Podcast: D’Eriq King’s unshakable confidence, and Miami’s biggest concern vs. Louisville
There were moments all throughout the Miami Hurricanes’ season-season opening, 31-14 win against the Alabama-Birmingham Blazers on Sept. 10 when it felt like Miami could have unraveled and wound up in a down-to-the-wire contest against an inferior opponent.
The Hurricanes went down in the first quarter, only led 14-7 at halftime and let UAB claw within three in the third before Miami finally put away the Blazers at Hard Rock Stadium for a three-possession win. The Hurricanes even covered the spread for the first time in four games!
Is it evidence this is a new Miami? It’s too soon to tell, but it does tell us D’Eriq King is a different sort of quarterback. David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Hurricanes beat writer for the Miami Herald, explain on a new episode of the Eye on the U podcast, previewing Miami’s first road game of the season against the Louisville Cardinals.
More than a week after making his Hurricanes debut, King knows he can be even better Saturday in Kentucky. College GameDay heads to Louisville for a top-25 matchup between No. 17 Miami and the No. 18 Cardinals, and King said it’s exactly the sort of reason he decided to come to Coral Gables. It’s also the reason the Hurricanes (1-0) wanted him so badly.
The redshirt senior admitted he wasn’t good enough at “being calm in the pocket” in his first game in Miami Gardens, but he proved he isn’t one to panic after he led back-to-back 70-yard touchdown drives in the third quarter to effectively seal the Hurricanes’ season-opening victory. The quarterback brings a confidence and maturity to the position Miami hasn’t had since at least Brad Kaaya.
Louisville will present a whole different level of challenge to the Hurricanes, though. The Cardinals have a star quarterback of their own with Micale Cunningham and he has a stable of wide receivers, led by Miami Northwestern graduate Tutu Atwell, capable of taking advantage of the Hurricanes’ newly thin secondary following cornerback Christian Williams’ decision to transfer earlier this week.
MIami still has questions to answer this week, like: Will the turnover chain finally make an appearance? Can the Hurricanes get to Cunningham for a couple sacks? Is it still going to be all about the ground game or will offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee ask King to air it out a little more?
Week 1 was promising in South Florida. Week 2 will actually give us an idea of what this season will be like at Miami.
