Is Miami Scoring Too Easily for Malachi Toney to Win the Heisman?

Malachi Toney struck the Heisman pose Thursday night, and why not? Miami had just turned Florida A&M into a track meet, Toney had scored again, and the Hurricanes were headed toward a 77–7 win.

Here is the odd part: Miami may be so good that it hurts his Heisman campaign.

Toney caught four passes for 96 yards and a touchdown against FAMU after torching Stanford for 234 yards and three scores. Through two games, he has 16 catches, 330 yards and four touchdowns. Darian Mensah has been just as outrageous: 41 completions in 45 attempts for 653 yards and eight touchdowns through Miami's first three competitive halves.

Toney did not arrive as a two-week curiosity. He was the 2025 ACC Freshman of the Year, and the league's 2026 preseason team listed him three times: receiver, all-purpose player and specialist. That versatility helps Miami manufacture touches. It also means voters may see him as an electric piece of a machine instead of the player powering it.

Those numbers scream awards season. The way Miami produced them creates the problem.

The Hurricanes piled up a school-record 856 yards against FAMU and scored touchdowns on their first seven drives. Mensah finished 14 of 15 for 252 yards and three scores, yet backup Luke Nickel still went 8 of 8 for 144 yards and three touchdowns. Mark Fletcher Jr. ran for 105 yards and two scores on seven carries. Javian Mallory added 142 rushing yards and two more touchdowns.

In other words, Miami does not need to force-feed Toney. It barely needs to leave its starters on the field.

That is wonderful for Mario Cristobal and awkward for a wide receiver chasing quarterbacks in a trophy race built on volume. If Miami keeps burying opponents by halftime, when does Toney get the 10-catch fourth quarter or the dramatic final drive that voters remember?

The easy response is that the schedule will fix this. It probably will. Miami entered the season seventh in the AP poll, and its ACC games will not all resemble FAMU. The larger foundation is real, too: Miami finished 11th nationally in StatTake's 2025 EPA margin and seventh after opponent adjustment. Mensah arrived after throwing for 3,973 yards, 34 touchdowns and only six interceptions at Duke in 2025.

That makes the offense sustainable. It does not guarantee one player will own enough of it.

Toney's best Heisman argument is not 200 yards every week. It is becoming the reason Miami survives the week when 77 points turn into 27. Until a real opponent makes Cristobal keep him on the field late, I am buying Toney as the country's most dangerous receiver—not yet as its most likely Heisman winner.