South Florida Sun-Sentinel Palm Beach (Sunday)
Just a taste of future
‘Hurricane’ Bain and sharp Van Dyke highlight spring game
FORT LAUDERDALE — The Hurricanes took a trip up I-95 on Friday night to end their slate of spring practices with their annual spring game at Fort Lauderdale’s DRV PNK Stadium.
Although UM coach Mario Cristobal said before the game that the team would not showcase their entire playbook, Friday’s scrimmage between the Miami offense and defense did give several players a chance to shine in front of thousands of Hurricanes fans.
“We set out to get a lot of competitive situations,” Cristobal said. “Felt we did that. We played physical in spurts. We were successful in spurts on both sides of the ball and showed some signs of inconsistency. But overall, progress. We really feel like we have progressed, and we’ve got to continue to progress from here.”
Miami played two 15-minute quarters with tackling (except against the quarterback) in the first half before switching to simulated tackles in the second half, where they played two 12-minute quarters with a running clock. All statistics are from the first half only unless otherwise mentioned.
Here are five takeaways from Friday’s spring game:
1. “Hurricane” Bain rapidly intensifying: A hurricane made landfall at DRV PNK Stadium Friday night. Rueben “Hurricane” Bain, an early enrollee freshman, was the star of the day for Miami, making three sacks in his first appearance in a Hurricanes uniform. The former Miami Central star, whose last high school game was a championship bout at the same stadium, made a strong impression during his first semester at UM.
“It’s what he showed ... here in this stadium in high school, as well,” Cristobal said. “He’s got a relentless motor, a ton of pride. He’s been coached really, really, really well over at his high school. They go hard. So he’s used to this practice regimen, this structure, and he’s extremely disruptive. And he’s very ‘very tough. He does not shy away, doesn’t matter if it’s a senior offensive lineman, a freshman that came in with him. The guy’s going to get after somebody’s butt, and he did tonight.”
Bain was a four-star prospect coming out of high school and one of the centerpieces of Miami’s 2023 recruiting class. He showed during spring practices that he can be an early contributor to the team.
“Hurricane Bain, man!” safety Kamren Kinchens said. “... It was on display today. Hurricane Bain.”
2. TVD closer to old self: Last season did not go the way Tyler Van Dyke wanted it to, but the fourth-year signal-caller is back following a shoulder injury that limited him in the second half of Miami’s 2022 season.
Van Dyke, who was the 2021 ACC Rookie of the Year, completed 13 of 19 passes for 184 yards and the first half ’s lone touchdown — a perfectly placed 15-yard toss to Jacolby George.
“He continues to take ownership of the offense,” Cristobal said. “Feeling more and more comfortable with it. We’ve got to work on some things. we’ve got to get the ball out, sometimes little bit faster. We’ve got t protect a little bit better. We got confused on a couple formations and routes that we had called where we had opportunities to make some big, big plays. But overall, he’s doing a great job as a leader, he’s doing a great job progressing and he’s just doing a great job just taking ownership as a leader on this football team and making this team go forward.”
Van Dyke found one of his favorite targets, roommate and slot receiver Xavier Restrepo, a few times on Friday. Restrepo had three catches for 69 yards.
“The work that we’ve put in the last three years is finally coming together,” Restrepo said. “God’s timing is perfect; that’s how I look at it.”
3. D-Line looks good despite injuries: In addition to Bain’s success Friday night, several other Miami defensive linemen looked solid in the spring game. Veteran defensive tackle Jake Lichtenstein had a sack, as did fourth-year junior Chantz Williams (and he reached the quarterback on another play that was not credited as a sack). Sophomore Nyjalik Kelly, redshirt freshman Ahmad Moten and true freshman Jayden Wayne also looked solid.
However, it was difficult to judge what Miami’s defensive line will look like in the fall, as several key linemen like Branson Deen, Jared Harrison-Hunte, Jahfari Harvey and Leonard Taylor missed the game as they recover from injuries.
Cristobal said the linemen who have been filling in for the injured players have taken advantage of their extra opportunities.
“They’re not waiting for a starter to return,” Cristobal said. “They’re trying to establish themselves as that guy. Really proud of those guys because ... they are taking a significant amount of extra reps, and they’ve been productive, they’ve been effective, they haven’t complained and they just kept going. Then they got a lot of reps tonight, as well, and they were effective.
“All those reps Ahmad Moten has been getting, they showed up today in technique and just making plays where a year ago, he couldn’t do that.”
4. Emory Williams makes solid debut: Freshman Emory Williams made his UM spring debut on Friday night and looked solid in limited action. He completed all four of his pass attempts while working with the backups, throwing for 42 yards.
“I thought Emory had a great night,” Van Dyke said. “As a freshman in the first type of environment like this, it’s hard.”
However, second-string quarterback Jacurri Brown, who made his debut as a true freshman last year, struggled during the spring game. He completed five passes out of 11 attempts for 55 yards.
“Jacurri was off tonight, and I get it,” Cristobal said. “That guy’s had an unbelievable spring. It’s a shame that tonight didn’t go as well as we hoped it would go, but he’s had a good spring, as well.”
5. Wide receivers perform well — mostly: The Hurricanes are looking for a lot of improvement out of their wide receiver corps this season, and there were flashes of good play Friday night.
In addition to Restrepo’s 69 yards in the first half and George’s 46 yards on two catches, Miami got solid play from redshirt freshman Isaiah Horton, who had two catches for 41 yards.
“All the guys balled out tonight, all the receivers. I thought they did a great job catching the ball. They’re getting separation, so it was good.”
There were some flaws in the wide receivers’ game, with a few drops popping up throughout the night.
Freshman wide receiver Nathaniel “Ray Ray” Joseph did end the night with a bang, though, scoring a touchdown on the game’s final play.
“Ray Ray’s a die-hard ‘Cane, through and through,” Cristobal said. “A must-have guy. I think tonight he showed why. You just see the catches, but you should see him block. You should see him throw his body around. The guy really is a tremendous competitor, and he’s an elite, awesome, incredible human being that really has an incredible impact on his teammates.”