No. 7 Miami set to play host to Florida A&M in Hurricanes' home opener on Thursday

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MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Wide receiver Malachi Toney and quarterback Darian Mensah rewrote the Miami record book in their first game as teammates, getting the Hurricanes' season off to a flying start.

They're not celebrating quite yet.

“I think there's always room to improve,” Mensah said.

That's the mindset Miami coach Mario Cristobal wants his team to have this week, with the seventh-ranked Hurricanes (1-0) hosting lower-division Florida A&M (1-1) on Thursday night. The Hurricanes are coming off a 45-6 rout at Stanford, where Toney broke a 42-year-old school record with 234 receiving yards and Mensah completed 27 of 30 passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns — the best numbers by any quarterback making his first Miami start.

“I think we’re constantly looking to get better,” said Cristobal, who is two wins shy of 100 for his career. “There’s no area where we felt we hit it out of the park completely. And certainly, we got right back to work with a tremendous amount of energy.”

There will be at least one change in Miami's starting lineup. Cornerback OJ Frederique Jr. appeared to injure his left shoulder on Miami's opening defensive series at Stanford and Cristobal said this week that the junior will miss significant time while recovering.

To put Toney's effort at Stanford into perspective, consider that the sophomore moved up 17 spots on Miami's all-time receiving yards list in one game. He entered 43rd on the list and finished 26th after his 234-yard night.

His 121 career catches are 11th most in Miami history — after only 17 college games.

Miami is seeking a 20th consecutive win in home openers. Oddly, Florida A&M has already played a game in Hard Rock Stadium this season — the Rattlers lost to South Carolina State on Sunday in the Orange Blossom Classic.

Florida A&M beat Miami 16-13 in Tallahassee when the teams first met in 1979. Every game since has been a home game for the Hurricanes; Miami is 11-0 in those contests, outscoring the Rattlers 567-68 in those games.

The teams last met in 2024, a 56-9 Miami victory.

Neither team had a ton of practice time to get ready for Thursday night.

Miami played at Stanford on Friday, then flew home and landed back in Miami around 8 a.m. Saturday before getting back to work on Sunday.

Florida A&M played on Sunday, giving it even fewer days to focus on the matchup with the Hurricanes.

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