Miami QB Van Dyke on state of UM offense and if 2021 up-tempo, spread was better for him
This is not the early season Miami Hurricanes fans and no doubt Tyler Van Dyke envisioned three games into 2022, despite last week’s victorious opponent Texas A&M having one of the top defenses in the nation.
Third-year sophomore Van Dyke, the 2022 ACC Rookie of the Year, is 54 of 86 (62.8 percent) for 671 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception for the No. 25 Canes (2-1) — but more importantly, without a touchdown against the Aggies in four trips to the red zone. With his roommate, close friend and by far UM’s top receiver Xavier Restrepo out for at least six weeks with a foot injury, and with sophomore receiver Jacolby George now out for an undisclosed amount of weeks with an injury to his hand, it’s obviously not only Van Dyke’s problem.
But as the team’s top returning player who was part of the preseason Heisman Trophy hype and projected as a high NFL draft choice should he leave UM early, he knows he needs to rally his young teammates and improve his accuracy as they await their next home challenge at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Middle Tennessee (2-1). He doesn’t have school record-breaking receivers Charleston Rambo and Mike Harley anymore, and several of the current ones have faltered in their route-running and dropped seven passes last game.
“Obviously, I’m not throwing for 300-plus yards and a lot of touchdowns every game like I did last year,’’ Van Dyke told reporters during a Zoom videoconference Tuesday. “It’s going to come.”
Lashlee to Gattis
Van Dyke was asked how the transition has been from former coordinator Rhett Lashlee’s spread, up-tempo offense to Josh Gattis’ run-heavier, pro-style offense and if he’s “better suited for last year’s offense.”
“People thought last year this type of offense would be better for me and then….,’’ he said, stopping mid-stream. “I mean, it’s football. It doesn’t matter. Up-tempo, spread — you’re still throwing the ball, you’re still handing the ball to the guys.
“...I don’t think it’s a big adjustment for me. Football is football. Run plays are run plays. Pass plays are pass plays. It just comes down to a connection level with your receiver and it starts with me. I need better throws for them to catch. We just gotta be better and I know we will be.”
When asked if there are ways to at times implement some of what worked well last year to get defenses off balance, Van Dyke said, “Yeah, we’ll implement a little more things that we did last year that as a whole as an offense we really did well at. We’ll have a good mix of what Coach Gattis likes to do and then implement a little bit of what we did last year.”
Last year, Van Dyke, 6-4 and 224 pounds, played in 10 games and started the final nine, completing 202 of 324 passes (62.3 percent) for 2,931 yards and 25 touchdowns, with six interceptions, He finished eighth nationally in passing yards per completion (14.5), 11th in passing efficiency (160.1) and 14th in passing yards per game (293.1). UM had the nation’s No. 10 passing offense.
He ended the season with six consecutive games with at least 300 passing yards and at least three touchdown passes, becoming the first Power 5 quarterback to do so in a single season since LSU’s Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow in 2019.
Latest numbers
Last week, on the road in front of 107,245 screaming fans, Van Dyke hit 21 of 41 passes (51.2 percent) for 217 yards and no touchdowns for a 95.7 passing efficiency. His longest pass was a 29-yarder to tight end Elijah Arroyo. He’s now 68th nationally in passing efficiency (137.5) and 66th in passing yards per game (223.7). Miami, under new offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, has gone to a pro-style, run-heavy offense and is 27th nationally in rushing offense (218 yards a game) and 50th in passing offense (258).
Van Dyke, other than four sacks on Sept. 10 against Southern Miss, has been well protected, though he was hit five times — “five times too many” — coach Mario Cristobal said, against the Aggies.
“I like getting hit,’’ Van Dyke said with a grin. “Obviously not too hard. I don’t get hit in practice. But it’s always good to take a shot once in a while. But yeah, even with pressure in my face I gotta make these throws.”
He said he “had an overroute to Mike [Redding III] and one to Mello [Romello Brinson] that I got hit on both those plays. But I gotta make those throws. We were working on in practice where we move around in the pocket a little more and throw the ball with pressure in my face. I’m still confident.. We have to keep trusting the offense and keep doing what we have to do in practice and it will relay in the game.
“My confidence level is still there. I have confidence in this team, confidence in this offense. We just have to keep going to work every week and it’ll show.”
Accuracy key
Van Dyke said he needs to get with his receivers more on their own so they can be more prepared regarding route-running and have a better connection with him. “Obviously I need to be a little more accurate,’’ he added. “We worked on that today a good amount.
“Yeah, I missed a few. Can’t miss any. I’ve got to be 100 percent with my decision making. That’s what the great ones do so I gotta do that.’’
Cristobal said on Monday that Van Dyke was doing “pretty well’’ but that the Hurricanes must “continue to improve the supporting cast.’’
As for Restrepo, he told Van Dyke after the game that “he was just mad he wasn’t on the field. He was telling me on this play he would have done this and this.
He said ‘Keep your head up. It’s a long season.’
“We’re 2-1 and our goal this week is to go 1-0 in everything we do, and 1-0 every week.’’
▪ Cristobal said earlier this week that offensive lineman DJ Scaife “sprained his ankle a little bit” at Texas A&M but had still practiced Monday...The coach added that running back Don Chaney Jr.’s rehab is progressing but that he doesn’t expect him back for “six, seven, eight weeks.’’
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 4:36 PM.
