King seeks redemption against Clemson
Hurricanes QB D’Eriq King in a rush for his next start after ‘one of the worst games I played inmy career’
Miami Hurricanes quarterback D’Eriq King has been brutally honest with himself thisweek as he and his UM teammates had to be just as honest with each other in trying to rebound froma 42-17 loss at No. 1 Clemson. “That was probably one of the worst games I played in my career ,” King said Wednesday after his 12- of -28 performance for 121 yards and two interceptions. “I just came in the building Sunday, I was open[ and] I wanted to be coached.”
King said he didn’t sleep much Saturday night after the humbling defeat and late travel back from South Carolina.
“I’m ashard on myself as anybody is,” he said. “I don’t look at what anybody says because I’m hard enough on myself, but just me, I just wanted to come out here and have a good week of practice.”
King, who also had 84 rushing yards— 56 on one play— and a touchdown on the ground against Clemson, brought a height---
ened awareness to practice this week as the Hurricanes (3-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) get set to host Pittsburgh (3-2, 2-2) in a noon kick off at Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday.
“Iwas real big on myself to take every period, every drill, every drive, everything we did Tuesday real seriously, and that leads to Saturdays,” King said. “I don’t think I’ve done that well enough in the past, just taking it day by day. You got to do that to be successful in college football.”
Miami coach Manny Diaz, seeing King’s approach, trusts him to bounce back fromhis first subpar outing as UM quarterback since transferring from Houston in the offseason.
“D’Eriq has such a quiet confidence about him,” Diaz said. “He’s never rattled, even when he wasn’t playing well in the game. There’s never any sense of panic on his face.”
As the Panthers, under coach Pat Narduzzi, have been known to stack the box and play single coverage on the outside against opposing receivers, it’s similar to what Clemson had success with defensively against Miami. Hurricanes wideouts didn’t create separation against Tigers defensive backs or fight for one-on-one balls tomake a play.
King, who could also throw some of his passes against single coverage better, and his receivers have been working on correcting the flaws.
“I take a lot of the blame, butwe just got to get on the same page,” King said. “I think [there are] definitely things that me and the receivers can do better. We came here thisweek, and every body was honest with each other.
“They know, and I know, that we got to get better throwing and catching one-on-one balls. If not, teams are going to play us like that every single week.
“I got to focus on doing my job. I got to focus on throwing better balls, putting more air on the balls, throwing outside, just giving them chances. I got to keep just doing that, and eventually, I think we’ll get there.”
King said he will keep trying to connect on deep balls with his receivers when one-on-one opportunities present themselves.
“We got to keep taking our shots,” he said. “It’s like playing basketball where a 3-point shooter shoots and he misses. He makes one, andall of a sudden things start clicking.”
Diaz was encouraged by the conversations the team had following the loss.
“Internally, as a staff and as a football team, I think we were all able to put our hands up and say, ‘Hey, these are places where we all could’ve been a lot better’ and be vulnerable to each other like that,” Diaz said. “And then to be able to own it and move on. You got to tell some harsh truths after a game like that, but once you own them and you have your leaders that are willing to be accountable for that, that’s encouraging.”
Diaz made players do extra conditioning after Wednesday’s practice. Hewas pleased with how the team responded to that too.
“We had to repeat a couple,” Diaz said. “Normally, that’s a situation that it’s right at the end of practice, super hot outside, guys get discouraged, and it was kind of the opposite. Guys were excited to beable to put their hand on the line and run again.
“That doesn’t guarantee anything on Saturday, but I do think it’s encouraging that we’ve got a good bit of leadership.”