King determined to get offense back on fast track
D’Eriq King didn’t sleep very much on the night he returned home following the Hurricanes’ 42-17 loss to No. 1 Clemson. Miami didn’t touch down in South Florida until well after midnight and King lay awake deep into the morning hours Sunday.
It had been, as he later admitted, one of the worst performances of his career. He threw for only 121 yards. He tossed a pair of interceptions. The Hurricanes didn’t score an offensive touchdown until the fourth quarter when it was already a blowout.
The quarterback had as many mistakes to replay in his mind as ever, which meant his mind would spend a lot of time racing as he tried to fall asleep.
“That’s a fact. That’ll be a fact. That’s not just him saying something,” said Kirk Martin, who coached King at Manvel in Texas and is now the coach at Coleyville Heritage in Texas. “He’ll replay the whole thing over and over and over, and it’ll be that way all the way until they get to play again.”
A week after losing his first game with the Hurricanes, King will have a chance to bounce back Saturday against Pittsburgh at noon at Hard Rock Stadium.
King, whom Pro Football Focus still grades as the No. 3 quarterback in the Power 5 Conferences despite his dud against Clemson, will have another serious test, though, against Pittsburgh’s talented defense. The Hurricanes (3-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) will need him to get the offense back on track.
In the first three games of the season, King managed No. 13 Miami’s new-look offense nearly flawlessly. The redshirt senior ran for 83 yards to beat Alabama-Birminham in a run-heavy Week 1. He unloaded for 325 passing yards to beat Louisville in a passhappy Week 2. He dismantled Florida State with 332 total yards in a Week 3 win.
Altogether, he was 62 of 93 for 733 yards, six touchdowns
QB D’Eriq King said his performance against No. 1 Clemson was one of the worst of his career. He has a plan to return to form against Pittsburgh.