Miami's Toney, Pitt's Heintschel, Duke's Sheppard give ACC national leaders in FBS headlining stats

Malachi Toney couldn't be stopped, running free through Stanford's defense and striking Heisman Trophy poses after catching touchdown passes for seventh-ranked Miami.

A day later, Pittsburgh's Mason Heintschel set an Atlantic Coast Conference single-game record for TD throws. And Nate Sheppard had a tough-running edge that carried Duke all day.

The ACC hasn't had a good start in marquee matchups against other power-conference teams. But the league enters Week 2 with at least one highlight: that sophomore trio posted the top receiving, passing and rushing totals in the Bowl Subdivision ranks, offering hope that there's the kind of skill-position talent that could help the ACC recover from its early hole.

“Because of the movement of the players and the transactional nature of the sport, we've spread the talent thinner so everybody's more competitively balanced,” ESPN and ACC Network analyst Tom Luginbill said. "Which means you're going to be in more one-possession games than you've probably ever been in before. ... If you (win) that and you have top performances, now you start shifting the narrative.

“And it draws eyeballs. People are going to say, ‘Wait, who’s this guy? I haven't seen him.'”

That's not necessary for Toney, who thrived as Miami reached last year's College Football Playoff championship game and was a preseason Associated Press first-team All-American. Heintschel and Sheppard lack that same spotlight yet opened with starring performances, too.

Sophomore trio put up big stats amid ACC's bumpy start

Each was more productive than counterparts anywhere in the country:

— Toney had a school-record 234 yards receiving against the Cardinal and is the only FBS player to crack the 200-yard mark through two weekends. His 12 catches were tied for most in a game.

— Heintschel threw for a national-best 453 yards in a win against Miami (Ohio), joining ACC quarterbacks Kevin Jennings of SMU (430 against Florida State) and Darian Mensah of Miami (401 while peppering Toney with targets) as FBS' only passers yet to surpass the 400-yard mark. Heintschel's seven TD throws broke the ACC record of six, which had been reached 11 times.

— Sheppard ran for a national-best 227 yards with two TDs in a win against Tulane. Sheppard's 35 carries are the most of any FBS player this year and one of only two FBS performances of at least 30 carries.

Those offered individual highlights as the ACC went 1-5 against the Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern Conference. North Carolina's win against TCU in Ireland stands as the lone victory in matchups that included No. 8 LSU running Clemson out of Baton Rouge in a game between marquee brands.

Toney finds immediate connection with Mensah

The 5-foot-11, 193-pound Toney delivered 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns as a freshman, then opened with a dominant performance.

On Miami's first offensive snap at Stanford, he took a short pass to the left and got loose for a 48-yard gain before snagging a 23-yard TD throw. He also had a 2-yard TD grab and went deep for a 47-yard TD in the third quarter.

Toney said afterward that he had gotten faster since last year, while Miami coach Mario Cristobal called Toney an “elite route-runner." That combination helped Mensah post his own fast start with five TD throws after a high-profile transfer from Duke.

“Honestly just makes my job extremely easy as a quarterback,” Mensah told reporters Tuesday. “He's almost like another quarterback on the field, just the way that he understands defense."

Heintschel's Year 1 experience shows to start Year 2

Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi went to Heintschel as his starter about a month into last season. Heintschel said in July he felt he had more freedom to work in coordinator Kade Bell's offense with that experience.

He certainly looked in control against the RedHawks while completing 31 of 41 passes (75.6%).

“Coach Bell and I talk about that a lot,” Heintschel said. “Take what the defense is giving us. (It’s about) just kind of being boring sometimes.”

He's the first FBS quarterback since LSU’s Joe Burrow in 2019 to throw for at least 450 yards and seven TDs without an interception. Each TD throw went to a different receiver.

“It’s very impactful,” sophomore running back Ja’Kyrian Turner said. “The defense doesn’t know what to do. The threat of Mason is him spreading out the offense. He’s got a lot of playmakers he can get the ball to, and plenty of ways to get the offense going.”

Sheppard carries a heavy workload in Week 1

With Mensah's move south, it was clear that the reigning ACC champion Blue Devils would lean on Sheppard after he ran for 1,132 yards and 11 TDs last year. Duke did exactly that Saturday, with Sheppard carrying the ball 10 times during a 17-play season-opening drive.

Add three catches, and Sheppard had 38 touches on Duke's 77 offensive plays (49.4%). So managing workload and health will be important going forward.

“He took the bulk of the carries last year, especially the second half of the season,” offensive coordinator Jonathan Brewer said Monday. "I don’t think this is new to him. Maybe direct runs instead of moreso lighter boxes, RPO type of runs — that kind of stuff is probably a little bit different. He probably had more touches on checkdowns last year than he did in that first game for us.

“We'll see. He looked fine on Sunday.”

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AP Sports Writer Will Graves in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

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