Stock Up, Stock Down After No. 1 Miami’s Win Over Pittsburgh

Miami hosted the Pittsburgh Panthers in their Week 8 matchup that saw the Hurricanes honor the 2001 national championship team the right way, winning 52-23.

The Hurricanes wore the throwback uniforms, and they played like those glory teams in the past.

Dominant performances by the star players and first-year players made plays early and often in front of a loaded recruiting section this weekend for Miami.

Here is the stock report after the Week 8 win for the Hurricanes.

Stock up

Malachi Toney

After this record-breaking performance, Malachi Toney should be the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy.

He recorded 16 catches for 194 yards and three touchdowns against the Panthers on Saturday afternoon. Toney’s 16-reception game broke the single-game reception record he had set earlier in the season for Miami and was one shy of the ACC record.

When Devonta Smith won the Heisman in 2020, he had 65 catches for 903 yards, and 10 touchdowns through the first seven games of the season.

Toney has 66 catches for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns through the first seven games of this season.

Another incredible performance from the superstar out of Miami.

Darian Mensah

Speaking of Heisman-like performances, Darian Mensah adds another game to his resume this season. 

He completed 31 of his 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns.

In Menash’s career, he has 14 games where he recorded three or more passing touchdowns in a game. Six of those 14 games are with the Hurricanes.

Mensah is engineering an offense that already has six 40+ point games this season. If Miami’s offense has two more games of scoring 40 or more, they will tie the school record with most games scoring that mark in a season. The 2002 and 2024 teams are tied at the top with eight of those games.

What’s been impressive about Mensah’s run through seven games has been how efficient and surgical he’s been. He is operating the offense at such a high level and his connection with Toney is the best in the country.

His NFL stock rises after each Saturday passes.

JJ Dunnigan

The true freshman safety has been as advertised since he stepped on campus.

JJ Dunnigan filled the stat sheet up against Pitt, recording five total tackles, one tackle for loss, a forced fumble, and one sack. 

His football instincts are on display every game, and fans can see why the hype was real when it came to the first-year player.

Javian Mallory

Javian Mallory continues to impress after every game for the Hurricanes. 

He recorded 47 rushing yards on seven attempts, averaging nearly seven yards per carry. Mallory scored twice and found a lot of success with such limited opportunities.

The true freshman showed why the coaching staff continues to play him early and often, as he will be a crucial piece to this offense as the season goes on.

Wearing the 2001 throwback jerseys, he sure looked like a certain running back who wore No. 3.

Stock down

Offensive Line

Miami’s offensive line has been up and down to start the year, but it’s around this time that the unit needs to find consistency.

The guard play remains the biggest weakness along the line, and with big games coming up, the Hurricanes will need to fix things quickly.

Mensah was pressured 14 times against Pitt, a number that is rare to see from Alex Mirabal’s unit. Ben Congdon allowed four of those pressures (per PFF), and Seuseu Alofaituli was called for three penalties.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest news.