Miami quarterback Darian Mensah was on the run frequently during the Hurricanes’ double-overtime victory against Florida State on Saturday.

The Seminoles’ defense gave UM’s offensive line fits, and the result was several throws under pressure and one sack. Sometimes, Mensah scrambled and found a receiver. Other times, his passes were off the mark (including Mensah’s first interception of the season).

The No. 1 Hurricanes need to keep opponents from pressuring Mensah to keep their offense, which is first in points and second in yards nationally, moving.

“We are going to get better,” center Ryan Rodriguez said, “and the way you do get better is just practice it, rep it.”

The Hurricanes performed well when blocking in the run game as UM amassed 257 rushing yards (its season-high against FBS competition). But FSU consistently found ways to get pressure on Mensah. The Hurricanes allowed 14 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. That is the most quarterback pressures allowed by UM since a win over Virginia Tech on Sept. 27, 2024. The Hurricanes had not allowed more than nine in a game this season.

Miami’s tackles struggled, in particular. Left tackle Samson Okunlola allowed seven quarterback pressures, and right tackle Matt McCoy allowed five.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal attributed the Seminoles’ success to their defensive stunts (a defensive maneuver when players change roles or change positions in order to confuse blockers).

“They junked it up front a bunch … When I say ‘junk it up,’ a lot of twists and games, they did,” Cristobal said. “And some of that stuff, at times, was difficult and other times, it was blocked fairly well. One time on counter pass, our guard literally got tripped by the center and guard, so there was no one blocking the edge. (Mensah) finds a way to get out of it twice, spins around, hits a deep shot to Daylyn. So there’s a lot of good stuff on there.

“When you have (583) yards of offense, I think everybody has a hand in it. And like every other position, a lot of positives and some other things to work on, but all in all, just proud of that unit and the way we continue to improve.”

This is why Miami’s OL struggled to pickup Stunts vs Florida State ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/0Rem4kV8tf

— LandonTengwall (@LandonTengwall) October 20, 2026

Keeping pressure off Mensah is crucial for UM’s offense. When Mensah is kept clean in the pocket, he has a completion percentage of 88.5, which is No. 1 in the nation among quarterbacks with 10 or more dropbacks under pressure. When he is under pressure, his completion percentage falls to 54.1 percent.

“We know (stunts have) been a weakness for us,” Rodriguez said. “We know teams are going to try to exploit that. We’ve got to get better at that, and we are very conscious of that. … You can’t just show up, be on different levels, be on different pages and try to be one-on-one. If everyone tries to be one-on-one, we’re going to get picked. We’ve got to try to block everybody as a group — three people blocking three people, two people blocking two people — and it’ll be a lot cleaner.”

Rodriguez said fixing the issue requires a mix of better recognition at the line of scrimmage and better technique after the snap.

“A little bit of both,” Rodriguez said. “If you could get a tell that they’re going to do something and you get a jump on it, it makes it a lot easier. But where they could get you is when you don’t expect it and when you’re not on the same page and they pick you, they get a little leak and that’s where the pressure comes. Got to be on the same page. If you can see it, we’re good. But something we’re going to improve on. We’ve got to watch more film, try to look out for those things more. And we’re going to keep working.”