Canes fans and foes: Saturday is your chance to glimpse UM’s future, QBs in spring game
Finally.
At 11 a.m. Saturday, Hurricanes fans (and everyone else) across the nation will have their one and only opportunity to watch the University of Miami quarterbacks on display in the annual spring game — on TV or in front of your digital device, that is.
After 14 closed UM spring practice sessions, the 15th and final one for 2021 will serve as the spring game, set for an 11 a.m. kickoff at Hard Rock Stadium. Except for invited media and guests, the scrimmage is closed to the public, but will be broadcast live on ACC Network.
The huge battle to watch is between the two young backup quarterback contenders as starter D’Eriq King, who will be at the game but sidelined, continues to rehabilitate from reconstructive right knee surgery after tearing his ACL in the bowl game. Keep in mind that quarterbacks will not be allowed to be tackled or touched by the defense.
UM coach Manny Diaz acknowledged Thursday that this spring was big for the offense in terms of gaining confidence in second-year freshman Tyler Van Dyke and recently arrived freshman Jake Garcia. Both quarterbacks were highly regarded nationally in high school and have, according to UM and their statistics from the first two scrimmages, performed very well during the spring.
“That is exactly what this spring has been,’’ Diaz said of the confidence factor. “Everybody has got their own battle to fight in terms of playing at their position or just improving themselves. But look, everybody watches the guy with the ball. It’s hard not to notice, and if there has been one silver lining with missing D’Eriq this spring, it is with all the reps the young quarterbacks can get. There’s no substitute for that.”
QB2 contenders
Van Dyke, a 6-4, 224-pound former consensus four-star prospect out of Suffield Academy in Connecticut, played in only two games last season and threw two incomplete passes. But he did well in UM’s previous two scrimmages this spring, completing 10 of 15 passes (66.6 percent) for 114 yards and a touchdown in the first one and especially excelling April 9 in the second one, going 13 of 17 (76.4) for 190 yards and three touchdowns.
Garcia (6-3, 194 pounds) out of Whittier, California, played his final high school season at Grayson in Loganville, Georgia, and was rated the No. 2 pocket passer by ESPN and No. 5 pro-style quarterback prospect by 247Sports in the 2021 signing class. He was the star of the first scrimmage March 27, completing 15 of 19 passes (78.9) for 188 yards and a touchdown. Last week he was 18 of 27 (66.6) for 164 yards, a touchdown and interception.
“Seeing the way Tyler looked poised’’ impressed Diaz, per his Thursday session with the media. “Jake looked [like] at times he had a couple throws and a couple decisions that were like ‘Whoa,’ and then he settled down and still made some throws that made everyone rewind the tape and say, ‘Wow. That’s impressive.’
“The whole team notices because they know, as we found out a year ago, when they believe their quarterback gives them a chance to win, everyone gains confidence from that.”
Diaz said offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee and his offensive staff “have done a great job of re-engineering our quarterback room in 12 months time, and everybody has got confidence because of that.”
When asked what he wants to see in the spring game Saturday, Diaz said he wants “to see a clean scrimmage.’’
Diaz’s hope
“I want to see good execution on both sides — two sides making it difficult on one another, guys making tough catches into tough coverage. And every time that ball is handed off it’s a battle of wills because the offense is trying to run better and the defense is trying to stop the run better. More than that I want to see, what I mean by clean, no missed assignments, no penalties, great effort and I want our guys to stay healthy.
“We made a big point this spring about Miami not beating Miami and doing those things that we feel like can take us to the next level.”
As usual, and probably even more on Saturday, the spring game will display the most basic plays on both sides of the ball because every competitor on UM’s schedule will be watching and dissecting. That doesn’t mean there won’t be a fun, trick play every now and then, but nothing too crazy to tip off rivals.
Also know that Diaz reeled off 15 names, some of them high profile, who will be unable to participate Saturday because of injuries or rehab.
Offense, defense speak
“We want to see the offense be physical, play fast, have 100 percent effort,’’ UM’s top receiver Mike Harley said Thursday.
Striker Gilbert Frierson, representing the defense, spoke Thursday of what he was most proud of this spring. “Connection as a family, working together,’’ Frierson said. “We got guys moving around different positions, learning different things. You might be in with a younger guy. You might be in with an older guy. You gotta communicate and all work together. So if one [is] right, we all right.
“We all just gotta move on one string, one cord. We still got a lot more work to do. We’re not near where we want to be at... The competition level is off the charts right now and everybody is just getting better.’’
