Podcast: Examining Miami’s ongoing offensive issues. And could Van Dyke return vs. Pitt?
The Miami Hurricanes’ woeful offense hit its nadir Saturday against the Clemson Tigers.
For only the third time in program history, Miami failed to crack 100 yards of total offense and the result was another blowout loss in Clemson, South Carolina.
With only one game left in the regular season, the Hurricanes still haven’t found any sort of offensive success this season, and David Wilson and Susan Miller Degnan, the Miami Herald’s Hurricanes beat writer, examine what it all means on a new episode of the Eye on the U podcast.
A regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Panthers puts it all in perspective, too: Pittsburgh, like Miami, rode a pass-happy offense to success last year and has successfully pivoted to a ground-and-pound offense in 2022; the Hurricanes, despite coach Mario Cristobal’s and offensive coordinator Josh Gattis’ efforts, have not.
It is, of course, not all the coaches’ fault — at this point, quarterback Tyler Van Dyke’s injury somehow seems under-discussed — but there’s no excuse for how bad Miami’s offense is this season compared to a year ago, especially because it didn’t look so great even when Van Dyke was in the lineup.
It’d be nice, then, for Van Dyke to be able to suit up Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium and Cristobal insists there’s a real chance. The defense is displaying signs of encouragement and it’d be useful for Cristobal to see what this offense can look like with Van Dyke at the helm.
If not, it’ll probably be another start for quarterback Jacurri Brown, who was one of five freshman and 13 underclassmen to start for the Hurricanes last week against the then-No. 9 Tigers. The youth is still what makes this team compelling and why it’s important for Miami (5-6, 4-5 Atlantic Coast) to qualify for a bowl game. Those extra practices matter, and so is an extra game for underclassmen to gain experience and coaches to evaluate before a potentially massive roster overhaul in the offseason.
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This story was originally published November 25, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
