Miami QB Tyler Van Dyke on fans booing, the past week and looking ahead to UNC
It had to have been a heck of a week in Coral Gables after the Miami Hurricanes were humbled, embarrassed, whatever word you choose, in a 45-31 home loss on Sept. 24 to Middle Tennessee State.
But University of Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke did not shy away from speaking to the media Tuesday during a Zoom video conference, being his usual frank and up-front self, answering candidly whatever questions came his way.
“Obviously, it was a rough day for me and the offense,’’ Van Dyke said. “You’ve just got to move on from it. You gotta learn from that experience and just come back here and work even harder and get better from it. That’s what we did last week. We had a really good week as an offense and we’re trying to build on that and stack these days and do it every single day and that includes Saturday. That’s where it matters the most.”
When asked how tough it was to disregard or deal with the booing by disgruntled Miami fans, especially because he has rarely had to deal with that, Van Dyke was completely understanding of it.
“Yeah, obviously it’s part of the game, all that stuff,’’ the third-year sophomore quarterback said. “The fans are very passionate about Miami Hurricanes football and you gotta get the job done here. They’re very passionate. It was rough, but that’s how it goes and that’s what I signed up for.”
Van Dyke said he is excited to face North Carolina (4-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) at home Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN2) in the first of eight consecutive ACC games for UM (2-2, 0-0), and that practices since the loss “were really good.’’
He said the loss was “probably the worst game imaginable,’’ but indicated the “24-hour rule” had the Hurricanes promptly focusing on the Tar Heels.
Van Dyke, who came into 2022 as a projected first-round NFL Draft pick should he leave school early, hasn’t been the same this season and had the worst game of his career against MTSU, throwing interceptions on this first two passes and finishing 16 of 32 for 138 yards, one touchdown and the picks — one of them returned for a touchdown. He is now 70 of 118 for 809 yards, four touchdowns and three interceptions. He has been sacked six times.
He said Tuesday that he has been “meeting a lot more’’ with his teammates and watching film with the offense, “telling them what I like and don’t like, trying to get that comfortable feeling with them, what types of plays we should run in the game — being here with them instead of watching film on my own. Just getting in gear more with them and trying to get better with them.’’
More up-tempo
When asked if part of his discussions with coaches since the loss were about trying to run a more up-tempo, faster offense, Van Dyke said, “Yeah, we’re going to play more tempo,’’ but explained that UM would have to “hit more deep plays, more explosive plays, for that to happen.’’
“Once you get that 20-yard gain, we’ll go faster because I guess the defense is discombobulated,’’ Van Dyke said. “When we’re not moving the ball well there’s no way we can go tempo. We gotta figure out ways to beat them with the run and all that type of stuff. We just gotta get more explosive plays to be able to do tempo. That’s what we’re trying to work on.”
He said the deep balls “are always fun” for players and fans. “It excites everyone.”
“We’ve been getting a lot of soft coverages. We gotta take what they give us. Once they start coming up we gotta hit the deep shots and hit those double moves. When the time comes we gotta hit them. We gotta do a better job of that.’’
Without going into specifics, Van Dyke said there were “a few fundamental things” he worked on the past week, “and got a lot better from it.”
“I’m really excited about that. Such a great week last week... We have a good game plan against them,’’ he said of the Tar Heels, who statistically in pretty much every area are one of the worst defensive teams in the nation, but offensively are one of the best.
Two of Van Dyke’s close teammates joined in the Zoom session Tuesday — tight end Will Mallory and defensive end Jahfari Harvey. Both expressed confidence in their quarterback and indicated he was upbeat and ready for his next challenge.
Teammates confident
“His spirits are up,’’ Harvey said. “We’re back to work, back to grinding. He’s in there fixing his mistakes, trying to see what he can [do] better. It’s back to work. He’s just thinking forward, thinking about Saturday.’’
Said Mallory: “As far as the room and the offense to get things going, you’ve got to focus on what you have to do, your task at hand. You can’t do anyone else’s job. We gotta really be fundamental, very, very particular in every technique and do what we’re coached to do. If we do what we’re coached to do, do what we schemed up and do it at a high level, that’s when good things happen.”
Regarding Van Dyke, Mallory is convinced he will be back to his old self.
“Tyler is Tyler,’’ the tight end said. “He’s a baller. He’s a stud. I’m with him all the way,and everyone else is, too. We know what we have. This is our team and we’re going to rock with it.
“And we’re going to make it happen.”
