Miami laid a historic beatdown on FSU. Its new-look offense just keeps getting better
The timing was all perfect. The Miami Hurricanes had just taken over near midfield after a truly ludicrous diving, bobbling interception by Jaelan Phillips and D’Eriq King knew just the play for the moment. He had seen the opportunity on the previous drive, so he let Rhett Lashlee know what he wanted to do.
He took a snap in the shotgun and rolled slightly to his right with Will Mallory, lined up as a fullback, ready to pick up Marvin Wilson’s blitz. Dee Wiggins, lined up on the left side of the formation, sprinted down the field and ran a post route to the middle of the end zone, and the Florida State Seminoles lost track of him just in the nick of time. Wilson finally shed his block against Mallory and leveled King a split second after the star quarterback fired a pinpoint 40-yard pass to Wiggins. It was another touchdown for Miami and the Hurricanes were up 25 on their rival, and King, always so even-keeled throughout the early part of his first season in South Florida, celebrated with a flying chest bump with Rhett Lashlee.
“The possession before, I actually told Coach Lashlee I think we can get the play we did to D-Wiggs,” King said. “I was super excited just to finally see that play work.”
King, who thrust himself into Heisman Trophy contention with a 325-yard game last Saturday against the then-No. 18 Louisville Cardinals, put together another dominant performance Saturday to spearhead No. 12 Miami’s 52-10 win against Florida State. The redshirt senior pwent 29 of 40 for 267 yards and two touchdowns, and also led the Hurricanes with 65 rushing yards on eight carries, leading Miami to the first 50-point game in the 65-game history of the rivalry.
The Hurricanes (3-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) averaged 6.1 yards per play, went 11 of 16 on third down and 3 of 4 on fourth downs. Miami didn’t punt until the fourth quarter and actually let its backup take the kick. Every week, Lashlee’s offense looks more impressive — a diametric opposite from a year ago.
“Our offense,” freshman running back Donald Chaney Jr. said, “is just crazy.”
King completed passes to 10 different receivers Saturday. Nine different players accounted for at least 40 yards from scrimmage and four different players scored touchdowns.
Miami, which had the second worst third-down conversion in the country last year at 26.7 percent, has converted on 52.2 percent of third downs this season and 83.3 percent of fourth downs. At halftime, the Hurricanes were outgaining the Seminoles, 333-105, and Miami could mostly coast to the finish line.
“Obviously, the things that D’Eriq can do and, again, on possession downs,” coach Manny Diaz said, “makes it look the way that it looks.”
On Saturday, Chaney scored his first two touchdowns and wide receiver Michael Redding III, another freshman, scored his first. Last Saturday, freshman running back Jaylan Knighton scored his first two touchdowns. In the Hurricanes’ season-opening win against the UAB Blazers on Sept. 10, King scored his first touchdown for Miami.
The overhaul has been massive at all levels. Lashlee, the new offensive coordinator, has overhauled the system. A stable of freshman skill players are all contributing. King, who transferred from the Houston Cougars in January, has been the sort of triggerman the Hurricanes haven’t had since at least Brad Kaaya.
In Week 1, Miami won by pounding UAB on the ground. In Week 2, the Hurricanes shredded Louisville through the air. Their win against the Seminoles (0-2, 0-2) was their best example yet of Lashlee’s spread fulfilling its promise.
In every sense of the word, the spread looks as good as advertised.
“Everybody scores, everybody has chances,” Chaney said, “and sometimes you’ve just got to take advantage of those chances like we did today.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 1:37 AM.
