Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Van Dyke steps up again
QB bounces back to put together 2 straight 300-yard performances
BLACKSBURG, VIRGINIA — It took more than a month, but the Hurricanes finally got back in the win column.
Miami got back to .500 with a 20-14 victory over Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Saturday. Although the Hokies made the game competitive in the fourth quarter, the Hurricanes played well enough to secure the win.
Here are 10 things we learned in the Hurricanes’ win:
Tyler Van Dyke back to slinging it: The Hurricanes quarterback hit what may be the low point of his career a few weeks ago, but Van Dyke appears to be back to his old ways.
The third-year sophomore reached the 300-yard mark for the second game in a row, completing 29-of-46 passes for a pair of touchdown passes and 351 yards. He looked sharp again, which was reflected in Pro Football Focus’ 90.8 passing grade for Van Dyke. That score was ninth-best among FBS quarterbacks this week.
Miami could not get much going in the run game again on Saturday, so they relied on Van Dyke to power the offense, and it worked.
“Tyler was very, very comfortable,” coach Mario Cristobal said. “What he practiced showed up in the game, which allowed him to perform at a high level, especially in that first half. He was hard to stop.”
Hurricanes finally seeing receivers step up: The Hurricanes knew they would need some of their wide receivers to fill bigger roles after Charleston Rambo and Mike Harley Jr. departed for the NFL. The question only became more important with injuries to Xavier Restrepo and Jacolby George early in the season.
After six games, Miami finally appears to be getting the production they need. Sophomore transfer Colbie Young had his first 100-yard receiving game as a Hurricane, leading the team with 110 yards Saturday and making two stellar one-handed catches.
Frank Ladson Jr. had his third solid game in a row, making five catches for 58 yards and his first touchdown this season. Brashard Smith racked up 76 yards on six catches, and tight end Will Mallory had three catches for 62 yards before leaving the game with an injury.
“I think Colbie Young, Frank played a good game, Brashard, Will before he got hurt,” Van Dyke said. “A bunch of guys stepped up.”
Van Dyke added: “I think we had really good matchups on some of the guys. At times, they got us. Credit to them. But I think the receivers should get a lot of credit for this one.”
Are penalties an issue now? The Hurricanes entered the game with the fewest penalties called against them among ACC teams, but that changed after Saturday. The Hurricanes were hit for 17 penalties for 159 yards.
Some of those penalties can be attributed to new players taking on bigger roles. The Hurricanes had five false starts called against them. Jonathan Denis made his first start at center for Miami, and he had two penalties charged to him. Freshman Anez Cooper was charged with one as well, as was freshman tight end Jaleel Skinner.
But it wasn’t just new players. Right tackle DJ Scaife was charged with three false starts.
“We’ve got to be a little bit louder back there,” Van Dyke said. “I had a few and [Jonathan Denis] had a few. Just be able to communicate better with the crowd. It was loud out there.”
Answers needed in the running game: After starting the season with a bruising running game, the Hurricanes’ rushing offense has taken a step back the past few weeks. Miami finished Saturday’s win with 107 rushing yards. No Miami runner had more than 27 rushing yards.
The Hurricanes were playing shorthanded, as Henry Parrish Jr. missed the game with an injury, and they were playing behind a depleted offensive line.
Offensive coordinator Josh Gattis turned to freshman running back Jacurri Brown to try to get some things moving on the ground, and Brown delivered with a short first-down run and a 19-yard scamper.
“The use of Jacurri Brown was awesome,” Cristobal said. “He almost busted a ginormous run, as well. He got tackled from behind.”
But Miami’s running backs mostly struggled to gain more than a few yards at a time. Jaylan Knighton had 27 yards on 10 carries (2.7 yards per carry), Thad Franklin Jr. had 24 yards on four carries (6.0 yards per carry) and Lucious Stanley had 23 yards on four carries (5.8 yards per carry). Franklin and Stanley’s yards-per-carry marks are buoyed by one long run each (Franklin had one 18-yard run, and Stanley had one 11-yard carry).
Cristobal said he saw improvement in Miami’s ability in short-yardage situations, but there is still plenty of room for the Hurricanes’ running game to improve.
Transfer portal magic: After Cristobal took over, he revamped the defense with a handful of players who arrived via the transfer portal.
Halfway through the season, defensive end Akheem Mesidor, who arrived from West Virginia, has an argument to be the team’s MVP. He’s had an excellent season, and he continued his roll Saturday with a career-high 3.5 sacks. He led the team with eight tackles, as well.
“He’s just a tough player,” linebacker Keontra Smith said. “Coach says it all the time: That’s a guy you want to be on the field with.”
Miami also got strong production from other first-year ‘Canes, including Mitchell Agude (three tackles and half a sack) and Caleb Johnson (two tackles). Cornerback Daryl Porter Jr., who came from West Virginia like Mesidor, started in place of injured corner Tyrique Stevenson (himself a transfer from Georgia).
Defense lives in backfield: With Waynmon Steed Jr. out on Saturday, the Hurricanes turned to Smith to fill in. The move paid off wonderfully.
In his first start this season, Smith had six tackles, including several key hits in the open field, and earned a career-high 84.1 defensive score from Pro Football Focus, leading the team in that metric. Smith struggled with missed tackles last year, earning only a 27.8 tackling grade. On Saturday, he didn’t miss one tackle and had an 80.7 tackling grade.
“Pretty much just working on tackling, better eyes, playing with good pad level,” Smith said.
The defense as a whole shut down the Hokies for most of the game, and they racked up six sacks. Linebacker Corey Flagg Jr. had a sack and a pair of tackles for loss. Agude, Leonard Taylor and Nyjalik Kelly had half a sack each.
“They were dominant,” Cristobal said. “Fourth quarter, they got us. And in there, [the defense is] upset with themselves, which is, in a way, a good thing without it letting them feel bad or letting them feel awful. They played really, really good football.”
Special teams has another strong day: Miami got good performances on special teams on Saturday, playing effectively errorfree ball.
Andy Borregales had two short field-goal attempts, and he nailed both of them. He also had four touchbacks on five kickoffs.
Lou Hedley had seven punts and landed four of them inside the opposing 20-yard line, averaging 44.6 yards per punt.
Miami didn’t do anything spectacular in the return game, though Smith did have an 18-yard punt return to the 50-yard line that led to a UM field goal. Most importantly, they did not make any dire mistakes when returning punts or kicks.
’Canes gets the fast start they needed ... The Hurricanes fell behind to start each of their first five games this season. That didn’t matter much against Bethune-Cookman and Southern Miss, but it proved to be an issue in losses to Texas A&M, Middle Tennessee State and North Carolina.
That didn’t happen on Saturday.
The Hurricanes got a turnover on the first drive of the game and turned it into points. They jumped out to a 17-0 lead at halftime, which would ultimately prove to be all the points they needed.
“It definitely helped us throughout the game, the fast start,” Van Dyke said.
... But they need to shut the door: The quick start was good and necessary. But Miami’s offense stalled in the second half, and Virginia Tech’s awoke from its slumber.
The Hokies scored 14 unanswered points in the second half, turning what looked like a solid Hurricanes win into a battle at the end. There are a few reasons for Virginia Tech’s late surge: The Hokies played well, Miami made mistakes, had injuries and got tagged with ill-timed penalties.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes won, which is the most important thing. But the Hokies, who are 2-5, came close to pulling off the upset. As Miami improves, they’ll have to get better at putting teams away.
“We’ve got to learn not to get anxious as the game gets tighter and things start getting a little bit closer,” Cristobal said. “We’ve got to learn how to play with poise. We’ve got to start taking more pride and confidence and conviction in performing that way.
First of three: Miami’s October, while not easy, has shaped up to be the softer part of its conference schedule. After facing 6-1 North Carolina, Miami faced the struggling Hokies (2-5). Next up is Duke (4-3), and the Hurricanes close out the month with a trip to Virginia (2-4).
This stretch of games is crucial because the schedule only gets more difficult. After facing three opponents with a combined record of 8-12 to end October, Miami has road trips to Clemson (7-0) and Georgia Tech (3-3) with home games against Florida State (4-3) and Pittsburgh (4-2).
Miami needed to get the win this week to avoid falling to 2-4 and making bowl eligibility a concern. But if the Hurricanes pick up the last two wins this month in games they will likely be favored in, they will end October 5-3 and just need one win in that tough November to earn a trip to a bowl game.
“We got back in the win column; that’s all that matters for now,” Van Dyke said. “It doesn’t matter how we do it. We won. At the end of the day, we’ve still got to get better.