OC Lashlee: Struggles due to lack of execution
The Hurricanes’ first drive against Alabama started off well enough Saturday. D’Eriq King threw once to Charleston Rambo for 7 yards and then to Will Mallory for 7, and then Cam’Ron Harris ran up the middle for 5.
Until the very end of the first half, this was about all Miami could feel good about. Zion Nelson false-started to back the Hurricanes up into a second-and-10 situation, and two more runs went for 3 yards and no gain. Miami punted away to Alabama and trailed by two touchdowns when it finally got the ball back.
The rest of the first quarter, as King put it, felt like, “three-and-out, three-and-out, three-andout.”
“We couldn’t get in a rhythm,” King said Saturday after the 44-13 beatdown in Atlanta. “We’ve got to find a way to start faster.”
ANOTHER SLOW START FOR LASHLEE
It has been the preeminent issue for the Hurricanes (0-1) in big games since coach Manny Diaz hired offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee ahead of last season. In its eight wins with Lashlee, Miami is averaging more than nine points per game in the first quarter. In four losses, the Hurricanes have totaled just three.
On Saturday, there was no singular issue. A false start on the Hurricanes’ first drive left them behind schedule after one quick first down. A strip sack in the second quarter ended one drive after just two plays and an 11-yard run by King. Miami ran too frequently and ineffectively, and it meant the Hurricanes didn’t have a drive with multiple first downs until their final possession of the first half.
After two days of rewatching film and letting the ugly loss marinate, Lashlee took to the virtual podium Monday for his weekly Zoom press conference and tried to explain what went wrong in his worst performance since coming to Coral Gables last year.
He mostly did not regret Miami’s game plan, instead lamenting the lack of execution and, implicitly, the talent gap between the No. 14 Hurricanes and top-ranked Crimson Tide.
“I could see why it would appear that way to you or fans that we started conservatively, because we didn’t play well,” he said. “We weren’t being conservative.”
The last drive stood in stark contrast with the rest of the first half when the Hurricanes had only
three first downs in five drives. They finally started to throw the ball down the field, got rewarded with a defensive pass interference and moved into position for a short field goal.
Until the final drive of the half, Miami had run 11 times for 21 yards and thrown seven passes for 36 yards without an incomplete pass. On the scoring drive, the Hurricanes ran four times for 8 yards and went 4 of 5 for 42 in the air.
Once Miami started to throw more than run, the offense found a rhythm, but, as Lashlee insisted, it’s not as simple as just calling more passes than runs.
Lashlee’s offense uses plenty of run-pass options, meaning the responsibility falls on
King to read the defense and figure out whether he should pass, hand the ball off or even run it himself.
The second drive, for example, got off schedule when King misread the
defense on the first play, Lashlee said.
“We had something that was there, to throw it. Probably — assuming we throw and catch — it’s a 20-yard gainer,” Lashlee said.
“We don’t. We hand it off, take a 1-yard gain and end up going three-andout. That’s not, obviously, how we intended it to happen.
“We were not good, we were not productive, we were disappointed with the way we played, but there was no intent to come out conservative.”
OFFENSIVE ISSUES, POTENTIAL FIXES
In a blowout like this, the issues are nearly countless. The Hurricanes ran for 2.8 yards per carry and committed three turnovers — both matching their worst mark from last season. Their 13 points were the fewest since Lashlee arrived. Tight end Mallory had only two catches.
Some potential fixes are straightforward: Miami benched DJ Scaife Jr .in the second quarter and made fellow offensive lineman Justice Oluwaseun its starting right tackle on the Monday depth chart.
Some of the results, no matter how ugly, actually might be promising, considering the opponent.
“The first time we ran it, we just ran a simple inside zone right at them and pushed them off the ball for 5,” he said. “For us to be able to do that is a good sign for longterm.”
For most of the schedule, he might be right and the Hurricanes might roll to another eight- or ninewin season.
In the end, Miami will be judged against its toughest opponents, though, and a shaky track record extends beyond just a lopsided ChickFil-A Kickoff Game.