Miami’s two tight ends are playing key role in the Canes’ offense, and not just as passcatchers
Miami tight end Will Mallory still thinks about the Hurricanes’ failed two-point try in their loss to North Carolina.
They had scored the go-ahead touchdown with an 11-yard pass from quarterback Jarren Williams to Mallory, but the sophomore couldn’t hold on to the ball when he was targeted on the following two-point conversion attempt.
Mallory learned from the play. He said it pushed him to work harder.
“It’s not a way you want to go out in a game,” he said. “Especially when you feel like it was kind of your fault.”
That touchdown catch was Mallory’s only reception against the Tar Heels, and the next contest, a 63-0 win over Bethune-Cookman, Mallory didn’t record a catch. He hauled in three passes for 70 yards against Central Michigan, including a wide-open 38-yard catch-and-run on the first play of the game.
When asked after Tuesday’s practice if he was surprised to be so open, Mallory shook his sweat-stained head.
“It was kind of the way we drew it up,” he said. “We were kind of expecting it to be that way.”
Then, he chuckled.
“Honestly, I was kind of hoping I was gonna take it 80 yards to the house,” he added of the catch, which was the longest of his career. “But it didn’t happen.”
That was one of only three times Mallory was targeted against Central Michigan. His second catch was good for 21 yards on the same drive. But the 6-foot-5, 240-pound tight end hopes for more targets moving forward, and he might get that chance when Miami (2-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) resumes conference play against Virginia Tech (2-2, 0-2 ACC) on Saturday.
“We have a lot of key players out there that we gotta spread the ball out to,” Mallory said. “But then again, I could use some more targets.
“And that’s kind of on me too. I gotta get open. I gotta give them something to throw to, so it’s just something that we gotta keep working on. Me and Brevin [Jordan] definitely wanna be getting a lot of targets, so we just gotta help them out.”
Mallory said he enjoys when the Hurricanes game plan around their tight ends, and those two-tight end sets featuring Mallory and sophomore Jordan have yielded plenty of success.
Jordan, who was a second-team All-ACC player as a true freshman last season, leads Miami’s receivers with 233 yards and 16 catches.
He opened the season with a career-high 88 yards on five catches against Florida and followed it with six catches for 73 yards against North Carolina. In his third game of the season with at least 70 yards (his 70-yard game against Central Michigan), it took Jordan just three catches to get there.
“Oh, man. He’s very passionate,” receiver Mike Harley said of Jordan. “He’s consistent, and he just gets open at the tight end spot... We depend on him, and he’s a huge plus to the offense and the receiving group.”
With some of the struggles of Miami’s young offensive line featuring two freshman and two sophomore starters against Central Michigan, offensive coordinator Dan Enos has depended on Jordan and Mallory as blockers just as much as he used them as receivers.
Mallory had a downfield block that helped receiver Dee Wiggins pick up 33 yards against Bethune-Cookman, and he said he and Jordan have worked on being factors in pass protection.
“I think so far this year, we’ve done a great job,” Mallory said of he and Jordan in pass protection. “We, thankfully, haven’t given up any bad plays like that, so we’ve been practicing hard with that and ... I think it’s a good part of our skillset we have going.”
The week following Miami’s loss to North Carolina, Enos described Jordan (6-3, 245 pounds) as a “rare” player with “excellent’” run-blocking ability. He said Jordan’s someone the he’s not afraid to use in any situation.
“It’s hard for us to take him off the field because he’s good, really in all aspects of what we’re trying to do,” Enos said. “He’s good at setting an edge. He’s good at running vertical. He’s good out in space… He loves to play the game. He goes out there, he’s enthusiastic. He’s competitive. He wants the ball. He wants to be challenged.
“We ask Brevin to do a lot. He’s gotta learn a lot of things. He’s gotta learn all the run schemes, all the protection schemes, all the route schemes. We move him around in formations all over the place, so, from a mental standpoint, the tight ends have one of the biggest challenges of the entire group.”