A star was born for Miami in win over Clemson, and a major narrative about the Hurricanes was silenced in a big way
The Canes’ pass rush has barely missed a beat in 2026 after a dominating showing last year, and the nation witnessed that first hand against the Tigers in primetime.
The Miami Hurricanes went into Clemson and came away with a commanding 41-13 victory over the Tigers to reach 5-0 on the season.
The talk of Miami so far this year nationally has mostly been on the offensive side of the football, and it’s not hard to understand why. QB Darian Mensah has been arguably the nation’s best overall player with a national-best 84.2% completion rate, 1438 yards, 15 touchdowns, and no picks through five games. Malachi Toney has been his usual impressive self along the way, with both players earning Heisman Trophy talk.
But it was perhaps on the other side of the ball where Miami fans should feel most encouraged when it comes to the rest of the season.
The Hurricanes’ pass rush this season has been relentless. And finally, with a game on Saturday night in primetime against the Tigers, the nation saw it. And it was perhaps the national coming out party for Missouri transfer Damon Wilson II.
Wilson had 2.5 sacks of Clemson QB Tait Reynolds and generated 11 quarterback pressures, which, according to Pro Football Focus, led all of FBS college football.
Miami edge rusher Damon Wilson II led all players in FBS college football with 11, according to Pro Football Focus
Wilson was in the backfield constantly, forcing Reynolds to move off his spot and disrupting his time to go through progressions. Miami as a team generated a staggering 34 pressures, but no one else had more than three pressures outside of Wilson, per PFF. That puts into perspective just how absolutely dominant Wilson was on a regular basis.
Wilson now leads the Hurricanes in QB pressures this season with 20. Marquise Lightfoot is second with 13. Lightfoot leads the Canes in sacks with 5.0 with Wilson second with 3.5. Lightfoot suffered a lower body injury and went to the locker room in the first half. He did not return to the game and his timeline to return is cloudy at this point. As such, Wilson’s relative breakout could not have come at a better time for this defense.
Miami’s pass rush is far from the concern that some mused about coming into the 2026 season
Miami is getting routine pressure from beyond that duo as well, with Ahmad Moten, Sr. and Armondo Blount also helping to regularly push the pocket.
As a defensive front, national media and pundits raised concerns that this front would be able to fill the shoes of the dominating group from 2025 led by first round picks Rueben Bain, Jr. and Akheem Mesidor. The concern was not unwarranted, as that was an elite, generational duo to have to replace. It was undoubtedly the best pass rushing tandem in all of college football last year.
But there’s more than one way to skin a cat, and the Hurricanes are showing that the talk about their pass rush taking a step back and being a concern was misplaced.
