High-octane Miami spring practice No. 2: D’Eriq King shines, Peyton Matocha surfaces
The University of Miami concluded its second day of spring football practice Tuesday at Greentree Field. There were impressive touchdowns, interceptions, and No. 1 Canes quarterback De’Eriq King looked sharp again.
King again led the No. 1 unit. His throws were well-timed and accurate. He had one particular beauty to 6-3 junior receiver Dee Wiggins, beating cornerback Christian Williams for a deep touchdown, after which he sprinted to celebrate with Wiggins.
“There are way more deep shots,’’ Wiggins said of the new offense, with multiple receivers running this way and that. “You just have to take advantage of it now.’’
We saw two interceptions Tuesday, both thrown by Tate Martell. The first was picked off by former safety/current striker Keontra Smith and the other by cornerback Williams (there are two other players on defense with the last name Williams). To be fair, Martell has improved, from the little witnessed, in his passing game.
The program allowed reporters to watch almost the entire practice, so we were out there nearly 90 minutes. Again, the Canes, in shorts, jerseys and helmets sans pads, were lively and focused and running around in that “organized chaos’’ sort of way that offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said recently that he expected.
Not confusing? Or culture shock?
But both players and Lashlee alike seemed pleased with how it has gone the first two days. Wiggins, in fact, said the offense is “not confusing.’’
Lashlee knows otherwise of the adjustment.
“I think they’d probably tell you that’s a culture shock,’’ he said after practice. “The whole idea is for it to not be confusing. It’s a fast-moving game anyway. These guys have a lot of talent or they would not be here. If we can get it to where they’re reacting and playing fast in that respect, mentally, then their ability takes over.
“So that’s what we’re trying to get done. They’re not there yet. Two days in they’re still thinking a little bit. But for him to say already it’s not confusing is a good sign. Look, you are what you repeatedly do, so we’ve got to build reps over and over and over... It doesn’t happen by luck.’’
Young QB shines
The other quarterback throwing particularly nice deep balls Tuesday was 6-4, 199-pound Peyton Matocha, the redshirt freshman out of Houston St. Thomas. Matocha never got on the field last season, so we really haven’t seen much of him. On Tuesday, Matocha connected with early enrollee/true freshman Dazalin Worsham, who is getting a lot of practice reps with the backups and sometimes first team, for a very nice deep completion — immediately after Matocha handed off to fullback Michael Parrott for an impressive gain. Parrott, a 5-11, 225-pound redshirt junior, runs hard.
“Peyton Matocha is one of those humble guys,’’ cornerback Al Blades Jr. said . “He just puts his head down and works. Same thing with last year. Not a lot of people talked about him last year, but every day he would come out on the scout team and be competitive.”
Safety Amari Carter noted that “all’’ of the younger quarterbacks, including true freshman Tyler Van Dyke, “are following in the right footsteps.”
“They have good leaders with King and Kosi [Perry],” Carter said.
Cementing offensive line
▪ The Hurricanes offensive line, one of the worst in the nation last season, is obviously of major concern to everyone in the program. For years, the UM program has made sure players practice at various positions on the line to ensure stability if someone gets injured.
Tuesday, Lashlee said he would like by the end of the week for the offensive line positions to start being solidified so the linemen can really build chemistry and continuity for the 11 remaining practices after Friday. Spring break starts Saturday and the Canes don’t reconvene on Greentree until March 17.
Here are the linemen we saw with the first unit earlier in practice during 11-on-11 drills: 6-5, 301-pound redshirt sophomore left tackle John Campbell; 6-3, 305-pound redshirt sophomore left guard Ousman Traore; 6-4, 299-pound junior center Corey Gaynor; 6-3, 298-pound junior DJ Scaife; and 6-5, 285-pound sophomore Zion Nelson.
By the end of practice, when each unit was driving down the field, the first team was, left to right, Campbell, Traore, Gaynor and 6-5, 298-pound redshirt junior Kai-Leon Herbert.
The second-team line at the conclusion of practice consisted of left tackle Zalon’tae Hillery, left guard Jalen Rivers, center Jakai Clark, right guard Cleveland Reed and right tackle Nelson.
Traore also played center at times Tuesday, and 6-7, 268-pound freshman Chris Washington practiced sometimes at right tackle. Clark also practiced at right guard.
This story was originally published March 3, 2020 at 3:42 PM.
