CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Like most football players, Darian Mensah is a creature of habit.

He appreciates the game-week routine of practices, classes, team meetings, film sessions and working toward the goal of being ready to take the field for a game on a given Saturday.

Except that through the first three weeks of the season, the quarterback and his Hurricanes teammates have yet to play actually play game on a Saturday.

Instead, No. 6 Miami played on a Friday to start the year. Then on a Thursday and then on Friday again. And both of those Friday games – at Stanford and at Wake Forest – were on the road.

That’s meant the Hurricanes have had to deal with a weird schedule quirk that’s kept them from playing a Saturday home game at Hard Rock Stadium until, well, now.

Miami’s handled the schedule oddity as well as possible, opening the season with three straight wins and outscoring its opponents 155-33, but there’s no doubt the Hurricanes are eager to get back to playing at home and playing on college football’s signature day.

“I think we’ve handled it exceptionally,” Mensah said of Miami’s schedule. “It’s hard, because I’m a huge routine person and to go in and have our routine switched up for three weeks in a row shows the resiliency of our team. So, I think we handled it great, but yeah, [we’re] excited to get our schedule back going and play this Saturday.”

Said Hurricanes head coach Mario Cristobal, “We’re the only team in the country that hasn’t played on a Saturday. … But look, I’ll say this and this is really important, as it relates to my own kids at home or our players here. Whatever’s thrown at you, just roll with it, man, you know? Is it ideal? Did I ever want to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to play on a Friday, Thursday, Friday?’ Absolutely not. [But] the worst thing I can do is publicly go out and just start bashing away and [asking] ‘What the heck?’ Whatever comes with it, whatever place, whatever opponent, whatever time, let’s go roll, right? Let’s go do it. But to your point … yes, very happy to be back at home and to be able to play on Saturday.”

That elusive Saturday matchup will come against a Central Michigan team that has won two straight after a season-opening loss to New Mexico.

The Chippewas (2-1) are coming off a 24-10 win over Wyoming and enter their matchup against Miami with a potent ground attack.

In fact, Central Michigan quarterback Angel Flores threw the ball just seven times, completing four of those passes in last week’s win over the Cowboys.

Instead, Flores rushed for a career-high 163 yards and two touchdowns. The Chippewas totaled 339 rushing yards, with running back Jayden Clervaux contributing 81 of those yards.

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, have been especially effective against the run this season.

In Miami’s first three games, the Hurricanes have allowed opponents an average of just 45.67 rushing yards per game. That’s tied for third nationally among FBS programs.

And entering the 2026 season, Miami had held opponents to an average of 85.5 rushing yards per game at Hard Rock Stadium since the start of the 2023 season. That’s the best average among schools that have played those seasons in the FBS.

Continuing that trend Saturday against Central Michigan, the Hurricanes said, will be key.

“We already know what we’re getting into. It’s going to be a real physical game up front,” said Hurricanes defensive lineman Justin Scott. “We know they want to run the ball. So, when teams want to run the ball, you’ve kind of got to shut it down and make them one dimensional, make them pass the ball. We have to get after it front. We already know what type of dogfight we’re going to get into on Saturday.”

Miami’s offense, meanwhile, has put up some record-breaking numbers in the passing game.

Mensah enters Saturday’s game with an 89.9 completion percentage, tops among all FBS signal callers. He’s thrown for 873 yards and 11 touchdowns and last week at Wake Forest, Mensah rewrote both the Miami and ACC record books.

He opened the game with 24 straight completions, setting new Miami and ACC records for consecutive completions in a single game. He also set new Miami and ACC records for consecutive completions over multiple games with 35, going back to the Hurricanes win over Florida A&M on Sept. 10.

Overall, the Hurricanes are averaging an FBS-leading 594.3 yards per game, and they’ll look to build on that success Saturday against Central Michigan, despite season-ending injuries to running back Marty Brown and wide receiver Joshua Moore and some second-half offensive struggles at Wake Forest.

Bouncing back from all of that is going to be key.

“We have to go out and execute every time we touch the ball,” Mensah said. “So, yeah, it’s on me to go and make sure the guys are mentally prepared to go out and physically dominate.”

For the Hurricanes, Saturday’s game is another opportunity to continue improving and continue building toward becoming the team they want to become, especially with four straight conference games looming.

It’s also a chance, given the injuries that took a toll at Wake Forest, for some new faces to step up and make a difference.

“I think this team’s grown a lot … I saw certain guys get tested and rise to the occasion, do a really good job,” Cristobal said of the way the Hurricanes responded to adversity last week. “I saw a team that there was never, ever a lack of fight, but [there was] a lack of detail. … I see a team that wants to win, a team that cares about each other, a team that understands that the one team that can beat us is us … if we don’t hold things at a standard that we know we’re capable of, and that’s something we all take together. It’s the best way to do it, the only way to do it.”