by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com
Week Three of the 2026 College Football season continues tonight with an ACC battle featuring undefeated teams as No. 5 Miami (2-0) visits Wake Forest (2-0) at Allegacy Federal Credit Union Stadium on ESPN. The schools are meeting for the first time since the 2024 season when Miami pounded visiting Wake Forest 42-14. Miami has won eight in a row against Wake Forest dating back to the 1971 season.
Miami is a 20.5-point favorite and the total is 55.5.
WHAT BOTH TEAMS DID IN WEEK 2
The fifth-ranked Hurricanes are coming off a 77-7 annihilation of the lower-division Florida A&M Rattlers (1-2) at home one week ago. Miami’s 77 points tied a school record and their 856 yards set a school record. Starting quarterback Darian Mensah and backup Luke Nickel each passed for three touchdowns in the win. Both players combined to go 22-23 from the field against FAMU.
Hurricane running backs Javian Mallory (10 rushes for 142 yards) and Mark Fletcher Jr. (7 rushes for 105 yards) each topped 100 yards and scored two touchdowns. Five Miami wide receivers caught a touchdown. Superstar wideout Malachi Toney led the team with four catches for 96 yards and scored a touchdown.
Miami has outscored their first two opponents by a combined score of 122-13.
Wake Forest outlasted Purdue 38-36 in double overtime last Saturday on the road. With Wake Forest trailing 36-30 in the second overtime, quarterback Gio Lopez scored on a three-yard touchdown to tie the game and then ran for the two-point conversion to win it for the Deamon Deacons. Lopez completed 16 of 27 passes for 225 yards and a touchdown; he also rushed for a team-high 58 yards on 14 carries and scored a team-high two rushing touchdowns.
GAME STORYLINES: MIAMI
When the University of Miami hired former standout player Mario Cristobal as its head coach prior to the 2022 season, he joined the program with high expectations after leading the Oregon Ducks to records of 11-2 and 10-2 in his final two full seasons as their head coach. Cristobal was an outstanding player for the Hurricanes from 1988-1992 and played in the NFL briefly.
After posting underwhelming records of 5-7 and 7-6 in his first two seasons as Miami’s head coach, Mario Cristobal really turned things around over the next two seasons, finishing 10-3 in 2024 and 13-3 in 2025. Last year, Miami nabbed the final College Football Playoff bid (16th seed) and advanced all the way to the BCS Championship game where they narrowly fell to Indiana 27-21.
A big reason for Miami’s success over the past two seasons was Mario Cristobal hitting the transfer portal and signing quarterbacks who ended up being exceptional for the Hurricanes. Cam Ward excelled with Miami in 2024 and became the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft. Carson Beck followed suit last season. Beck was selected in the third round of the 2026 NFL draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
And for a third year in a row, Miami hit the transfer portal again for its starting quarterback. This time around, Miami brought in Duke star quarterback Darian Mensah. The 6-foot-3 Mensah compiled a sensational sophomore season at Duke last year where he passed for 3,973 with 34 touchdowns to 6 interceptions on 66.8 percent completions.
The 2026 campaign has seen Darian Mensah pick up where he left off at Duke last season through the first two games. He’s thrown for 653 yards with 8 touchdowns to no interceptions while completing an astounding 91.1 percent of his passes. Due to Mensah’s hot start, he is now the favorite to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy at (+575). Mensah is also soaring up the 2027 mock draft boards and will likely be a high first round pick in the 2027 NFL draft.
Superstar sophomore wideout Malachi Toney established himself as one of the top pass catchers in the nation last year as a true freshman when he caught 109 passes for a school-record 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns. Toney’s sophomore season is off to a spectacular start this year as he’s totaled 16 catches for 330 yards and 4 touchdowns through two games. Toney registered a breath-taking performance in Miami’s 45-6 season opening win at Stanford where he caught 12 passes for a school-record 234 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The combination of Darian Mensah and Malachi Toney have the chance to become one of the most prolific quarterback-wideout duos in college football history.
On defense, Miami lost two significant contributors in edge rushers Rueben Bain Jr. (54 tackles, 9.5 sacks last yr) and Akheem Mesidor (63 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 4 forced fumbles last yr) to the NFL. Both guys were selected in the first round of the NFL draft which illustrates the tremendous talent that they possessed. Bain went 15th overall to Tampa Bay, while Mesidor went 22nd to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The Hurricanes brought in star defensive lineman Damon Wilson II from Missouri to help fill the void left by Bain and Mesidor. Wilson recorded 9 sacks last year for Missouri and was Second-Team All-SEC. Wilson has yet to make much of an impact through two games due to Miami not being challenged against Stanford and Florida A&M, but his resume suggests he’ll be a disruptive force once Miami plays teams who can compete with them.
GAME STORYLINES: WAKE FOREST DEMON DECONS
Last season, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons were one of the biggest surprises in college football when they finished 9-4 and concluded the season with a 43-29 win over Mississippi State in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl. Wake’s 9 wins was their most since 2021, and tied for their second-most wins since 2007. Head coach Jake Dickert exceeded expectations in his first season a year ago after inheriting a program coming off back-to-back 4-8 campaigns.
Wake Forest entered the 2026 season with subdued expectations after losing their starting quarterback in dual-threat senior Robby Ashford to graduation and leading rusher Demond Claiborne to graduation/NFL. Claiborne rushed for 2,599 yards in his four seasons at Wake Forest and is now a member of the Minnesota Vikings after they selected him in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL draft.
Quarterback Gio Lopez was the biggest transfer portal acquisition for Wake Forest. Lopez transferred to Wake Forest from North Carolina, where he spent one season playing for legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick in his debut season as a head coach in college football. The 6-foot Lopez totaled 32 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in his 3 previous seasons over two years at South Alabama and 1 year at North Carolina. He also rushed for 743 yards over his 3 college seasons.
Gio Lopez has been excellent through two games at Wake Forest. He’s thrown for 575 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing for 97 yards and a touchdown. He was phenomenal in Wake’s thrilling double overtime win at Purdue last week. It looks like Lopez will be the right fit at Wake Forest.
The returning duo of senior wide receiver Carlos Hernandez (11 catches for 253 yards, 1 TD this yr) and junior Ty Clark III (19 carries for 141 yards, 1 TD this yr) look to be emerging as Wake’s top skill position threats this year. Hernandez followed head coach Jake Dickert from Washington State to Wake Forest in 2025. He led Wake in catches (40) and receiving yards (611) last season.
THE PICK: MIAMI (-20.5)
Miami has won 23 games over the past two seasons and made it to the BCS National Championship game last season, but this team appears to be better than the 2024 and 2025 squads. I expect the lethal combo of quarterback Darian Mensah and wide receiver Malachi Toney to continue their exemplary play tonight in Winston-Salem. Lay the Big Points…Miami 48, Wake Forest 20