Van Dyke’s career day overshadowed by UM loss to UNC. ‘None of the stats matter if we lose’
Two weeks ago, Tyler Van Dyke found himself heading to the bench in the third quarter of the Miami Hurricanes’ upset loss to Middle Tennessee State. The thought of a quarterback competition loomed over the Hurricanes’ bye week as they prepared to begin Atlantic Coast Conference play before coach Mario Cristobal doubled down on Monday that Van Dyke is his starter.
On Saturday, Van Dyke nearly orchestrated a fourth-quarter comeback and put any squabbling about a quarterback controversy to rest.
While it came in a 27-24 loss to North Carolina, Van Dyke threw for a career-best 496 yards, three touchdowns and an interception while competing 73.7-percent of his passes. He set UM single-game records for pass attempts (57) and completions (42). His passing yards were the most by a Hurricanes quarterback since Stephen Morris threw for 566 yards against N.C. State on Sept. 29, 2012.
But Van Dyke wasn’t in the mood to talk individual performance, even when the quarterback’s performance landed him in the Hurricanes’ record book.
Not when Miami’s rally on Saturday fell short. Not when UM is on a three-game losing streak.
“None of the stats matter if we lose the game,” Van Dyke said. “I didn’t do enough to win the game for the team.”
Instead, Van Dyke focused on what could have been and where the Hurricanes can — and need to — improve if they want to snap this losing streak and compete for the ACC Coastal title.
First, there was the drive in the second quarter when the Hurricanes had first and goal from the 2-yard line while trailing 7-0. They ran four plays, got one yard and gave the ball back to North Carolina. The Tar Heels responded with an eight-play, 99-yard touchdown drive.
“Gotta punch it in there,” Van Dyke said.
And then there was his final drive of the game.
Van Dyke and the Hurricanes had the ball at Miami’s 10-yard line with 1:13 to play and no timeouts while trailing by three. A field goal gets the Hurricanes to overtime. A touchdown completes the comeback.
After eight plays and 40 seconds, Van Dyke had the Hurricanes at the UNC 47-yard line, Van Dyke’s 57th and final pass sailed high. Tar Heels defensive back De’Andre Boykins intercepted the pass, sealing Miami’s loss.
“It’s tough,” Van Dyke said, “but that’s what you play quarterback here for. You’ve got to fight those situations. I wish I could have had that one back.”
In between, the Hurricanes went up tempo and Van Dyke thrived.
After Miami went scoreless on its first three drives and fell behind 14-0, Van Dyke threw touchdowns on back-to-back drives — a 20-yard strike to Key’Shawn Smith and a 7-yard pass to Henry Parrish Jr. while North Carolina defensive lineman Myles Murphy was hanging from the quarterback’s left side. Miami tacked on a field goal one drive later to get within 21-17 at halftime.
Van Dyke threw for 174 yards on 12-of-15 passing on those three drives and entered halftime with 289 yards — already a season high and more than twice the yards than he threw in the loss to Middle Tennessee State (138).
“Tyler got so hot,” Cristobal said, “that we said, ‘let’s just go with it.’ He did a really good job.”
Miami’s first three drives of the second half stalled and UNC pushed its lead back up to 10 before Van Dyke put together a seven-play, 63-yard drive capped by a 16-yard touchdown to Colbie Young with 2:20 left in regulation. A quick stop by the defense gave Van Dyke his final opportunity that fell short.
Van Dyke will use that final drive as motivation going into next week. He said the bye week gave him time to focus on positivity, to “keep leading instead of getting down on myself” when plays don’t work out.
“I had probably the best practices that I’ve had that week,” Van Dyke said. “It really reflects on the offense.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2022 at 10:12 PM.
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