South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Missed opportunity
Van Dyke’s arm and Cristobal’s aggressiveness can’t save the day
Couldn’t stay inbounds on that onside kick recovery.
Couldn’t get one more bit of magic from Tyler Van Dyke. Couldn’t fast-forward to 2024. And so all Miami could do Saturday was walk off the field with its third loss in the first five games of the Mario Cristobal era, 27-24 to North Carolina.
If the honeymoon ended for Mario Cristobal in the loss to Middle Tennessee, some fans will check out loudly after another loss. But take a step back from Saturday’s moment. Take two steps, if need be. This tough start doesn’t show if Cristobal makes it or not. It means what anyone watching of late always knew.
He’ll need some time. He’ll need a couple of recruiting classes for starters. He’ll need some of the foundational work inside the program to take root, too.
Money, Miami has that as they showed in writing checks this offseason. Ambition, it has, too, as the reunion of the 1987 national champs Saturday underlined. But time?
Are its fans willing to afford that for once?
When Miami pried Cristobal from Oregon, when it paid $8 million a year, people expected immediate results. That’s fine, too. That’s the way it works in the
instant-gratification reality shows we watch.
It’s just not how the real world always operates. From Randy Shannon through Manny Diaz, the lesson learned is Miami didn’t have the financial backing to play with the big boys. The question after a big win was, “Is Miami back?” You’re not back after one win, or one season, and by now Miami fans should realize this is going to take a while.
Can Cristobal do the job? These five games don’t provide an answer. Saturday’s score isn’t some big conclusion. It’s not going to be answered this year — or probably next season, either.
Cristobal tried mightily to coach his way to victory Saturday. It started with Van Dyke. After being benched against Middle Tennessee, after days of questioning if he’d start, Van Dyke was supported by Cristobal saying you don’t give up on a quarterback after one bad day.
There was a special spotlight on Van Dyke on Saturday. He completed seven of his first eight passes for 74 yards. By that point, it was clear Miami couldn’t run. That was exacerbated by losing two offensive linemen on one first-half drive. Van Dyke was up to the task. He
completed 35 of 46 passes for 438 yards and two touchdowns with a couple of minutes left. He was the hope, the way and Cristobal showed full faith in him with as aggressive coaching as you can.
Both Miami and North Carolina went for it on fourth-and-goal at the 2-yard in the first half. Both tries failed. Miami, in fact, had first-and-goal from the 2 and couldn’t punch in the ball. That told of a running game that gained 43 yards on 24 carries. That’s why they handed the game to Van Dyke.
Cristobal went for it on fourth down three times near midfield. One resulted in a blitzing sack of Van Dyke in the third quarter that led to a North Carolina field goal and 24-17 lead. On fourthand-2 at its 49-yard line early in the fourth quarter, Van Dyke completed a 16-yard pass to Michael Redding. That ended on a Jaylon Knighton fumble.
But here was the over-riding problem: Miami’s defense. It couldn’t stop North Carolina as its scoring drives of 78, 74, 99, 75 and 81 yards showed. That, too, showed just how far Miami is from being the team Cristobal wants.
Losing three of five isn’t the start Cristobal wanted. They can’t run. They can’t stop the pass. And they can’t move the calendar ahead to a year, or maybe two, when his recruiting will take hold.