MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The first half was shaky. The second half was all Miami.
Mark Fletcher Jr. rushed for 106 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, Miami’s defense was airtight for much of the game and the ninth-ranked Hurricanes pulled away for a 42-7 win over Stanford on Saturday night.
Carson Beck — coming off the first four-interception game of his career in last week’s loss to Louisville — completed 21 of 28 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown to CJ Daniels for Miami (6-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), while Jordan Lyle and Girard Pringle Jr. also ran for touchdowns.
It was Miami’s biggest victory margin in an ACC game since beating Duke 47-10 on Nov. 27, 2021.
“Mark Fletcher showed why he’s such a great player and why he’s so important to this football team.” Miami coach Mario Cristobal said.
Miami had touchdowns on six of its last seven possessions; the one drive where it didn’t score in that span saw the Hurricanes stopped on a fourth-down try at the Stanford 21.
“Proud of the way our guys stuck with it,” Cristobal said.
Malachi Toney had 138 all-purpose yards, 73 of them coming on a pair of punt returns for the Hurricanes. Miami passed for 205 yards and rushed for 199, outgaining Stanford 404-144.
“That right there was the standard for University of Miami football,” Toney said.
Cole Tabb rushed for 64 yards for Stanford (3-5, 2-3) in the first-ever meeting between the Hurricanes and the Cardinal. Ben Gulbranson threw for Stanford’s lone touchdown and completed five of his first six passes for 31 yards; he was 4-for-15 with two interceptions and only 19 yards the rest of the way.
Stanford led 7-0 after one quarter and it was 7-7 at the half. The rest was all Miami, in a reversal of the game that Stanford interim coach Frank Reich — then the Maryland quarterback — had against the Hurricanes in 1984, when he rallied his team out of a 31-0 halftime hole and won 42-40.
This time, the Hurricanes outscored the Cardinal 35-0 in the final 30 minutes. Stanford racked up 74 yards on its first drive — capped by a TD — then managed only 25 total yards on its next eight possessions combined.
“I thought our defense did a pretty good job in the first half … and then they got after us real good in the second half,” Reich said.
The takeaway
Stanford: Cardinal general manager Andrew Luck spoke to ESPN in-game and raved about what Reich has done in an interim role this season. Stanford is searching for a coach for 2026 and beyond. “Coach Reich’s doing an amazing job and he’s given this team everything he has. … I think the head coach at Stanford football is an amazing job and we’ll find the right person,” Luck said. Reich said after the game that he’s enjoying the season. “These guys are special,” he said.
Miami: Defensive lineman Akheem Mesidor, who was shaken up in the Louisville game last week, didn’t play and saw his streak of 19 consecutive starts over the last two seasons end. Mesidor entered the weekend with 26.5 sacks in his career, second-most among active FBS players.
Up next
Stanford: Hosts Pittsburgh on Nov. 1.
Miami: Visits SMU on Nov. 1.
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By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer
