Orlando trip proves beneficial
Spring game shows Hurricanes making reasonable progress
Miami quarterback Tate Martell game Saturday in Orlando.
For the Miami Hurricanes, spring football ended where the season will begin.
With their home field at Hard Rock Stadium unavailable because of a (since-canceled) Rolling Stones concert, coach Manny Diaz made the decision to have the Hurricanes play their spring game in Orlando at Camping World Stadium — the same place where, in 125 days, Miami will open the season against rival Florida.
More than once, the coach said his goal was to have the Hurricanes cap five weeks of drills with a dress rehearsal of sorts. On that front, things seemed to be a success, with Diaz, his assistant coaches and several players saying after the defense edged the offense in a controlled scrimmage that the trip north had felt every bit like a traditional road trip, complete with team meetings, meals and more.
On the field, Miami’s final spring workout looked every bit the typical spring game, with plays that hinted at Miami’s potential and breakdowns that showed how much work the Hurricanes still have to do ahead of Aug. 24.
Some of the offensive highlights included two of high-profile transfers — quarterback Tate Martell and receiver KJ Osborn — connecting on a beautiful 80-yard touchdown play; freshman receiver Jeremiah Payton catching a 32-yard touchdown pass from N’Kosi Perry; and quarterback Jarren Williams bouncing back from a slow start to finish with a late touchdown.
The defense showed its potential, collecting nine sacks and 16 tackles for a loss while forcing two turnovers.
Most notably for the Hurricanes, who have dealt with severe depth issues at multiple positions throughout the spring, Diaz said there were no injuries of note Saturday.
All of that, Diaz said, was good. “In terms of the actual ball, I thought there was good execution on both sides,” he said. “I was happy to see our three quarterbacks make plays. We believe all three of those guys can play, and they go into summer now knowing that all three can play. I think that was a big plus out of today.
“Our one defense played like our one defense should. There was one drive that we kind of thought was not to our standard, but for the most part I thought those guys tackled well.
“The big thing is, are we starting to look like the Miami Hurricanes? I think in glimpses you can see the improvements this team has made.
“Now, if we stop here we have no chance, so today was like taking a photo of ourselves. We know that we have to continue to improve and the guys know … they’ve got to go into the summer and we’ve got to make a big jump on report day and another big jump during training camp to be able to come back here and be victorious on Aug. 24.”
Here are five takeaways from not only Miami’s spring game Saturday, but from five weeks of drills overall:
The quarterback competition will continue to play out
calls a play
Earlier this past week, Hurricanes offensive coordinator Dan Enos said that no matter what happened Saturday, no starting quarterback would be named after spring drills.
After Saturday’s game, Enos did acknowledge, though, that there have been moments throughout the spring when he felt as if one quarterback might have an edge — before another would make a surge.
In last week’s second spring scrimmage, it was Perry and Williams who put up better numbers, while Martell looked to be struggling.
Martell, though, had his best week of practice, Enos said, and was 6 of 10 for 154 yards with two touchdowns Saturday.
Williams, who has looked solid all spring, struggled early before finishing 4 of 6 for 44 yards. Perry, meanwhile, was 9 of 13 for 145 yards.
None of that would seem to indicate a leader in Miami’s quarterback race, but Enos did say he’d seen progress. And for now, that’s enough.
“I thought that I’ve had a gut feeling like three different times already,” Enos said. “It keeps changing because guys keep getting better, you know? So it’s a process.
“That’s why you don’t get caught up in your emotions [after] one day or one practice. But one thing I will say: I have to give the three quarterbacks a ton of credit because I think all three of them improved a lot from Day 1 till now.
“We had a very poor practice on Thursday, not just the quarterbacks but really a lot of the guys on offense. So we had a heart-toheart meeting on Friday, just about the expectations, the standard that we’re trying to set. And I thought they came out here today and obviously were far from perfect. … But I thought we played with a lot of effort today. And I thought the quarterbacks did a really good job of managing the game, and managing their situations.
“[They] were put in some tough situations sometimes, and I thought for the most part they handled themselves very well. All three of them have given me hope that the guy that ends up winning the job is going to have earned it because the other guys are nipping at his heels and they’re competing every day.”
Miami’s defense has the potential to be a force again
As the Hurricanes struggled to a 7-6 season last year, a significant positive was the play of their defense, which was among national leaders in several statistical categories.
While some of the playmakers from that unit have moved on — most notably defensive tackle Gerald Willis III, defensive end Joe Jackson, safeties Jaquan Johnson and Sheldrick Redwine and cornerback Michael Jackson — several key contributors have returned and continue making an impact.
Linebackers Michael Pinckney and Shaquille Quarterman will lead the group and younger players are stepping up, including Patrick Joyner, who moved to linebacker this week after a spate of injuries and finished with a scrimmage-high four tackles, including two tackles for a loss.
Jahfari Harvey, a midyear enrollee who has consistently earned praise from teammates and coaches this spring, had a pair of sacks Saturday.
Ends Scott Patchan and Jonathan Garvin made life consistently difficult for the quarterbacks Saturday, while tackle Jordan Miller had 2 1⁄2 tackles and two sacks.
“The first guy that really [stands out] was Jordan Miller. … We’ll see more off the film and we’ll have a better idea, but Jordan Miller really had a really good day,” Hurricanes defensive coordinator Blake Baker said. “The first defense played really, really well as a whole. We got to get some depth in certain spots, but he’s the one guy just off the top my head who had a good day.”
Offensive line remains a work in progress
In spring football, nearly everything is a work in progress. But for the Hurricanes, after five weeks of workouts, it would seem it’s up front where some of the biggest questions remain.
The Hurricanes’ No. 1 line, Saturday, from left to right, was Zion Nelson, DJ Scaife, Navaughn Donaldson, Cleveland Reed and Kai-Leon Herbert. That group, along with Miami’s reserves, gave up nine sacks, with Perry taking four of those, Williams three and Martell two.
During last year’s 7-6 season, offensive line play was an issue — to the point that Diaz said one of his focuses this spring has been building up that group’s confidence again.
On Saturday, he reiterated he’d seen progress from the group as a whole, but there’s still a lot to be done.
“Our offensive line made a big jump this spring — I think they’ll take confidence in that,” Diaz said. “Now, I think the question is finding out who our best guys are and being able to settle, get everyone back from injury … and getting some continuity with those five guys.
“But if I had to grade the entire spring from the offensive line standpoint, I think they’ve really made a big jump.”
Newcomers are making an impact
Some of the players who made the biggest impact this spring — and made plays Saturday — were some of the newest Hurricanes.
Martell, a transfer from Ohio State, had one of his strongest spring performances, playing especially well out of the shotgun.
Buffalo transfer KJ Osborn had a scrimmage-high 105 receiving yards. Freshman receiver Jeremiah Payton had three catches for 51 yards. Fellow midyear enrollee Zion Nelson, who missed last weekend’s scrimmage because he was attending a wedding, was on the Hurricanes’ No. 1 offensive line and Jahfari Harvey, UM’s third midyear enrollee, finished with 31⁄2 tackles and two sacks.
All of that is encouraging for the Hurricanes moving forward, especially in Nelson’s case, Enos said.
“I can’t say that he’s surprised me because I didn’t even know him.,” Enos said. “I got here the same day he got here and was like, ‘Who is that? That’s Zion the freshman. He’ll probably [be] good in a few years; looks like a good kid.’
“And he’s got excellent athletic ability. He’s very tough. He’s a competitor and he’s picking up things very, very fast. To be honest with you, the guy, by coming early, has now put [himself ] in a position to be in the first group.”
Depth is still an issue
The good news, as Diaz pointed out, was that no one got hurt at Miami’s final practice. The bad news is that at some positions — namely, linebacker — veterans had to do a lot of the heavy lifting because the numbers just aren’t there.
Joyner moved from end to linebacker earlier in the week. Tackle Tommy Kennedy was the backup center. Tight end Will Mallory starred and showed his ability to make plays, but he got a ton more reps because Brevin Jordan has missed much of the spring with a knee injury.
Miami will get a boost in the coming weeks as players return from injuries and signees and transfers arrive. But escaping Saturday’s game without adding to the team’s list of injuries was key.