Quick Takeaways From Miami’s 30-7 Win Over Southern Miss
Going into the half, the Canes held a 10-7 lead following a one-yard touchdown by Henry Parrish Jr. The Canes tacked on 20 points in the second half and shut out the Golden Eagles, but it was a lackluster performance by Miami. Here are a few takeaways from the game.
QB Tyler Van Dyke couldn't get into a rhythm
Van Dyke had a solid completion rating at 69%, but he was not in sync for most of the game. Van Dyke made uncharacteristic reads in addition to making some poor throws. Some throws were high while some were low, but it wasn’t the usual performance from one of the best quarterbacks in the country.
Van Dyke also had an interception to his credit on an out route that was simply a bad read. Van Dyke did toss 241 yards and distributed the ball nicely despite being out of sync.
Eight Hurricanes wound up with a reception with four having more than 40 yards. Van Dyke didn’t have a bad game in retrospect, but it’s not an ideal performance against a Group of Five opponent.
The defense played a better game, but there are still issues to fix
One of the most glaring issues with the defense was the lack of containment on Southern Miss quarterback Zach Wilcke. Wilcke didn’t have a stellar game, but he was able to extend plays with his legs and as a result, had many chunk yardage passes. Miami’s defense generated three sacks and six tackles for loss.
Leonard Taylor made his presence known with a sack and two tackles for losses, while newcomers Jacob Lichtenstein and Nyjalik Kelly also logged a sack each. The secondary gave up a few chunk plays, which they’ll need to work on. Physicality was suspect at times.
We got more of a look at Miami’s special teams
Punter Lou Hedley finally had his number called after not having a punt against Bethune-Cookman. He had four punts averaging 45.3 yards per punt. Kicker Andres Borregales Came in and hit three field goals on three attempts. When Miami’s offense sputtered, the special teams bailed out the offense and put up points where the offense couldn't.
Overall thoughts on the game
Miami played a solid Group of Five team in Southern Miss, but the issues they had against the Golden Eagles can’t continue if it expects to compete in Atlantic Coast Conference play or against Texas A&M on Sep. 17.
The Hurricanes were also obviously using a condensed playbook just as they did against Bethune-Cookman. That’s probably an effort to hide information from the Aggies next week, so it's hard to truly project what the Miami offense can do.
The defense will need to do a better job of getting to the quarterback as there were many missed opportunities to create sacks. The defense did a good job of stopping the run, but those missed sacks and cutting off Wilckes' chances to escape and create cost Miami.
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