Miami entered Saturday as a 20.5-point favorite and barely escaped Florida State with a 43-35 double-overtime win. But apparently, Darian Mensah had more room for error than anyone expected. Cameras caught the quarterback spinning toward a referee as if ready to throw a punch, only to back off once he realized who it was. The officials? Not a single flag. And with Miami preparing for a crucial two-point conversion, fans weren’t buying the no-call.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Mensah was shown getting in an FSU defender’s face and talking trash before a referee tapped him on the shoulder. Mensah spun around as if ready to throw a punch, only to back off when he realized it was an official. No flag was thrown, prompting fans to question how the QB avoided a personal foul penalty.
“Darian Mensah just did this to the ref and doesn’t get flagged?? Keep in mind, this should’ve been a 15-yard penalty before a crucial 2 pt conversion. Anybody else in the country and that’s a personal foul. How is this not called?” Everything Ole Miss posted on X.
According to the post, it happened ahead of the two-point try in the second overtime. Miami was sitting at 41-35 after Mensah’s three-yard touchdown pass to Malachi Toney. Overtime raised the stakes, with Miami needing every point in a tight finish, but the incident involving Mensah went unflagged. The quarterback finished 23-of-34 for 326 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception, despite Florida State generating 14 pressures, its season high against Miami’s offensive line.
The game was tied 14-14 at halftime after FSU scored following a run of Miami penalties that gave it the ball at the 15-yard line with 2:08 left. Florida State took its first lead in the third quarter after a turnover on downs, and it also picked off Mensah for the first time this season. Miami went through a stretch of punts, an interception, and two turnovers on downs. Then the fourth quarter turned.
Mensah hit Toney for 35 yards, and Javian Mallory ran it in to tie it at 21. The defense forced a fumble, and Mensah found Elija Lofton for a 28-21 lead. Duce Robinson answered with a 75-yard touchdown on one play to tie it at 28. In overtime, Robinson caught a 20-yard touchdown for FSU, and Mallory scored for Miami.
“Darian is about as resilient and as tough as it gets,” Mario Cristobal said after the game.
Had Miami lost, the program would have seen its undefeated run end at 6-0, likely costing it a chance to climb to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time since 2002.
By Mensah’s own standards, it was not a clean night. His season line still holds up: an 80.8% completion rate, 1,764 yards, 18 touchdowns, one interception, plus 85 rushing yards and two scores.
Miami has the highest-scoring offense in the country at 48.5 points per game. His Heisman odds at FanDuel moved up after Week 7, behind only Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith. Now, Miami hosts Pitt next Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium, then travels to North Carolina on October 31.