Lashlee pushes back on ‘conservative’ offense
Miami Hurricanes offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee understands why some may believe UM wasn’t aggressive enough offensively in its loss to Alabama, but he insisted during his Zoom call with reporters on Monday that Miami didn’t come out with a conservative gameplan against the Crimson Tide.
The Hurricanes’ first drive against Alabama started out well: starting quarterback D’Eriq King completed back-to-back 7-yard passes to wide receiver Charleston Rambo and tight end Will Mallory before running back Cam’Ron Harris rushed for 5 yards to give UM a second-and-5 at its own 37.
A Zion Nelson false start pushed the Hurricanes back 5 yards, with the drive ending with Harris rushing two more times for a combined 3 yards — including gaining no yards on a rush through the middle on the drive’s third-and-7 — before Miami punted the ball away.
The Hurricanes opened the next drive with two more runs and struggled to string together possessions for most of the first half.
UM only had three first downs in its first five possessions — which included two three-and-outs and a lost fumble — compared to
Alabama’s 17 first downs in its first possessions. Miami rushed the ball 11 times for 21 yards compared, to throwing it seven times for 66 yards in those first five drives.
Miami scored its first points of the game — a field goal right before the first half ended — after King went 4 of 5 for 41 yards in the air to set up freshman kicker Andres Borregales for a 37-yarder.
“I can see why it would appear that way that we started conservatively because we didn’t play well,” Lashlee said about Miami’s 44-13 loss, with UM’s scoring output being its lowest for a game since
Lashlee took over the offensive coordinator role ahead of the 2020 season. “We weren’t being conservative. The first drive we had three really good plays. We ended up having to punt on that drive. The second drive really we didn’t execute the call to start the drive…and end up going three-andout.
“We were not good, not productive, but there was no intent to come out conservative. But when you either turn it over, take a sack or go three-and-out, you’re not on the field to get in a rhythm.”
Lashlee and coach Manny Diaz attributed that lack of rhythm to Alabama winning the line-of-scrimmage battle, with the Crimson Tide recording four sacks on King and getting into the backfield regularly.
UM subbed Justice Oluwaseun in for DJ Scaife Jr. at right tackle in the second quarter, a change that the Hurricanes are expected to carry over to their home opener versus Appalachian State on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Offensively, it was hard to get going,” Diaz said. “Once we got our offensive line stabilized, we were able to protect the quarterback a lot better and I think the other encouraging thing was our wide receivers did make plays for D’Eriq down the field. We only had one drop on the day, and I thought we were dangerous on the outside lanes, which was a big point of emphasis for us in the offseason.”
Lashlee also didn’t express any concern about Miami’s rushing attack, which totaled 88 yards on 31 carries against the Crimson Tide.
“You don’t beat Alabama running the football, you got to run it to be efficient,” Lashlee said. “We didn’t have negative runs, all our runs went forward. We didn’t have explosive runs [and] didn’t anticipate having a lot of explosive runs.
“If we were able to stay on the field and play with tempo and hit some passes, it’d be good enough to keep your balance. We didn’t play well and are disappointed we didn’t play to what we think our potential is. But I don’t think the run game performed poorly.”
Lashlee’s points of emphasis as the Hurricanes turn their attention to the Mountaineers? Start faster, take care of the ball and be more explosive.
“We weren’t that [against Alabama] and it showed,” he said. “The lack of production is very obviously and that’s why everybody here is disappointed in our performance, but motivated to move forward and play to our potential.”