Miami’s WR woes already painful without Restrepo. With Jacolby George injured, UM needs help
The University of Miami’s receiving woes, as evidenced Saturday in the loss at Texas A&M, were painful.
Now they’re worse, as sophomore receiver Jacolby George has joined top receiver Xavier Restrepo with an injury that will keep him out indefinitely.
Restrepo’s is a foot injury. A source confirmed to the Miami Herald a report by Canes County of the Rivals.com network that George, who was suspended the first two games of the season, is out indefinitely with a hand injury. Others, including 247Sports and The Athletic, have it specifically as a thumb injury.
George, a Plantation High graduate who had three catches for 41 yards Saturday, played in nine games last season and caught seven passes for 183 yards and a touchdown.
One thing is definite: The Hurricanes receivers need to improve in a hurry. The remaining scholarship receivers, in addition to Restrepo and George, are Michael Redding III, Key’Shawn Smith, Romello Brinson, Frank Ladson, Isaiah Horton and Brashard Smith.
Brashard Smith had it particularly hard last week against then-No. 24 Texas A&M, if only because his dropped pass was UM’s last shot at heading toward the end zone with the game on the line late in the fourth quarter.
Last gasp
It was first-and-10 for Miami at its own 43-yard line with 1:16 left and the Aggies, buoyed by 107,245 screaming fans, leading 17-9 — a daunting, but not impossible situation for the then-No. 13 Hurricanes.
Sophomore Smith, making his first start in the slot for injured Restrepo, came through with an 11-yard catch. Four plays later, on fourth-and-4 from the A&M 40, it was Smith’s turn again. Quarterback Tyler Van Dyke dropped back and fired the ball into Smith’s hands.
Well, almost into his hands.
The drop was one of Miami’s “six or seven” against the Aggies, according to coach Mario Cristobal and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis. Texas A&M took over and ran out the clock.
“Obviously any competitor is going to be hurt in a situation like that at the end of the game,’’ Gattis said Monday. “I hurt for him. I wish I could do more for him. I wish I could do more for all these kids. We have to get better fundamentally as an offense, and that’s just doing the little things right. At times we’re out there just executing plays without executing the fundamentals of the plays. And those things show up.”
Smith, a former four-star product out of Miami Palmetto High, is not alone. The Hurricanes receivers, plagued nearly all fall camp with drops until they seemingly corrected the problem with far better play the final week of camp and first two victories, are back in the deficiency spotlight.
“It’s not like you correct it by saying “Catch the ball,’’ Cristobal said of the receiving corps on Monday at his weekly news conference before Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. home game against Middle Tennessee (ACC Network). “There’s been a lot of work, a lot of time invested it. We’re not getting all the results we want yet.”
Earlier Monday on WQAM, Cristobal, when asked about Brashard Smith (three catches Saturday for 17 yards in four targets), said, ‘’The guy ain’t trying to drop the ball. We had seven drops. We talked about it with the team. So obviously we aint there yet. But I’m going to be really pissed if we’re not trying to catch 100 balls after practice.
“You gotta work it into reality. Routine plays have to be converted and you’ve got to be able to make progress. And if you don’t you gotta do it until you can’t get it wrong.”
Added Cristobal: “Coaches, too, now. We gotta keep manufacturing ways to have more success. Whatever it takes.”
Restrepo still leads
Restrepo, who will be out a minimum of six weeks, Cristobal said, still leads the team with 11 catches for 172 yards and a touchdown. The Canes had nine players — five of them wideouts — catch 13 of Van Dyke’s 21 completions. Tight end Will Mallory led the Hurricanes with six catches in seven targets for 56 yards.
The Hurricanes (2-1) are ranked 50th nationally in passing offense, averaging 258 passing yards a game. Van Dyke (54 of 86 for 671 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception) is 68th nationally in passing efficiency and 66th in passing yards per game. And though Van Dyke had some inaccuracy issues the past two games, his “supporting cast,’’ as Cristobal called them, have made his job far more difficult. Restrepo’s absence was obviously a problem in College Station.
“It was obvious that room has a ways to go, and Xavier Restrepo is far and above the leader [and] alpha in that room and is missed tremendously,’’ Cristobal told WQAM. “The bottom line: He’s not going to be back for awhile so guys have to step up. You gotta run the right routes, catch the football, block when you’re called upon and you gotta work hard at it.”
UM’s inability to score touchdowns all four times the Canes entered the red zone Saturday was a glaring warning sign. “Obviously being able to drive up and down the field vs. a really good team but not finish with touchdowns is a major deal,’’ said Gattis, who acknowledged that Restrepo’s absence has made a “significant difference” and that his receivers needed plenty of work but that the problem was a collective one. The drops weren’t only by the receivers, and the problem isn’t only a lack of steady hands.
Stressing details
“We have to get better fundamentally as an offense, and that’s just doing the little things right,’’ Gattis said. “At times we’re out there just executing plays without executing the fundamentals of the plays. And those things show up. ...Too many balls were on the ground, too many open opportunities. And there were some things from a technique and detail standpoint that we just didn’t do right from our passing game — we had a couple of third-down missed throws where the receiver ran too deep of a route, and if we would have run it right it would have been an easy completion for a first down.
“It’s got to start in between the ears first and in the head,’’ the coordinator said. “You gotta believe in your ability, know what you’re doing and you be precise in what you’re doing. ...We have to calm the noise. The noise is not necessarily the crowd, but what’s going through your head play to play. Are you focused on your fundamentals, your split, your landmark — all the little things that require details to be successful? At times Saturday we didn’t silence that noise in our head.”
As for Brashard Smith, Cristobal said he must “get over it” and move on.
“If you’re affected by all the outside noise you’re going to have a tough time in this profession,’’ the coach said. “He’s young and I think he wants to do well. I’m not mad at him. I’m disappointed for him. I know he’s disappointed in terms of that. He is improving tremendously.
“He’s a good person, he’s a talented player. He’s growing. He is young. We put a lot on him in the absence of Restrepo and he’s handled some of it really well and the rest we got to help him get better at.”
This story was originally published September 19, 2022 at 8:09 PM.
