Should D’Eriq King pass more? And after transfer portal news, UM’s Diaz defends DBs
The Miami Hurricanes lead the Atlantic Coast Conference and are third in the country in rushing — after one full week of major college football, that is.
That’s fun to say when you know the Canes finished 120th of 130 FBS teams in rushing last season. Of course, only 41 teams were ranked in rushing this week in a thus-far severely deficient football season because of COVID-19. But it nonetheless begs the question as the No. 17 Canes (1-0) prepare to travel to No. 18 Louisville (1-0) for a 7:30 p.m. Saturday kickoff (ABC):
Will UM pass more this week?
“You have to find a balance,’’ Canes quarterback D’Eriq King said Wednesday, when asked during a Zoom session to give his philosphy on balancing when to stay in the pocket and when to run. “When the plays are there, take off — you gotta do it. But if you can sit in the pocket a second longer and wait for your guy to get open, you gotta do that, too.
“There’s room for improvement there. I’m looking at it for this week.’’
In UM’s 31-14 win over Alabama-Birmingham in last week’s home opener, the Canes rushed for 337 yards, the second-most recorded by a UM team against an FBS opponent since UM joined the ACC in 2004 and most in any game since 2016.
And King, a fifth-year senior who transferred to Miami from Houston, hit 16 of his 24 passes (66.6 percent) for 144 yards and a touchdown. He ran for 83 yards and a touchdown. And while there was only one example of miscommunication between King and a receiver (redshirt freshman Jeremiah Payton came back for a deep ball), King said Wednesday that after watching film on the opener, “we have to improve in the passing game a lot.’’
“We’ve got to start making plays, me giving receivers downfield a chance to make plays.’’
King acknowledged that he needs to improve on “being calm in the pocket.’’
First-game jitters
“I think sometimes last game I would say I was out of sorts, like I would drop back and feel a little bit of pressure and I would try to escape. Probably [I should] stay in the pocket a little longer and try to make throws.”
UM offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee called King’s ability to make something out of nothing “a double-edged sword.’’
“Man, he made some plays when things broke down,’’ Lashlee said, “and he’d get a big run. But...there were times he could have hung in there. We had some guys open downfield. We took two sacks that weren’t on the offensive line, to be honest with you.
“For Game One, he did fine. But he can do better.’’
Deep tailback corps
The quarterback said the running game, led by Cam’Ron Harris’ 134 ground yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries (7.9 yards a carry), “would help him tremendously’’ if it keeps up its success.
“This is a pretty deep running backs room,’’ King said. “It was the first game we all actually had to play together in a real game. Obviously, UAB came out in a different defense than we prepared for all week, so they gave us a lot of one-on-ones. We just gotta hit ‘em. We gotta keep throwing them, taking shots and giving those receivers chances. I have a lot of confidence in those guys — [Mark] Pope, Wiggs [Dee Wiggins], Brevin [Jordan], Will [Mallory], [Mike] Harley, all those guys to make plays. We just gotta keep at it.”
Louisville, which defeated Western Kentucky 35-21 in its opener Saturday, allowed 119 yards and two touchdowns rushing (3.4 yards a carry) and 129 yards and one touchdown passing (5.6 yards a completion).
Said UM’s Harris: “Watching film on the Louisville defense, they’re athletic— run to the ball, fast DBs, linebackers. We’re not going to switch our game. We’ll be balanced, but will run downhill.’’
Diaz on Christian Williams
UM coach Manny Diaz was asked Wednesday about the news of sophomore cornerback Christian Williams, a former four-star recruit, entering the transfer portal.
“Sometimes it’s just a fit,’’ Diaz said. “Christian is a good young man from a good family. But ultimately it comes down to competition on Greentree Practice Field. You’ve got to be able to compete. You’ve got to be the best version of yourselves. One thing we pride ourselves as a secondary is playing the most competitive guys.
“I like the guys we’ve got. I like the guys we roll with. I love the way that Isaiah Dunson is competing. I think he’ll be in the mix more and more as the season goes on, just like [former Miramar High safety] Brian Balom. I think those two guys, for young guys, really have the competitive spirit.”
Dunson, a freshman, is a 6-1, 184-pound former four-star recruit out of Tucker, Georgia.
UM started Al Blades Jr. and DJ Ivey at cornerback last week, though Ivey has been inconsistent.
“Look, this thing has totally transformed,’’ Diaz said of his defensive backs. “Look at our pass defense numbers since 2016. We know what we’re doing when it comes to stopping the pass.”
UM finished 18th nationally and second in the ACC last season in passing yards allowed (195.2 per game).
“I love the guys we have back their. I think they feel the bond. It’s important to have any type of secondary play, you’ve got to know that everybody out there has got your back and everybody out there is going to compete at a high level.
“I wish Christian the best. I think he has got a good future ahead of him. But so do we.’’
▪ Diaz said the Canes are in good shape injury-wise for Louisville. “We have the same group we had last week for UAB.’’
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 2:36 PM.
