South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
QBs Garcia, Van Dyke among standouts
MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Hurricanes held their 2021 spring game — something they didn’t have in 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in an end-of-spring glimpse of what various aspects of the team could look like come fall and the Sept. 4 opener against Alabama.
As D’Eriq King, the Hurricanes’ starting quarterback who is recovering from a torn ACL and remains on track to be ready for fall camp, sat out and even called plays at the end of the scrimmage, freshman early enrollee Jake Garcia and second-year signal caller Tyler Van Dyke got to put their spring progress on display.
In a version of the offense that coach Manny Diaz called “vanilla,” Garcia went 19 of 25 for 255 yards and two touchdowns, in unofficial stats kept by reporters on hand. Van Dyke was 12 of 17 for 102 yards and a touchdown, as he only played in the first half. Score was held in the intrasquad scrimmage and “Team Hurricane” topped “Team Ibis” 27-19.
“We wanted to see what the young quarterbacks looked like on a stage like that,” coach Manny Diaz said, “and from my vantage point, I thought they did a nice job moving [the ball].
“The future of Miami Hurricanes quarterback room is in good hands with these two and the way that we’re recruiting for that position.”
Van Dyke floated a good-looking 14-yard touchdown pass to slot receiver Xavier Restrepo on a corner route for his touchdown.
“I feel like that was my best scrimmage of the three,” said Van Dyke, after he and Garcia also excelled in the team’s first two spring scrimmages. “Where my eyes were, knowing where to go with the ball, protection issues.”
Garcia threw his touchdown passes to fifthyear senior Michael Harley — early on with a slant that was open off run-pass option — and late to second-year wideout Keyshawn Smith, who made a defender miss in the flat in the red zone. Garcia, who would still be a high school senior, said his trek from California to Georgia for his final high school season and now to Miami has helped him develop quickly.
“I’ve been everywhere,” Garcia said. “I ended up being able to close it with a state championship over at Grayson [High]. Just moving around like that, people look at it as a negative thing, but I look at it as a positive thing. … That really helped me to be able to know how to learn, how my brain works, how to process information quickly.”
Diaz said there’s no way, as UM’s 15-practice spring slate concluded on Saturday, to put one ahead of the other between Van Dyke and Garcia to be in line to back up King in the fall.
“It would be impossible to say there’s a pecking order or a ranking because — I keep mentioning it — we really are not into that for any position right now,” Diaz said. “This spring was a spring. It’s about guys putting together 15 days of a résumé, and now in the summer is where really the secret sauce comes in.
“Those first weeks of training camp is where we will really set the way that we line up the first month of the season.”
Wide receiver Charleston Rambo, the Oklahoma transfer, was active on Saturday with seven receptions for 74 yards. He pointed to getting separation on his routes and his blocking as two areas he improved most in the spring.
Smith had three receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns, the second from walk-on quarterback Ryan Rizk. Restrepo also was on the receiving end of a fourth-and-12 connection with Garcia before the end of the first half that led to a field goal.
Receiver Mark Pope rebounded from an early drop on what would’ve been a wideopen touchdown down the sideline from Van Dyke to go for six receptions and 115 yards. Dee Wiggins also dropped a deep ball over the top from Garcia, assisted by cornerback DJ Ivey ripping the ball out late, but caught a 54-yard pass on the final play on Saturday.
Running back Jaylan Knighton impressed with his elusiveness on a 27-yard touchdown, and he finished with 43 yards on seven carries.
Freshman safety and early enrollee Kamren Kinchens intercepted a pass thrown into traffic over the middle by Peyton Matocha. The Hurricanes defense had another earlier takeaway when safety Keshawn Washington forced a fumble on receiver Dazalin Worsham that cornerback Isaiah Dunson recovered.
The Miami defense had four sacks: Deandre Johnson, the Tennessee transfer had one in the end zone for a safety. Striker Gilbert Frierson, defensive tackles Elijah Roberts and Jalar Holley had the others. The four sacks came against Garcia. Johnson totaled two and a half tackles for loss.
“The whole day, I was just focused on getting off the ball,” said Johnson, who missed time this spring due to COVID protocols. “That’s kind of a strength in my game.”
Diaz said the passing numbers against the secondary were against two coverages that the team stayed in for the spring game to keep the scheme simple and off tape for fall opponents. He appreciated that the pressure came along with an emphasis on stopping the run.
“The best way to [get pressure] is what I thought we did all spring: Stopping the run,” he said. “You leverage people into passing situations, and then everybody can pin their ears back and get to the quarterback.”
Kinchens and fellow early enrollee, striker Chase Smith, led the defense with six tackles apiece. Cornerback Tyrique Stevenson, the Georgia transfer, and second-year safety Avantae Williams each had two pass breakups.
Freshman kicker Andres Borregales was
3 for 3 on field goals, hitting from 43, 21 and
32 yards.
The starting UM offensive line, from left to right on Saturday: Zion Nelson, Jakai Clark, Corey Gaynor, Navaughn Donaldson, DJ Scaife.
The first unit on defense: DE Zach McCloud, DT Jordan Miller, DT Jonathan Ford, DE Deandre Johnson, MLB Corey Flagg, WLB Keontra Smith, STRK Gilbert Frierson, CB Tyrique Stevenson, CB DJ Ivey, S Gurvan Hall, S Avantae Williams.
Ivey, defensive end Cameron Williams, receiver Michael Redding III and walk-on wideout Dante Johnson left the scrimmage with injuries. Williams was seen on crutches on the sideline. Johnson, who was impressive with five receptions for 58 yards, returned later.
The Hurricanes were already known to be without 16 players for the spring game — 15 due to injury or recovering from offseason surgery and tight end Larry Hodges because of violation of team rules. Right tackle Jarrid Williams was not seen on Saturday, although he was not one of the players initially noted as being out.
Diaz said he had no update on players injured on Saturday.