Cristobal: Miami QB Van Dyke ‘practiced very little’ amid report Jake Garcia starting
Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal would not say Wednesday whether quarterback Tyler Van Dyke is out for Saturday’s Virginia game, amid a report that Jake Garcia will start.
Cristobal, on a Zoom conference call with the media, said Van Dyke “has improved a bunch” and that “the status [for Virginia] is still unknown and we will determine that a little bit later. Jake has practiced really well so we feel confident obviously in the room. We’ll have an update by Friday, closer to game time.”
A bit later in the call, Cristobal was asked if Van Dyke practiced this week.
“Tyler has practiced very little,’’ the coach said. “Jake has taken a lot of the reps. Jacurri [Brown] has taken a bunch of reps. Peyton Matocha has taken a good amount of reps as well. We’re preparing everybody, with Jake taking the majority of reps thus far.
“We’ll see where we are by late Thursday, late Friday.”
On3.com’s CaneSport reported Wednesday through a source that third-year sophomore Van Dyke, the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year, is out with a shoulder injury for Saturday’s game at Virginia — and likely the following week’s Florida State game as well,
UM (3-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) travels to Charlottesville, Virginia, this weekend to take on the Cavaliers (3-4, 1-3) at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
The 6-3, 194-pound Garcia was considered one of the nation’s best when he came to UM last season. He has played in four games this season and has completed 32 of 49 (65.3 percent) passes for 470 yards and two touchdowns, with three interceptions thrown Saturday against Duke. Garcia entered the game after Van Dyke was sacked and hurt his throwing shoulder in the second quarter.
UM ended up committing eight turnovers, including five fumbles (two by Garcia), in the 45-21 home loss to Duke.
Garcia, from Whittier, California, saw action in one game last season against FCS team Central Connecticut State, but ended up sustaining a season-ending ankle injury. He came in as the backup to Van Dyke, completing 11 of 14 passes (78.6) for 147 yards and two touchdowns.
Last year, high-profile starting senior quarterback D’Eriq King injured his throwing shoulder the third game of the season, eventually had surgery and missed the rest of the year. Van Dyke has started every game since — the final nine games of 2021 and the first seven of 2022.
Van Dyke, 6-4 and 224 pounds, started all seven games this season, completing 152 of 237 passes (64.1 percent) for 1,737 yards and 10 touchdowns, with four interceptions. He has been sacked 12 times.
The CaneSport report said Van Dyke would be reevaluated after Nov. 5 FSU game at Hard Rock Stadium.
Van Dyke’s career stats in three seasons, including two games in which he threw two incomplete passes as a true freshman in 2020: 354 of 563 (62.9) for 4,668 yards and 35 touchdowns, with 10 interceptions. He has been sacked 33 times.
Last season, which catapulted Van Dyke into stardom and into the minds of NFL scouts and draft analysts, he was 202 of 324 (62.3 percent) for 2,931 yards and 25 touchdowns, with four interceptions. He was sacked 20 times.
The Canes also have 6-4, 210-pound highly touted freshman quarterback Brown, from Valdosta, Georgia. Brown, a dual-threat quarterback, made his career debut in the opener against Bethune-Cookman, entering the game on UM’s final offensive series and rushing once for 2 yards. He has played in three games, being used as a wildcat quarterback and even once last game as a receiver.
Brown now has five carries for 26 yards and the one catch for 9 yards. He has not thrown a pass.
Injury update
Cristobal reiterated Wednesday that right guard Justice Oluwaseun (unspecified injury) is out for an extended time and that center Jakai Clark is “fully healthy” and had “a great week.’’ Clark came in for his backup, Jonathan Denis, last week when Denis hurt his left leg.
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 12:26 PM.
