so well is just my guys up front are protecting, and obviously my receivers are catching the ball at a high clip. I don't have a lot of drops, and so shout out to those guys. But I think I just fit in this offense, and, you know, he calls the stuff that I like to do, and so I think that's why I'm executing at a high clip.
On Central Michigan defense: A physical group that plays very hard. They got some good ball players on that side of the ball, and they do some funky stuff, funky stuff up front, and so we've been preparing for that all week. But super excited to go play at home again this week. But super excited to play at home this week.
On handling Miami’s unusual Thursday and Friday game schedule to start the season: I think we handled it exceptionally. Obviously it's hard to, because I'm a huge, like, routine person, and so to go and have our routine switched up for three weeks in a row kind of just shows the resilience, the resiliency of our team. And so I think, we handled it great. But yeah, excited to get our schedule back going and play this Saturday.
Check out everything he had to say down below:
On who he think will step up after Josh Moore injury: Yeah, I think there's a bunch of guys who could step up, but the two that come to mind I'd say are Dre Jacobs and Somourian Wingo. I think they're, you know, explosive playmakers, and they've got the opportunity. And so I think it's their time to go take advantage of it.
On whether he could have read anything differently against Wake Forest: Not necessarily. I'd say just the execution and our physicality in the second half was the only thing that really changed. And if anything, I think that would just be doing too much. Obviously we were executing at a high level in the first half, and so we just needed to continue to do that, and our level of play kind of just dropped.
On how correctable the second-half execution issues are: Very correctable. I think that at the end of the day it's a mental thing more than anything to just get, or just be less physical than you were in the previous two quarters. So just I think that's on me as a leader too, just go out there and really emphasize to the guys that there's no letup, like we have to go out and execute every time we touch the ball. And so, yeah, it's on me to go and make sure the guys are mentally prepared to go out and physically dominate.
On being part of Adidas’ ‘01 throwback jersey commercial: It was really awesome to be around those guys. Those legends was a super dope opportunity, and to get, you know, just knowledge from those guys was pretty dope. Ed Reed was really good, really cool to be around. So yeah, it was an awesome experience, but, you know, all focus is on Central Michigan.
On starting the season with 90% completions and what he envisioned: Well, obviously I envisioned success. I'm a huge believer in visualization, and so I visualized, having a hot start and continuing to do that. But I think what's clicking so well is just my guys up front are protecting, and obviously my receivers are catching the ball at a high clip. I don't have a lot of drops, and so shout out to those guys. But I think I just fit in this offense, and, you know, he calls the stuff that I like to do, and so I think that's why I'm executing at a high clip.
On Central Michigan defense: A physical group that plays very hard. They got some good ball players on that side of the ball, and they do some funky stuff, funky stuff up front, and so we've been preparing for that all week. But super excited to go play at home again this week. But super excited to play at home this week.
On handling Miami’s unusual Thursday and Friday game schedule to start the season: I think we handled it exceptionally. Obviously it's hard to, because I'm a huge, like, routine person, and so to go and have our routine switched up for three weeks in a row kind of just shows the resilience, the resiliency of our team. And so I think, we handled it great. But yeah, excited to get our schedule back going and play this Saturday.
