Miami quarterback Darian Mensah and receiver Malachi Toney lead an offense that averages an FBS-best 49.6 points per game.
The Hurricanes' tandem is part of the Sporting News Midseason All-America team for the 2026 college football season.
Mensah leads the FBS with a 204.2 passer rating for the Hurricanes, who are undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 heading into Week 8. Mensah has 1,764 passing yards, 18 TDs and one interception. Malachi Toney – a dynamic receiver – has 50 catches for 758 yards and eight TDs.
Miami was one of four schools to put multiple players on our team along with Missouri, UCLA and Tennessee. Toney also was on our Preseason All-America Team along with Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith – who is the midway front-runner for the Heisman Trophy.
MORE: SN's College Football Midseason Report
Running back was our most contested position, and we went with the SEC tandem of Missouri's Jamal Roberts and Tennessee's DeSean Bishop. Roberts leads the FBS with 867 rushing yards, and Bishop is close behind with 837 yards. Duke's Nate Sheppard, the nation's leader in all-purpose yardage, is our all-purpose player.
Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons, who leads the FBS with 10.5 sacks, leads our defense. He also was on the SN Preseason All-America team, along with Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore. Tennessee defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam and North Carolina's Xavier Watts are also featured players on the defense.
The SEC, Big Ten and ACC all have seven players on our Midseason All-America team, which is only a first team. Our final Sporting News All-America team will have first and second teams.
Sporting News is one of five outlets used to determine consensus All-American status. With that in mind, our picks for 2026 Midseason All-Americans.
MORE: CFP forecast heading into Week 8 | Week 8 picks for Top 25 games
Sporting News Midseason All-Americans
Offense
| POS | FIRST | SCHOOL |
| QB | Darian Mensah | Miami |
| RB | DeSean Bishop | Tennessee |
| RB | Jamal Roberts | Missouri |
| WR | Jeremiah Smith | Ohio State |
| WR | Jesse Legree | Oregon State |
| WR | Malachi Toney | Miami |
| TE | Patrick Overmyer | Houston |
| T | Carter Smith | Indiana |
| G | Kade Pieper | Iowa |
| C | Anthony Boswell | Houston |
| G | Griffin Empey | North Dakota State |
| T | Monroe Mills | Virginia |
| APP | Nate Sheppard | Duke |
Defense
| POS | FIRST | SCHOOL |
| DL | Xavier Lewis | North Carolina |
| DL | Xavier Gilliam | Tennessee |
| EDGE | Colin Simmons | Texas |
| EDGE | Princewell Umanmielen | LSU |
| LB | Chris Cole | Georgia |
| LB | Sammy Omosigho | UCLA |
| LB | Nicholas Rodriguez | Missouri |
| CB | Leonard Moore | Notre Dame |
| CB | Ashton Hampton | Clemson |
| S | Kingston Lopa | Cal |
| S | Tai'Shawn James | UCLA |
| DB | Alex McLaughlin | Washington |
Special teams
| POS | PLAYER | SCHOOL |
| K | Luke Drzewiecki | Minnesota |
| P | Palmer Williams | Baylor |
| KR | Jaylon Hawkins | San Diego State |
| PR | Michael Scott | James Madison |
